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With the development of COVID-19, the epidemic prevention requirements of city subway system have become stricter. This study studies the transmission path of epidemic disease in city subway system. Using FLUENT software and AnyLogic software, the simulation models of subway platform ventilation structure and crowd behavior mode in subway system are constructed, respectively, and SEIR (vulnerable exposed affected recovered) is used as the general infection model of epidemic disease. According to the actual situation, the parameters such as shoulder width, flow, and moving speed of crowd are determined, and the simulation analysis of epidemic disease transmission in subway system is carried out. The analysis results show that the transmission speed of the disease in the subway will increase with the enhancement of the transmission capacity of the disease and the increase of the contact rate. When the disease transmission capacity is 0.14, the number of latent persons reaches the peak at 14.115 time units, which is 1374, and the number of patients reaches the peak at 28.541 time units, which is 1925. According to the simulation results, the simulation analysis results show that with the enhancement of disease transmission ability and the increase of exposure rate, the maximum number of latent and sick people in the subway environment will increase. The corresponding suggestions on risk management and control of infectious disease transmission in subway are put forward. The research results can provide a useful reference for the epidemic prevention management of urban subway transportation system in China.

Chromium (Cr) is a common heavy metal that has severe impacts on the ecosystem and human health. Capacitive deionization (CDI) is an environment-friendly and energy-efficient electrochemical purification technology to remove Cr from polluted water. The performance of CDI systems relies primarily on the properties of electrodes. Carbon-nanotubes (CNTs) membranes are promising candidates in creating advanced CDI electrodes and processes. However, the low electrosorption capacity and high hydrophobicity of CNTs greatly impede their applications in water systems. In this study, we employ atomic layer deposition (ALD) to deposit TiO2 nanoparticulates on CNTs membranes for preparing electrodes with hydrophilicity. The TiO2-deposited CNTs membranes display preferable electrosorption performance and reusability in CDI processes after only 20 ALD cycles deposition. The total Cr and Cr(VI) removal efficiencies are significantly improved to 92.1% and 93.3%, respectively. This work demonstrates that ALD is a highly controllable and simple method to produce advanced CDI electrodes, and broadens the application of metal oxide/carbon composites in the electrochemical processes.

Bmpr2 plays a central role in the regulation of reproductive development in mammals, but its role during ovarian development in fish is still unclear. To ascertain the function of bmpr2 in ovarian development in the ricefield eel, we isolated and characterized the bmpr2 cDNA sequence; the localization of Bmpr2 protein was determined by immunohistochemical staining; and the expression patterns of bmpr2 in ovarian tissue incubated with FSH and hCG in vitro were analyzed. The full-length bmpr2 cDNA was 3311 bp, with 1061 amino acids encoded. Compared to other tissues, bmpr2 was abundantly expressed in the ovary and highly expressed in the early yolk accumulation (EV) stages of the ovary. In addition, a positive signal for Bmpr2 was detected in the cytoplasm of oocytes in primary growth (PG) and EV stages. In vitro, the expression level of gdf9, the ligand of bmpr2, in the 10 ng/mL FSH treatment group was significantly higher after incubation for 4 h than after incubation for different durations. However, bmpr2 expression in the 10 ng/mL FSH treatment group at 2 h, 4 h and 10 h was significantly lower. Importantly, the expression level of bmpr2 and gdf9 in the 100 IU/mL hCG group had similar changes that were significantly decreased at 4 h and 10 h. In summary, Bmpr2 might play a pivotal role in ovarian growth in the ricefield eel, and these results provide a better understanding of the function of bmpr2 in ovarian development and the basic data for further exploration of the regulatory mechanism of gdf9 in oocyte development.

Two rearranged triterpenoids, representing new subtypes of pentacyclic triterpenoids, with unique 6/6/6/7/5 and 6/6/5/6/6/6 ring systems were isolated from Alstonia scholaris. Their structures were established by spectroscopic analysis, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and electronic circular dichroism calculations. Both compounds exhibited potent antihyperuricemic bioactivity in vitro and in vivo.

