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The impact of temperature on the biological removal of hydrogen sulfide (H

Given the carbon limitation of municipal wastewater, the balance of biological nitrogen and phosphorus removal remains a challenging task. In this study, an anaerobic-anoxic-oxic combining with biological contact oxidation (A

Boreal peatlands, of which Sphagnum bogs are one of the main types, play essential roles in the terrestrial soil carbon pool. Vegetation phenology is a sensitive indicator that reveals the underlying processes as well as responses to climate change, while currently there remain knowledge gaps in exploring and monitoring the longterm bog vegetation phenology due to insufficient remote sensing application experiences. In this study, we investigated three remotely sensed vegetation phenological parameters, the start of growing season (SOS), the end of growing season (EOS), and the length of growing season (LOS) in two bogs located in norther China by using double-logistic reconstructed MOD13Q1-EVI from 2001 to 2018, which were evaluated by the flux phenology. Also combing with meteorological data to detect interactions between vegetation phenology and climate change. The results showed that remotely sensed EOS had 8-day time lags with flux phenological date, while that outperformed SOS. Bog vegetation generally with a life pattern of SOS at the 108th day of year (doy) and EOS at the 328th doy, though the life cycle of individual vegetation groups varies among different vegetation communities. There was no significant delayed (or extended) trend in each phenological features in bogs. Precipitation and minimum temperature (monthly and annual) were the driving forces for bog vegetation growth (R2 0.9, P < 0.01), and other features presented weaker correlations. Overall, this study determined the remote sensing phenology and climate drivers in two Chinese bogs, we suggested that vegetation phenology alternation should be concerned when carry on ecological processes and carbon dynamics researches in peatlands.

Effluent quality deterioration caused by seasonal temperature reductions in wastewater treatment systems using partial anammox technology is a challenge that cannot be ignored. Here, relationships of denitrification and anammox under decreasing temperature were investigated in an anoxic moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR). Compared with stable partial-denitrification (NO

A novel two-stage partial nitrification-anammox (PN-A) process was developed, achieving nitrogen removal from low carbon/nitrogen ratio municipal sewage under two typical operational modes and seasonal ambient temperatures. When complete nitritation-anammox was performed at temperatures greater than 19.4 °C, the effluent concentration of total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) was 4.1 mg/L, corresponding to a nitrogen removal efficiency (NRE) of 94.3 %. In contrast, when partial nitritation-anammox was performed at temperatures below 19.4 °C, the effluent TIN was 12.3 mg/L, corresponding to a NRE of 83.6 %. The relative abundance of Nitrosomonas and Nitrosomonadaceae increased from 0.02 % to 0.28 %, while Ca. Brocadia decreased from 1.85 % to 1.30 %, with the contribution of anammox to nitrogen removal being highest under low temperatures (19.4℃ to 13.8℃), at 59.0 %. This novel two-stage PN-A process provides a new approach for the stable operation of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) under low ambient temperatures.

BackgroundThere have been reports of increasing azole resistance in Candida tropicalis, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Here we report on the epidemiology and antifungal susceptibility of C. tropicalis causing invasive candidiasis in China, from a 9-year surveillance study.MethodsFrom August 2009 to July 2018, C. tropicalis isolates (n = 3702) were collected from 87 hospitals across China. Species identification was carried out by mass spectrometry or rDNA sequencing. Antifungal susceptibility was determined by Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute disk diffusion (CHIF-NET10–14, n = 1510) or Sensititre YeastOne (CHIF-NET15–18, n = 2192) methods.ResultsOverall, 22.2% (823/3702) of the isolates were resistant to fluconazole, with 90.4% (744/823) being cross-resistant to voriconazole. In addition, 16.9 (370/2192) and 71.7% (1572/2192) of the isolates were of non-wild-type phenotype to itraconazole and posaconazole, respectively. Over the 9 years of surveillance, the fluconazole resistance rate continued to increase, rising from 5.7 (7/122) to 31.8% (236/741), while that for voriconazole was almost the same, rising from 5.7 (7/122) to 29.1% (216/741), with no significant statistical differences across the geographic regions. However, significant difference in fluconazole resistance rate was noted between isolates cultured from blood (27.2%, 489/1799) and those from non-blood (17.6%, 334/1903) specimens (P-value < 0.05), and amongst isolates collected from medical wards (28.1%, 312/1110) versus intensive care units (19.6%, 214/1092) and surgical wards (17.9%, 194/1086) (Bonferroni adjusted P-value < 0.05). Although echinocandin resistance remained low (0.8%, 18/2192) during the surveillance period, it was observed in most administrative regions, and one-third (6/18) of these isolates were simultaneously resistant to fluconazole.ConclusionThe continual decrease in the rate of azole susceptibility among C. tropicalis strains has become a nationwide challenge in China, and the emergence of multi-drug resistance could pose further threats. These phenomena call for effective efforts in future interventions.