The moisture extraction rate (MER) and energy efficiency of domestic gas clothes dryers, heat-pump clothes dryers and electric clothes dryers were assessed. The assessment was performed with regard to five indices: the MER, specific MER, specific thermal energy consumption for dehumidification (mSPC), energy efficiency (ηt) and primary energy efficiency (η1). The effects of the dry mass of clothes (mBD) and the ambient temperature on the performance of the clothes dryers were evaluated. The experiments were divided into two parts. In the first part, the ambient temperature was 20°C, and mBD was set as 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5 and 6 kg. In the second part, mBD was 3.5 kg, and the performance of the dryers was tested at ambient temperatures of 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15 and 20°C. The experimental results indicated that the gas dryer had the highest MER the heat-pump dryer had the best performance with regard to energy conservation and all three types of dryers had a higher MER and energy efficiency when the ambient temperature increased. The performance of the gas dryer was lower than that of heat-pump dryer when the temperature was 20°C. But when the temperature was

Smad2, a receptor-activated Smad, plays a critical role in regulating gametogenesis. In this study, a smad2 homologue was identified and sequenced from ricefield eel ovary cDNA, and its mRNA and protein expression levels were analysed during oocyte development. The cDNA sequence of ricefield eel smad2 consisted of 1863 bp encoding a 467-amino acid protein that had high sequence homology with Smad proteins in other teleosts, especially in Poeciliopsis prolifica. The results of real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) analysis revealed that smad2 is expressed in the ovary during gonad development, increased continuously until the early vitellogenic stage in the ovaries, and then decreased with ovary maturation. Smad2 protein immunoreactivity was localized in the cytoplasm of follicular cells, oogonia, and primary growth stage oocytes. In vitro experiments revealed that follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) promoted smad2 expression in ovary tissue in a time- and dose-dependent manner, respectively. In summary, Smad2 plays a potentially vital role in ricefield eel ovary development.

Addressing respiratory infectious diseases remains one of the main priorities due to the increased risk of exposure caused by population growth, increasing international travel and commerce, and most recently, the COVID-19 outbreak. In the war against respiratory diseases, facemasks are powerful tools to obstruct the penetration of microorganisms, thereby protecting the wearer from infections. Nonetheless, the intercepted microorganisms on the surface of facemasks may proliferate and lead to secondary infection. To solve this problem, atomic layer deposition is introduced to deposit uniform and mechanically robust ZnO layers on polypropylene (PP) nonwoven fabrics, a widely used raw material in fabricating facemasks. The loading of ZnO demonstrates no adverse effects on the separation performance of facemasks, and the filtration efficiency of the facemasks towards different types of nanoparticles remains higher than 98.9%. Moreover, the modified PP nonwoven fabrics are granted with excellent antibacterial activity and photocatalytic sterilization ability, which can inactivate both germ-negative and germ-positive bacteria (E. coli and S. aureus) effectively with and without light illumination. Therefore, the modified PP nonwoven fabrics are potential candidates to be used as the outer layer on facemasks and endow them with photocatalytic antibacterial activity.