Background Cross-resistance, a phenomenon that a pathogen resists to one antimicrobial compound also resists to one or several other compounds, is one of major threats to human health and sustainable food production. It usually occurs among antimicrobial compounds sharing the mode of action. In this study, we determined the sensitivity profiles of Alternaria alternata, a fungal pathogen which can cause diseases in many crops to two fungicides (mancozeb and difenoconazole) with different mode of action using a large number of isolates (234) collected from seven potato fields across China. Results We found that pathogens could also develop cross resistance to fungicides with different modes of action as indicated by a strong positive correlation between mancozeb and difenoconazole tolerances to A. alternata. We also found a positive association between mancozeb tolerance and aggressiveness of A. alternata, suggesting no fitness penalty of developing mancozeb resistance in the pathogen and hypothesize that mechanisms such as antimicrobial compound efflux and detoxification that limit intercellular accumulation of natural/synthetic chemicals in pathogens might account for the cross-resistance and the positive association between pathogen aggressiveness and mancozeb tolerance. Conclusions The detection of cross-resistance among different classes of fungicides suggests that the mode of action alone may not be an adequate sole criterion to determine what components to use in the mixture and/or rotation of fungicides in agricultural and medical sects. Similarly, the observation of a positive association between the pathogen’s aggressiveness and tolerance to mancozeb suggests that intensive application of site non-specific fungicides might simultaneously lead to reduced fungicide resistance and enhanced ability to cause diseases in pathogen populations, thereby posing a greater threat to agricultural production and human health. In this case, the use of evolutionary principles in closely monitoring populations and the use of appropriate fungicide applications are important for effective use of the fungicides and durable infectious disease management. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12866-019-1574-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Thermodynamics of feedback control processes, including the minimum work consumption of measurement, work extraction, and erasure processes of thermodynamic small systems have been investigated by researchers. We take systems with uncertain macroscopic states as the study object and study the feedback control processes of nonequilibrium macroscopic systems considering both the information entropy of microscopic states and macroscopic states. First we consider a system set that consists of systems with several macroscopic states and discuss the relations among the average information entropy of the system set, the thermodynamic entropy of the systems and the information entropy of macroscopic states of the systems. Then, we derive the expression of the average maximum net work obtained through feedback control, which relates to the free energy of the systems and the minimum work consumption of the measurement and erasure processes.

Dispersing isolated active metal atoms onto the surface of “inert” metal nanoparticles proves to be particularly effective in improving the catalytic performance of bimetallic catalysts. In this contribution, a quantity called average segregation energy (SE) is proposed to predict with reasonable accuracy the structural stability of single-atom alloy (SAA) clusters of late transition metals. By formulating an expression for this energy on the basis of Friedel’s d-band model and under the tight-binding approximation, d-band filling is found to play a major role in determining the segregation behavior of all late transition metals. On the other hand, magnetism and electron correlation would greatly enhance the ability of 3d transition metals to segregate to the alloy surface, which can be explained by an improved model that includes both perturbations. Furthermore, by using the average SEs, the effect of geometrical strain is differentiated from the electronic and magnetic contributions, which, in contrast, may help to stabilize 3d transition metals in the core region by minimizing the lattice mismatch. Finally, we demonstrate that the size-dependent segregation preference has its origin in the size dependence of the electronic and structural properties of SAA clusters.

Hydrogen transport on transition-metal oxides is a shared process in many important physical and chemical changes of interest. In this work, DFT + U calculations have been carried out to explore the mechanism for hydrogen migration on the defect-free and oxygen-deficient LaMO3(001) (M = Cr, Mn, and Fe) surfaces. The calculated results indicate that hydrogen is preferentially adsorbed at the oxygen sites on all surfaces other than the defective LaCrO3(001), where the occupation of vacancies is energetically most favorable. The resultant O–H bonds would be weakened when oxygen vacancies are formed in their immediate vicinity because the increased electron density on the remaining ions would limit the ability of O to withdraw electrons from H. On defect-free LaMO3(001), hydrogen prefers to migrate along the [010] axis, during which the O–H bond is reoriented at the oxygen site for the hopping to proceed by the Grotthuss mechanism. In the presence of oxygen vacancies, the vehicle mechanism in which hydrogen hops together with the underlying oxygen would dominate on LaMnO3 and LaFeO3, whereas on the defective LaCrO3(001) the Grotthuss mechanism prevails. The linear scaling relations established show that the hydrogen and hydroxyl migration barriers decrease and increase, respectively, with increasing the strength of ionic bonding in perovskites, which provides a rational interpretation of the change in the preferred hydrogen migration mechanism.

Density functional theory calculations have been performed to examine the different catalytic behaviors of α-Cr2O3 and ZnO in propane dehydrogenation. On ZnO(1010), adsorption of a Lewis acid at t...