As an advanced gas phase deposition technique, molecular layer deposition (MLD) has recently emerged as a precisely controllable method to fabricate organic-inorganic hybrid materials such as metalcones and hybrid films. Porous structures can be prepared by thermally removing the organic constituents of the metalcones deposited by MLD. Herein, we revealed that there is a crystallization-induced volume shrinkage during thermal treatment of metalcone films. By taking advantage of both the chemical degradation of organic moieties of metalcone films and the crystallization-induced volume shrinkage, we built microporous TiO2 layers on porous ceramic substrates and obtained nanofiltration and tight ultrafiltration membranes with tunable molecular-weight-cut-off (MWCO) in the range between 630 Da and 3050 Da. Firstly, 50 MLD cycles of titanicone (TiEG) were deposited on the near-surface of plate ceramic ultrafiltration membranes to achieve a compact layer, which was then subjected to calcination at different temperatures to remove the organic constituents. The bare membrane with a water permeance of ∼130 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 and MWCO of ∼63 kDa was upgraded from ultrafiltration to nanofiltration with ∼7 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 permeance and ∼630 Da MWCO after MLD and calcination at 250 °C. Moreover, as the microporous TiO2 was transformed from amorphous to crystalline with rising calcination temperatures, there was higher volume shrinkage and larger effective pore sizes. Consequently, both water permeance and MWCOs of the membranes were increased. For instance, the membranes after calcination at 400 °C showed a tight ultrafiltration performance of ∼30 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 permeance and ∼3050 Da MWCO. This work provides a simple and effective way to fabricate ceramic membranes with tunable performances between ultrafiltration, tight ultrafiltration, and nanofiltration.

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is an energy-efficient and environment-benign process to produce fresh water. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising building blocks in constructing high-performance CDI electrodes. Nevertheless, the strong hydrophobicity of CNTs significantly impedes their applications in aqueous environment. Herein, hydrophilic CNT-based membrane electrodes are obtained via atomic layer deposition (ALD). We demonstrate, for the first time, that ALD is an efficient and flexible means of enhancing the CDI performance of free-standing CNT membrane electrodes by depositing TiO2 nanoparticles on the surface of CNTs. The CNT membranes display preferable electrosorption behavior after moderate ALD cycle numbers and stable reusability in the desalination process.

Synthetic dye pollution is a worldwide problem and quick remedies are urgently needed. Photocatalysis is a promising method to solve this problem and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are promising components in producing high-performance composite photocatalysts. Nevertheless, the strong hydrophobicity dramatically impedes its application in aqueous environments. In this study, hydrophilic CNT-hybrid metal oxides (ZnO and TiO2) membranes were prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD). We demonstrate that ALD is an efficient and flexible method to enhance the photocatalytic activity of CNT-based membranes, especially the membranes used in wastewater treatments. The hybrid hexagonal wurtzite ZnO and anatase TiO2 on CNTs after calcination could effectively enhance electron transfer and reduce photo-generated electron-holes recombination. The membranes exhibit preferable photocatalytic activity and stable reusability in dye degradation. This strategy of “ALD on CNTs” is expected to create other CNT-based membranes with additional functionalities and has bright prospect for wastewater treatments.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Gymnocypris potanini firmispinatus was sequenced and compared with others Gymnocypris species. The mitochondrial genome, consisting of 16,680 base pairs (bp), encoded 13 protein-coding genes, 2 ribosomal RNAs, 22 transfer RNAs and a non-coding control region, as those found in other Gymnocypris species. These results can provide useful data for further studies on taxonomic status, molecular systematics and stock evaluation.

Endophytic fungi play important roles for host's stress tolerance including invasion by pathogenic microbes. Small molecules are common weapons in the microbe-microbe interactions. Panax notoginseng is a widely used traditional Chinese medicinal plant and harbors many endophytes, some exert functions against pathogens. Here, we report six new compounds named myrothins A-F (1-6) produced by Myrothecium sp. BS-31, an endophyte isolated from P. notoginseng, and their antifungal activities against pathogenic fungi causing host root-rot disease. Their structures were elucidated with analysis of spectroscopic data including 1D and 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS. Myrothins B (2) and E (5) showed the weak activity against Fusarium oxysporum and Phoma herbarum, and myrothins F (6) showed weak activity against F. oxysporum.