This paper proposes a new solar hybrid clean fuel-fired distributed energy system to increase the system thermodynamic efficiency and save fossil fuel, in which solar energy is upgraded into high-level chemical energy of syngas (H2 and CO) by integrating solar-driven methanol decomposition based thermochemical conversion. Solar energy, in the form of chemical energy of the generated syngas, is steadily stored and utilized to drive the distributed energy system to generate power, heat and cooling. The double-axis tracking parabolic trough solar collector is deployed to the proposed system to reduce the cosine loss of solar energy. The incorporation of the solar thermochemistry and double-axis solar concentrator technologies leads to a significant improvement in the solar energy utilization efficiency and the off-design performances under varying solar irradiations. With the integration of solar energy utilization and tri-generation, the proposed system achieves a high net solar-to-electric efficiency, 24.66%, and results in high primary energy ratio, 83.86%, exergy efficiency, 38.81%, and carbon emission saving rate, 51.43%. The proposed system is deployed to an office building to study the operation strategies and annual thermo-economy performances, and competitive off-design performances and economy performances are achieved. The research findings open up a new avenue towards the efficient utilization modes of clean fuel and solar energy.

The engineering design, construction and testing of a 100 kWe solar-hybrid power generation pilot plant are conducted in this work. In the pilot plant, solar energy is upgraded to chemical energy of solar fuel (H2 and CO) by the solar thermochemical process of methanol decomposition reaction, and steadily stored and effectively utilized as the forms of chemical energy of solar fuel. The solar fuel is fed to the internal combustion engine to generate power. The solar generation pilot plant, including four solar thermochemistry units (with solar field area of 198 m2), power generation unit (100 kWe), syngas storage unit (with the volume of 19.2 m3), preheating unit and measurement instrumentation, is built. The thermodynamic performances of the pilot plant are experimentally investigated, and the solar-to-chemical energy efficiency ranges from 37.12% to 45.51% when the solar flux is 404-761 W/m2.

Paper mill sludge (PMS) is a paper industry waste but can be a potential feedstock for cellulosic sugar production. In this study, washing, autoclaving, and surfactants were investigated for PMS pr...

Catalysis is a kinetics behavior, and developing the kinetics-assisted discrimination of the active sites is an important yet challenging issue in the heterogeneous catalysis. Herein, we combine th...

Partial hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate (DMO) has attained increasing attention in the chemical industry, which is driven by the desire to develop a means of achieving methyl glycolate (MG) production in a more economical and eco-friendly way than the traditional petroleum route. In this contribution, a descriptor-based microkinetic analysis combined with results from density functional theory calculations has been performed to examine the reaction mechanism for DMO hydrogenation to MG on Cu, Ag, Ni, and Ru catalysts. Calculated results indicate that, along the dominant reaction pathway, DMO molecules are first dissociated into methoxyl and acyl species on the catalyst surfaces, followed by the hydrogenation of methoxyl and the successive hydrogenation of acyl at the carbon and oxygen atoms of the terminal carbonyl group. Linear chemisorption and transition state energy scaling relations indicate that the adsorption energies of atomic C and O can be used as descriptors to represent the energetics of other adsorbed species and transition states. Both energy profiles and a volcano-shaped activity map indicate that among the four catalysts Cu is the most effective in the hydrogenation reaction, and the activity varies in the order Cu > Ag > Ni > Ru. The catalyst selectivity is found to initially increase with the catalytic activity and then decline, also giving a volcano curve. The reason Ag has a better selectivity than Cu lies in the fact that the greater binding strength of adsorbates to the Cu surface not only promotes DMO dissociation but also hinders the desorption of MG.

Introducing sulfur species into Pt catalysts has been proven to be an effective method to improve their performance in various reactions. However, the role of sulfur addition on Pt catalysts catalyzing propane dehydrogenation (PDH) is still not clear. This work combines catalyst characterizations, catalytic kinetics studies and DFT calculations to understand the influence of H2S addition in the feed on Pt/θ-Al2O3 catalyzed PDH from a mechanistic perspective. With the addition of a trace amount of H2S in the feed (3 ppm), the propylene selectivity increases from 79% to 96% and the deactivation factor decreases from 33% to 18%, at the expense of a slight activity loss. The improved catalytic performance can be partially attributed to the electron transfer from sulfur species to Pt atoms as indicated by CO-DRIFTS results. DFT calculations show that H2S could be the dominating sulfur species on Pt particles and donate electrons to Pt atoms, which further proves that sulfur species improve the catalytic performance by donating electrons. In addition, the repulsion between sulfur species and C3 hydrocarbons also explains the improved catalytic performance. © 2019. This is the authors' accepted and refereed manuscript to the article. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1039/C8CY02393J