The analysis of biodiversity spatial patterns and the detection of hotspots are effective ways for conservation planning and scientific management of biodiversity. Based on field investigation, historical data and literature information, we constructed the comprehensive index of biodiversity by considering habitat quality, species diversity and landscape diversity within Chongqing Pengxi River Wetland Nature Reserve. Combined with spatial autocorrelation analysis, we analyzed spatial distribution pattern and the degree of spatial autocorrelation of biodiversity in the nature reserve, identified biodiversity hotspots, and discussed the protection effectiveness of existing nature reserve for the hotspots. The results showed that the spatial pattern of biodiversity in the nature reserve tended to decrease with the increases of distance from the river and riparian zone. Areas with high value of biodiversity index were mainly concentrated in Pengxi River, Puli River, Baijiaxi Stream and alongshore areas. There was significant positive correlation in the spatial distribution of biodiversity. The spatial autocorrelation of local areas was mainly characterized by high-high aggregation and low-low aggregation. The area of biodiversity hotspots was 457 hm生物多样性空间格局和热点区域的分析与探测是进行生物多样性保护规划和科学管理的有效途径。以重庆澎溪河湿地自然保护区为例,基于实地综合调查、历史资料、文献信息,利用生境质量指数、物种多样性和景观多样性评价指标,构建生物多样性综合指数。结合空间自相关分析,揭示保护区生物多样性空间分布格局及其空间自相关程度,并识别生物多样性热点区,探讨现有保护区对热点区域的保护有效性。结果表明: 保护区生物多样性空间格局呈现出随距河流及两岸消落带距离的增加而减少的趋势,生物多样性指数高值区主要集中在澎溪河、普里河、白夹溪及其沿岸地区。生物多样性在空间分布上具有显著的正相关性,局部空间自相关以高-高聚集和低-低聚集类型为主。生物多样性热点区域面积为457 hm

Porous polypropylene hollow fiber (PPHF) membranes are widely used in liquid purification. However, the hydrophobicity of polypropylene (PP) has limited its applications in water treatment. Herein, we demonstrate that, for the first time, atomic layer deposition (ALD) is an effective strategy to conveniently upgrade the filtration performances of PPHF membranes. The chemical and morphological changes of the deposited PPHF membranes are characterized by spectral, compositional, microscopic characterizations and protein adsorption measurements. Al2O3 is distributed along the cross section of the PP hollow fibers, with decreasing concentration from the outer surface to the inner surface. The pore size of the outer surface can be easily turned by altering the ALD cycles. Interestingly, the hollow fibers become much more ductile after deposition as their elongation at break is increased more than six times after deposition with 100 cycles. The deposited membranes show simultaneously enhanced water permeance and retention after deposition with moderate ALD cycle numbers. For instance, after 50 ALD cycles a 17% increase in water permeance and one-fold increase in BSA rejection are observed. Moreover, the PP membranes exhibit improved fouling-resistance after ALD deposition.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are important building blocks to produce high-performance membranes. However, the strong hydrophobicity significantly hinders their applications in aqueous systems. Herein, we demonstrate, for the first time, that atomic layer deposition (ALD) is an efficient and flexible method to upgrade the permselectivity of CNT-based membranes. We ALD-deposit ZnO on fabrics of multi-walled carbon nanotubes. ZnO grows on the CNT surface as nanoparticulates initially and then forms conformal layers wrapping the CNTs. The originally hydrophobic surface of CNTs is progressively turned to be highly hydrophilic with rising ALD cycles. The deposition of ZnO on CNTs significantly promotes the surface wettability of the CNT membranes on one hand, and endows the membrane an enhanced mechanical stability on the other. The CNT membranes exhibit simultaneously upgraded water permeability and retention in the ultrafiltration category after ALD for moderate cycle numbers. With ever increased ALD cycles, the retention is further improved while the water permeability is decreased due to the competing effect of the increased hydrophilicity and narrowed pores. The strategy of “ALD on CNT substrates” is expected to produce other robust membranes with additional functionalities dependent on the materials to be deposited by ALD.