1. The evolution of fungicide resistance in agricultural and natural ecosystems is associated with the biology of pathogens, the chemical property and application strategies of the fungicides. The influence of ecological factors such as host diversity on the evolution of fungicide resistance has been largely overlooked but is highly relevant to social and natural sustainability. In this study, we used an experimental evolution approach to understand how host population heterogeneity may affect the evolution of fungicide resistance in the associated pathogens.2. Potato populations with six levels of genetic heterogeneity were grown in the same field and naturally infected by Phytophthora infestans. Pathogen isolates (similar to 1,200) recovered from the field experiment were molecularly genotyped. Genetically distinct isolates were selected from each population and 142 isolates were assayed for their tolerance to two fungicides differing in the mode of action. Tolerance was determined by calculating the relative growth rate of the isolates in the presence and absence of fungicides and the effective concentration for 50% inhibition.3. The evolution of fungicide resistance in P. infestans was affected by the genetic variation of host populations. Higher potato diversification increased the sensitivity of P. infestans to both fungicides and reduced genetic variation of the pathogen available for the development of fungicide resistance. These mitigating effects are independent of biochemical properties of fungicides and are likely caused by host selection for pathogen strains differing in the ability of fungicide influxes, effluxes or detoxification rather than mutations in fungicide target genes.4. Synthesis and applications. The development of fungicide resistance greatly threatens food security and ecological sustainability, and it is urgent need to develop agricultural practices which can ameliorate this problem. Our results show that potato crop with a higher genetic diversity is associated with a late blight pathogen of higher fungicide sensitivity and lower potential of developing fungicide resistance, indicating that agricultural diversification such as through cultivar mixture can reduce the application dose and frequency of fungicides needed to achieve the same level of disease control, which, in turn, further reduce the selection pressure acting on the pathogen populations and the evolutionary risk of developing fungicide resistance in pathogens. Together with benefits documented in other studies, our results indicate that crop diversification is an eco-friendly approach that not only ameliorate fungicide resistance but also help achieve social and ecological sustainability by balancing the interaction among food security, socio-economic development and ecological resilience and should be promoted.

Biodiversity plays multifaceted roles in societal development and ecological sustainability. In agricultural ecosystems, using biodiversity to mitigate plant diseases has received renewed attention in recent years but our knowledge of the best ways of using biodiversity to control plant diseases is still incomplete. In term of in-crop diversification, it is not clear how genetic diversity per se in host populations interacts with identifiable resistance and other functional traits of component genotypes to mitigate disease epidemics and what is the best way of structuring mixture populations. In this study, we created a series of host populations by mixing different numbers of potato varieties showing different late blight resistance levels in different proportions. The amount of naturally occurring late blight disease in the mixture populations was recorded weekly during the potato growing seasons. The percentage of disease reduction (PDR) in the mixture populations was calculated by comparing their observed late blight levels relative to that expected when they were planted in pure stands. We found that PDR in the mixtures increased as the number of varieties and the difference in host resistance (DHR) between the component varieties increased. However, the level of host resistance in the potato varieties had little impact on PDR. In mixtures involving two varieties, the optimum proportion of component varieties for the best PDR depended on their DHR, with an increasing skewness to one of the component varieties as the DHR between the component varieties increased. These results indicate that mixing crop varieties can significantly reduce disease epidemics in the field. To achieve the best disease mitigation, growers should include as many varieties as possible in mixtures or, if only two component mixtures are possible, increase DHR among the component varieties.

Background: Marginal resection frequently occurred in hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which led to increased local recurrence, especially among patients with microvascular invasion (MVI). Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) shows effective in tumor controlling, while limited research reported the efficacy of SBRT as adjuvant setting for HCC after surgery. We hypothesized existence of residual tumor cells or foci in unsafe margin parenchyma caused local recurrence in HCC patients with MVI, and SBRT might be a solution to resolve the problem. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of SBRT targeting on the susceptible area with residue MVI as adjuvant setting for HCC patients. Methods: This was a single center, randomized controlled trial conducted in Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Shanghai, China. Participants with HCC and MVI receiving marginal resection were randomly assigned to postoperative adjuvant SBRT group or surgery alone (SA) group. SBRT was delivered by the CyberKnife® system (Accuracy Inc., Sunnyvale) with marker tracking devices. Patients in SBRT group received SBRT targeting on the resection marginal parenchyma where MVI most likely occurred one month after surgery. The disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared between the groups and the adverse events (AE) in the SBRT group were monitored. This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04891874. Findings: A total of 76 participants were enrolled from August 1, 2015 to December 31, 2016, with 38 in each group. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year DFS rates were 92.1%, 65.8%, and 56.1% in the SBRT group, versus 76.3%, 36.8%, and 26.3% in the SA group, respectively (p=0.005). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year OS rates were 100%, 89.5%, and 75.0% in the SBRT group, versus 100.0%, 68.4%, and 53.7% in the SA group, respectively (p=0.053). The total dose of SBRT for each participant was 35Gy and the biological effective dose (BED) is 59.5 Gy. The overall incidence of radiotherapy related AE was 31.6% (12/38), and no grade 3 or higher grade AE developed. Fatigue was the most frequent AE. Interpretation: SBRT on resection marginal parenchyma provides a safe therapeutic modality of adjuvant setting in MVI-positive HCC participants without satisfying resection margin. It prevents local recurrence and improves disease-free survival. Further evidence is necessary to evaluate its long-term survival outcome. Clinical Trial Registration Details: This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04891874. Funding Information: This research has received funding from the ‘Clinical science and technology innovation project of Shenkang Hospital Development Center’ (SHDC12020104). Declaration of Interests: The authors disclose no conflicts. Ethics Approval Statement: Detailed information of the clinical protocol was explained to every participants and written informed consent were collected before randomization. This trial was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of Shanghai Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital. The study protocol conformed to the principles of Declaration of Helsinki (1983).