Carbon nanotube (CNT) membranes are widely used electrode materials in capacitive deionization (CDI) processes, while the limited electrosorption capacity and poor long-term stability need to improve. In this work, a pH-responsive block copolymer (BCP), poly (2-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate)-block-polystyrene (PDMAEMA-b-PS) is combined with the selective swelling to fabricate a CNT membrane based multipurpose electrode. After BCP coating and selective swelling, the PDMAEMA blocks migrate onto the membrane surface and protonate during the CDI processes, which enhance the attraction between electrode and anions. Therefore, the BCP coated electrodes can be used as high performance anodes in the hybrid CDI (HCDI) module. Experiment results show that the initial solution pH values have significant influence on the CDI performance of the HCDI module. The maximum removal efficiencies of the HCDI module towards NaCl and NaH2PO4 are ~15 mg·g−1 and ~38.7 mg·g−1, respectively. Moreover, the chemical and mechanical stabilities of the anodes are significantly enhanced. No anode oxidation can be observed during CDI processes and the frequently occurred co-ion repulsion effect is suppressed. Considering these advantages, the combination of BCPs and selective swelling will be a promising candidate for the development of HCDI module.

Tight ultrafiltration (TUF) membranes featuring specific pore sizes are increasingly developed to bridge the gap between nanofiltration and ultrafiltration. So far, a wealth of efforts has been devoted to tackle the limitation found in TUF, but there still lacks a facile accessibility to upgrade TUF membranes with simultaneously improved permeance and selectivity. Herein, we report a large-pore covalent organic framework (LP-COF) as the building material to prepare ultra-permeable TUF membranes for fast separations. The LP-COF layers with an exceptionally large aperture size of up to ~3.6 nm are synthesized on macroporous substrates through a unidirectional diffusion method. The resultant LP-COF layers show a moderate crystallinity and low thickness down to ~60 nm, and allow ultrafast water permeation. Surprisingly, the optimal LP-COF membrane exhibits an unprecedented water permeance of ~3147 L m−2 h−1 MPa−1 with a high Congo red rejection (~92.6%), which is basically unchanged after several cycles of filtration. Moreover, the large-pore channels enable an unimpeded pass of ions, thus affording the membrane an excellent dye/salt separation competence, and largely exceeding state-of-the-art membranes. Therefore, this work opens up a new opportunity in producing high-performance TUF membranes by large-pore COFs for rapid and precise separations.

Background and Hypothesis: Accurate record linkage is essential to address fragmentation of patient data across independent healthcare organizations. To accurately evaluate record linkage methods, so-called “gold standard” data sets with labeled true matches and non-matches are needed. Human review, the process of manually assessing potentially linked patient demographic records and determining whether the record pair belongs to an idiosyncratic individual, is needed to create these datasets. However, the human review process is susceptible to bias and human error. Consequently, record linkage accuracy evaluations are prone to be biased by inaccurate gold standards. Consistent and scientifically rigorous methods for creating gold standard record linkage data sets must be developed, as none have yet been described. In this study, we describe a repeatable process for developing consistent manually reviewed datasets and analyze the results obtained from 15 human reviews of 200 record pairs following our protocol. Experimental Design/Methods: We obtained patient records from the Indiana Network for Patient Care and Marion County Health Department. We created record pairs for manual reviews by probabilistically linking datasets using multiple blocking schemes. Two-hundred record pairs were then manually reviewed by 15 different individuals and the results were analyzed. Results: Across the 200 record pairs reviewed by 15 reviewers, 155 were nondiscordant pairs whereas 45 were discordant, 40 among which were the result of outliers. Conclusion and Potential Impact: From the record pair evaluation results, some empirical rules can be established for the process of manual review, though the nuances of evaluation reasoning require more discussion and a larger sample size. Nonetheless, establishing a standard for manual reviewing is a step towards better health care and complete patient records.

Big data is the key support of smart city. At present, the application of big data technology is more and more mature, which provides a new way for the development of smart city. In this underground, the development of smart city is imminent. Singapore ranks among the best in the world in terms of smart city, and its experience is worth learning. This article makes a theoretical analysis of the construction of smart cities and introduces the development of smart cities in China. Then it analyses the case of Singapore’s smart national planning, summarizes Singapore’s experience, and finally puts forward some inspiration for the development of China’s smart city.