To explore the correlation among gingival thickness (GT), underlying alveolar bone thickness (BT), and other periodontal biotype characteristics in the maxillary anterior.A total of 40 young volunteers with healthy periodontal were involved in this research. The periodontal probe was previously used to divide the gingiva from thick to thin. Two records were measured by cone beam CT (CBCT) GT, which was measured at the cement-enamel junction level; and BT, which was measured at 3 locations: 1, 3, 5 mm below the alveolar crest. Oral and gypsum measurements were used to analyze the associations of the crown width/crown length ratio (CW/CL), the keratinized mucosa width (KM), and the free gingival margin curvature.Significant difference in the GT was observed between the thick and thin biotypes, which were divided by periodontal probe (P0.01). Difference was observed in each periodontal biotype characteristic between the thick (GT≥1 mm) and thin biotypes (GT1 mm) (P0.05). BT was positively associated with GT (r=0.293, P=0.001), CW/CL (r=0.273, P=0.003), KM (r=0.291, P=0.001), and free gingival margin curvature (r=0.290, P=0.001).The transparency of the probing in the sulcus could analyze the GT qualitatively. The thick and thin biotypes have different periodontal biotype characteristics. Compared with individuals with thick biotype, those with thin biotype are susceptible to risk dental aesthetic.目的 运用锥形束CT测量上颌前牙唇侧牙龈厚度与唇侧牙槽骨厚度，通过口内及模型测量牙冠宽长比、角化龈宽度、游离龈缘曲度，分析各牙周生物型特征之间的相关性。方法 选取40位牙周健康的青年志愿者，运用牙周探诊法预先判断受试牙位的牙龈厚薄，运用锥形束CT间接显影方法测量受试者上颌前牙区唇侧釉牙骨质界处牙龈厚度，以及牙槽嵴顶根方1、3、5 mm处牙槽骨厚度，通过口内及模型测量牙冠宽长比、附着龈宽度及游离龈缘曲度。结果 牙周探诊法区分的厚龈型与薄龈型间牙龈厚度的差异有统计学意义（P0.01）。厚龈型（牙龈厚度≥1 mm）与薄龈型（牙龈厚度1 mm）相应的牙周生物型特征之间的差异有统计学意义（P0.05）。上颌前牙唇侧牙龈厚度与牙槽骨厚度呈正相关（r=0.293，P=0.001），与牙冠宽长比呈正相关（r=0.273，P=0.003），与角化龈宽度呈正相关（r=0.291，P=0.001），与游离龈缘曲度呈正相关（r=0.290，P=0.001）。结论 牙周探诊法可用于对牙龈厚薄的快速判断，不同牙周生物型在软硬组织厚度及形态上有差异，相对于厚龈型，薄龈型治疗的美学风险更大。.

The aim of the study was to explore the expression level of miRNA-30 expression in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NCLC) and analyze its correlation with clinicopathological features and prognosis.Preoperative serum samples and paracancerous tumor-free tissues of 108 patients with NSCLC treated in our hospital as well as serum samples of 108 healthy subjects were collected from April 2015 to May 2018. The expression levels of miRNA-30 in tissue samples were detected by in situ hybridization and that of miRNA-30 mRNA in serum samples by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The difference in miRNA-30 expression in tumor-free tissues of NSCLC patients and NSCLC tissues of each stage was measured. The miRNA-30 mRNA levels in NSCLC patients was compared with those in healthy subjects. All subjects were divided into low-expression group (mean) and high expression group (≥ mean) with the mean value of miRNA-30 levels being the critical value. The relationship between miRNA-30 levels and clinicopathological parameters (gender, age, lymph node metastasis, tumor size, TNM stage, degree of infiltration, and differentiation) was analyzed, and the prognosis of different serum miRNA-30 levels was compared based to follow-up data.The expression level of miRNA-30 in cancer tissues and serum of NSCLD patients was significantly lower (p0.05, respectively). The results of ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve for the diagnosis of NSCLC using miRNA-30 was 0.802 (95% CI: 0.742 to 0.861, p0.001), with the diagnostic threshold being 0.798, sensitivity and specificity being 75.9% and 76.0%, respectively. Serum miRNA-30 levels in NSCLC patients were not associated with gender, age, and depth of infiltration (p0.05), but correlated with lymph node metastasis, tumor size, TNM stage, and degree of differentiation (p0.05). The median overall survival of the miRNA-30 low expression group was 23.0 months, which was shorter than the 36.0 months of high expression group, and the difference was statistically significant (p0.05).miRNA-30 is lowly expressed in NSCLC patients and participates in the development of NSCLC. Moreover, NSCLC patients with low expression show poor prognosis. Thus, miRNA-30 features potential as a marker for NSCLC screening and prognosis prediction.