Processing two-dimensional (2D) covalent organic frameworks (COFs) into nanofilms has gained widespread attention in water treatment. However, the designed synthesis of COF-based membranes for ion separations still remains a huge challenge though the strategies to produce COF molecular separation membranes have been greatly developed. Herein, we report the construction of bi-layered COF nanofilms for efficient desalination through a simple yet effective secondary growth. The suggested strategy is capable of easily regulating the growth of another COF layer on the pre-synthesized first layer, thus producing crystalline and defect-free bi-layered COF nanofilms with distinct laminated structures. Most importantly, the offset channels are involved at the interface of two nanofilms obtained from the first and secondary growth, which leads to a constricted effective aperture that significantly enhances the ion separation performance. Specifically, the bi-layered COF nanofilms composited with macroporous supports exhibit high rejection rates (~95.8%) to Na2SO4, observably surpassing the desalination performance of single-layered COF nanofilms (rejection

Ultrafiltration membranes derived from block copolymers (BCPs) are gaining much attention for their superiority in tunable pore structures and intrinsic surface functions. In terms of the practical applications of BCP membranes, simple and efficient manufacturing processes are essential and remain highly demanded. Herein, we propose a facile process to prepare BCP composite membranes by spray-coating polysulfone/poly(ethylene glycol) (PSF-b-PEG) solutions onto macroporous substrates. A small amount of nonsolvent (water) is added into the BCP solutions to act as the pore-forming agent. During spray coating, the evaporation of solvent and the rising water content lead to phase separation of BCP solutions in the atomized droplets. Subsequent drying removes water, and the volumes occupied by water are transformed into nanoscale pores, thus producing bi-layered composite membranes with the nanoporous BCP coatings as the selective layers atop the macroporous substrates. Water-affinitive PEG chains in PSF-b-PEG are crucial to adsorb and stabilize water droplets during pore formation. The thickness of the BCP selective layers is predominantly determined by the dosage of the sprayed BCP solutions, enabling tunable separation properties of the BCP membranes. In spite of the extremely simple preparation process, thus produced membranes exhibit good ultrafiltration performances, comparable or better than that of membranes prepared by much more complicated processes. Furthermore, PEG chains are enriched on pore walls, endowing the membranes an intrinsic fouling resistance.

Absorption is an effective method to collect oil spills and solvent leakages from water. However, the currently used oil absorbents are still suffering from high cost, tedious preparation, and low recyclability. In this work, we report an extremely simple and low-cost strategy to produce oil absorbents by directly coupling alkoxysilane onto the surface of polyurethane foams. Such direct silanization renders the initially amphiphilic foams a strong hydrophobicity and consequently a water-repelling and oil-absorptive functionality. The silanized foams exhibit highest absorption capacities as well as best recyclability among all polyurethane-based oil absorbents. More practically, the silanized PU foams can be used to recover crude oil spills with an absorption capacity of higher than 75 times of their own weight, and maintain 90% of the initial absorption capacity after 8 times reusage. Interestingly, we invent portable oil suckers for continuous oil absorption from water by filling vacuum cleaners with the silanized foams. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

To fabricate a novel photocatalyst material with high efficiency, ZnO seeds were uniformly deposited on carbon fibers (CFs) via atomic layer deposition (ALD) followed by hydrothermal growth of ZnO nanorods (NRs). Then Pt particles were dispersed on ZnO NRs using the magnetron sputtering method, and the grain size of Pt particles was in the range of 2–5 nm. Significantly, the resultant Pt@ZnO NRs/CFs composites exhibited better photocatalytic performance than normal ZnO NR coated CFs as demonstrated in the degradation of methyl orange (MO) solution, which may be due to the synergistic effect between the Pt nanoparticles and ZnO NRs. After a period of light irradiation, the degradation rates of methyl orange (MO) dye solution are as follows: 72% for ZnO NRs/CFs and 99.8% for Pt@ZnO NRs/CFs. In addition, this novel hierarchical photocatalyst can be easily recycled with good performance and stability.