Supported single-atom catalysts, which bridge the gap between homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, have attained increasing interest because of their unique catalytic properties and behaviors. In this contribution, periodic DFT+U calculations have been carried out to explore the structural stability, catalytic activity, and selectivity of 13 M1–ZnO (M = Mn–Cu, Ru–Ag, and Os–Au) catalysts in propane dehydrogenation (PDH). Calculated results indicate that the doped single atoms show high resistance to sintering on the ZnO surface. Except on Rh1-, Os1-, Ir1-, and Pt1–ZnO(10[1 with combining macron]0), a Lewis acid–base interaction occurs, which would greatly enhance the co-adsorption of a pair of amphoteric species on the oxides. The linear chemisorption energy and transition state energy scaling relations hold well for the C–H and H–H bond activation steps involved in the reaction network. Microkinetic analysis is used to determine the activity trend, and volcano-shaped plots of the turnover frequency for propylene production are obtained, with the formation energies of adsorbed H and 2-propyl used as two reactivity descriptors. By using the activation energy difference between propylene dehydrogenation and desorption as a measure of the catalyst selectivity, it is found that a high selectivity can only be achieved at the expense of catalytic activity. Comparison between the energy barriers for H2 desorption and H2O formation indicates that the reduction of ZnO can be suppressed by single-atom doping. The Mn- and Cu-doped ZnO catalysts are suggested to be good catalyst candidates for PDH with lower cost, increased activity, and improved selectivity and catalytic stability.

A versatile pore network model is used to study deactivation by coking in a single catalyst particle. This approach allows to gain detailed insights into the progression of deactivation from active site, to pore, and to particle – providing valuable information for catalyst design. The model is applied to investigate deactivation by coking during propane dehydrogenation in a Pt‐Sn/Al2O3 catalyst particle. We find that the deactivation process can be separated into two stages when there exist severe diffusion limitation and pore blockage, and the toxicity of coke formed in the later stage is much stronger than of coke formed in the early stage. The reaction temperature and composition change the coking rate and apparent reaction rate, informed by the kinetics, but, remarkably, they do not change the capacity for a catalyst particle to accommodate coke. On the other hand, the pore network structure significantly affects the capacity to contain coke.

A single precursor RuxNiyMg1-x-y(OH)(OCH3) derived from solvothermal synthesis was used to generate Ru-Ni-MgO catalysts for methane reforming with CO2. Calcination-reduction pretreatment of precursors could easily cause segregation of Ru and formation of both large and small metallic particles as RuO2 has limited solubility in NiO-MgO solid solution. Uniform small Ru-Ni alloy particles could only be produced within their limited alloying composition range through direct reduction pretreatment of the precursor. Catalysts derived from calcination-reduction exhibited low initial activity that increased with time-on-stream, whereas catalysts derived from direct reduction demonstrated high and steady activity. Over spent catalysts, Ru was found to have changed the type of deposited carbon from a recalcitrant graphitic one that could only be gasified by O2 to a soft type that can be facilely gasified by CO2. Kinetic studies showed that Ru increased the activation barrier for the rate determining CH4 dissociation step and thereby slows down the carbon deposition rate. A first order reaction dependence for CH4 pressure variation and zeroth for CO2 pressure change for pristine Ni- and Ru-catalysts was identified, while a first order and a deviation from zeroth order for CH4 and CO2 pressure variation were observed on bimetallic Ru-Ni catalyst. Such a deviation is associated with the oxyphilic nature of Ru that is enriched in the alloy surface under reforming conditions. The effects of Ru on carbon gasification over spent catalysts were investigated using a modified CO2-TPO measurement based on an extrapolated Wigner–Polanyi equation for carbon gasification. Ru was found to accelerate carbon gasification by increasing the pre-exponential factor for CO2 oxidation of carbon, albeit a disfavored elevated activation barrier was obtained, thus showing a strong compensation effect. Carbon gasification is favored in high concentration of CO2 and at high temperatures for Ru-Ni catalyst.

In CO 2 capture retrofit unit of existing coal-fired power plants, energy level mismatch between extraction steam from turbines and CO 2 regeneration process always results in large exergy destruction and low thermal efficiency. Thus, a new CO 2 capture system driven by double absorption heat transformer is proposed. Through the absorption heat transformer, low-temperature steam is upgraded into a higher energy level to match the temperature of CO 2 regeneration. Also, flue gas heat is partly recovered to preheat the circulating water from CO 2 capture process to further decrease system energy penalty. Aspen Plus 11.0 is used to simulate the system and parameters of key processes are validated by experimental values. It is shown that with 90% CO 2 capture, the thermal efficiency of the power plant with proposed CO 2 capture system is enhanced by 1.25 percentage points compared with traditional method. And the efficiency enhancement of the proposed system has a trend of increase first and then decrease with CO 2 capture rate growth. For a 350 MW coal-fired power plant, the optimum CO 2 capture rate is 53.65% and the corresponding efficiency enhancement is 2.06 percentage points. Exergy analysis shows that the exergy destruction in CO 2 separation and steam condensation process can decrease by 49.5% in the proposed system, and thereby the exergy efficiency is 1.85 percentage points higher than the conventional method. Furthermore, the cost of CO 2 avoided and cost of electricity of the proposed system will be reduced by 10.7 $/t-CO 2 and 1.9 $/MW h, respectively.

A new solar-hybrid fuel-fired distributed energy system incorporating thermochemical reaction driven by mid- and low-temperature solar heat and exhaust heat is proposed, for increased solar energy utilization and exhaust heat recovery efficiency. Solar energy is upgraded to syngas (H2 and CO) chemical energy via the solar thermochemical process of the methanol decomposition reaction, and the syngas drives the internal combustion engine to output power. Some of the exhaust heat is stored and drives the methanol decomposition reaction to supplement the syngas via the chemical recuperation process, enhancing the exergy efficiency of the exhaust heat recovery. The overall energy efficiency and net efficiency of solar energy to electricity conversion are improved by integrating solar thermochemistry and chemical recuperation, and excellent off-design thermodynamic performance under varying user loads and solar irradiation levels is achieved. The overall energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, and net solar-energy-to-electricity efficiency reach 80.55%, 42.18% and 24.66%, respectively. These research findings indicate that the proposed system embodies an efficient and stable approach towards utilization of solar energy and clean fuel in distributed energy systems.

In this study, a bulk composite material symbolized as NiCo LDH–rGO/Ni F was developed by a solvothermal process for the first time. This material was fabricated through simultaneous growth of nickel–cobalt layered double hydroxide (NiCo LDH) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) on nickel foam. This bulk composite can be used directly as a binder-free electrode for supercapacitors (SCs). The physicochemical properties of this composite were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electrochemical properties of the composite were measured by the cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge–discharge. The results show that this composite had a hierarchical structure and exhibited a significantly enhanced specific capacitance of up to 3383 F/g at 1 A/g. The asymmetric SC using this composite as a positive electrode had a high energy density of 40.54 Wh/kg at the power density of 206.5 W/kg and good cycling stability. Owing to the synergies between the metal oxides and the rGO, the preparation method of in situ growth and its hierarchical structure, this bulk composite displayed excellent electrochemical performance and had a promising application as an efficient electrode for high-performance SCs.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is one of the most important economic crops in Yunnan Province (southwest China). However, under rain-fed agricultural conditions, the seeding emergence and yield suffer from seasonal spring drought. In mitigating this problem, field experiments were conducted for 2 years (2015 and 2016) to examine the effectiveness of cultivation patterns for rain-fed potato. Four experiments with different cultivation patterns were carried out: (1) no mulching on ridges and furrows (RFNM-CK), (2) ridge-furrow planting without plastic film mulching after flat planting (RFAF), (3) half mulching only on ridges (RFHM), (4) soil covering after plastic film mulching only on the ridges but not on furrows (RFSM). The temperature of topsoil (0.15 m) was similar among the cultivation patterns. The precipitation and soil conditions were the dominant ecofactors that limited the seedling emergence and yields. RFHM had the best effect on rain harvesting, then improved the topsoil moisture which contributed to good emergence rate and seedling emergence for 14–32 days earlier than CK (P

New trigeneration system consists of an internal combustion engine, a power and cooling cogeneration system and an absorption heat transformer system. The exhaust gas is recovered by the power and cooling cogeneration subsystem producing the cooling and power. The jacket water is recovered by the absorption heat transformer subsystem producing lowpressure steam. The exergy performance and the energy saving performance which is evaluated by the primary energy saving ratio of the new distributed energy system are analyzed. The effects of the ratio of the output power and cooling of the power and cooling cogeneration subsystem and the generator outlet temperature of the absorption heat transformer subsystem to the primary energy saving ratio are considered. The contributions of the subsystems to the primary energy saving ratio are quantified. The maximum primary energy saving ratio of the new distributed energy system is 15.8%, which is 3.9 percentage points higher than that of the conventional distributed energy system due to the cascade utilization of the waste heat from the internal combustion engine.

Combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) systems, which have the advantages of energy saving and environmental protection, have attracted more and more attentions. Great deals of works have been done, but most of them are theoretical research. It is still lack of experimental research for large scale CCHP system in practical application, and an overall off-design thermodynamic model is also desired to simulate or exam the system performance. In this work, a novel CCHP system integrated with dehumidification system is proposed for further utilizing waste heat, in which an internal combustion engine (ICE) is used as prime mover, its heat of flue gas and the heat of jacket water above 81 °C are used to drive absorption chiller, and the heat of jacket water below 81 °C is used to drive absorption dehumidifier. A comprehensive off-design thermodynamic model and evaluation of the system is established. The tested results of a MW CCHP system integrated with dehumidification system are used to validate the model, and the thermodynamic performance analysis is also carried out. The thermodynamic performance comparison between the CCHP system integrated with dehumidification system and conventional CCHP system has been done. The results show that: the simulated values are basically in keeping with those experimental results; when the output power of ICE is 1200 kW, the primary energy rate of the MW CCHP system can go up to 84.0%, the primary energy saving ratio achieves 32.77%, and exergy efficiency is 42.45%; the thermodynamic performance of the proposed CCHP system is better than conventional CCHP system.

Liquid-desiccant dehumidification technology is a promising way to take advantage of low-grade energy to dry air for air conditioning and industrial applications. This paper proposed a two-stage liquid-desiccant dehumidification system driven by low-temperature heat and electric power, which is integrated with a vapor compression refrigeration system that performs deep dehumidification. Air moisture is preliminarily removed by the desiccant solution at environmental temperature in a first-stage dehumidifier and then deeply removed by the desiccant solution cooled to 18 °C by a vapor compression refrigerator. Simulation results show that the new system can decrease power consumption by 30.63% compared with a conventional cooling dehumidification system. The equivalent power-generation efficiency of the proposed system can reach 2.91%. Finally, the power-saving mechanism of the proposed system was illuminated by conducting the exergy analysis and the study of the surface vapor partial-pressure difference in the liquid desiccant dehumidifiers.

A new solar-hybrid fuel-fired distributed energy system integrated with a thermochemical reaction driven by mid-and-low solar thermal energy and exhaust heat is proposed. The methanol is decomposed into the syngas (H 2 and CO) through the solar thermochemical receivers/reactors, and the syngas drives an internal combustion engine to output power. Then a part of the exhaust heat is recovered and drives the methanol decomposition reaction to supply the syngas via the chemical recuperation process. With the combination of the solar thermochemical and chemical recuperation process, the solar energy and exhaust heat is utilized effectively. The thermodynamic performances of the proposed system are investigated, and the overall energy efficiency and net solar to electricity efficiency on the design condition reaches to 80.55% and 24.66%, respectively. The promising results provide an efficient and stable utilization approach of the solar energy and clean fuel in distributed energy systems.

Cooling dehumidification driven by power is widely used in industrial processes to obtain dry air, but the main drawback is its large power consumption. In these processes, large amounts of low-temperature waste heat are released to the environment directly, so there is a great energy-saving potential to recover low-temperature waste heat and generate dry air. A new two-stage liquid desiccant dehumidification system with the cascade utilization of low-temperature heat is proposed. The waste heat is used in a cascade manner. The higher-temperature heat is used to generate a strong desiccant solution, which will be used in the first-stage dehumidifier. The lower-temperature heat is used to drive a single-effect absorption refrigerator and provide cooling energy to the second-stage dehumidifier. Simulation results showed that the proposed system can reduce electricity consumption by 92.29% compared with the conventional cooling dehumidification system driven by power. The ratio of electricity savings to absorbed heat can reach 7.35%. The advantage of the cascade utilization of the low-temperature heat was further illuminated by studying the driving force in the dehumidifiers, and a preliminary economic and environmental analysis was performed. The increased initial investment can be recovered in only 3.39 years. Approximately 11,028 tons of standard coal are saved per year, and a reduction of 27,488 tons CO2 can also be realized per year. Finally, a parametric sensitivity analysis was conducted to optimize the system performance. This study may provide a new method to perform dehumidification by efficiently using a low-temperature heat source.

This study proposes an efficient, flexible and low-carbon combined heating and power (CHP) system with solar energy and methanol as energy inputs. The system features a modular design combining concentrated photovoltaics, methanol thermochemistry and internal combustion engines that enable efficient power generation, effective energy storage and flexible, demand-driven supply of heat and power. Cascaded utilization of solar energy results in a high net solar-to-electric efficiency of 38.9%, while tunable output flexibility of energy allocation between heat and power leads to both coal saving ratio and CO2 emission saving ratio in a wide range between 16.9% and 100%. Effective solar energy storage via methanol-derived syngas enables off-sun operations under normal energy demand conditions up to a few days, and attains round-the-clock heat supply with 41% carbon consumption and CO2 emission savings. The proposed system showcases a practical and efficient means of solar energy utilization complemented by fossil fuels, and provides a potential solution towards imminent energy and environmental challenges worldwide.