Laboratory-reared Schizothorax davidi larvae and juveniles were examined to assess the formation and characteristics of David’s schizothoracin otoliths. Otolith development was observed and their formation period was verified by monitoring larvae and juveniles of known age. The results revealed that lapilli and sagittae developed before hatching, and the first otolith increment was identified at 2 days post hatching in both. The shape of lapilli was relatively stable during development compared with that of sagittae; however, growth of four sagittae and lapilli areas was consistent, but the posterior area grew faster than the anterior area and the ventral surface grew faster than the dorsal surface. Similarly, the sum length of the radius of the anterior and posterior areas on sagittae and lapilli were linearly and binomially related to total fish length, respectively. Moreover, daily deposition rates were validated by monitoring known-age larvae and juveniles. The increase in lapilli width was 1.88±0.080 0 μm at the ninth increment, which reached a maximum and the decreased gradually toward the otolith edge, whereas that of sagittae increased more slowly. These results illustrate the developmental biology of S. davidi, which will aid in population conservation and fish stock management.

Molecular layer deposition (MLD) for the deposition of polyimide (PI) at low temperature of 110 °C has been firstly introduced into the field of membrane separation. With the optimized MLD deposition parameters, such low deposition temperature has successfully expanded the application of MLD for the surface modification of polymeric materials. Globular PI particulates grow on both the free surfaces as well as the pore walls of the polypropylene (PP) membranes as isolated islands during progressive precursor exposures. The PI-deposited PP membranes exhibit synergistically improved performances in various aspects. Evidently improved surface hydrophilicity and permeation performance (30%) have been achieved via the MLD deposition of polyimide films. The overall separation efficiency maintained higher than 85% even after 250 cycles of MLD deposition. More importantly, the thermal stability has been improved and the integrity of the porous structure for PI-deposited PP membranes has been well preserved even after harsh treatment, which ensures its potential application in industries.

In this work, zinc oxide (ZnO) is deposited onto porous polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes via atomic layer deposition (ALD) and thus produced ZnO-deposited PTFE membranes are used as adsorbents for the removal of dyes from aqueous solutions. We first examine the evolution of morphology, wettability, and crystallization of PTFE membranes with ZnO ALD. The presence of ZnO nanoparticulates significantly promotes the diffusion and contact of the aqueous solutions within the membrane on one hand, and endows the membrane a strong capability to adsorb dyes from the solutions on the other. Kinetic studies reveal that the adsorption of rhodamine B and acid orange 7 by the ZnO-deposited PTFE membranes can be described by the pseudo-second-order and pseudo-first-order model, respectively, and the adsorption of both dyes follows the Langmuir isotherm. The used membranes can be easily regenerated by rinsing with ethanol and reused for multiple times without loss of removal efficiency. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 3982–3991, 2016

Polytetrafluoroethylene hollow-fiber membranes (PTFE HFMs) with attractive advantages are highly promising for many applications, but strong hydrophobicity limits their uses in aqueous systems. To address this challenge, we propose to coat ultra-thin layers of alumina by atomic layer deposition (ALD) to upgrade performances of PTFE HFMs in water treatment. However, ALD usually requires time- and labor-consuming trial-and-error to optimize operating parameters. Herein, we use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to identify most appropriate ALD parameters for PTFE HFMs functionalization. Following the CFD-optimized parameters, the ALD-treated membranes obtain significantly improved permselectivity and fouling resistance because of the remarkable increase in wettability at negligible cost in pore sizes. Impressively, water permeability of membranes is nearly doubled while rejection is increased by ~20%, which is seldom achieved by other methods. This CFD-optimized ALD process is expected to be a universal strategy to efficiently enhance the performances of polymeric membranes.

To determine the effects of arsenic and estrogen receptor antagonist (ICI182, 780) on the expression of estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) in alveolar Ⅱ epithelial cells (AECⅡ) of female and male mice.Nineteen or twenty day fetus mice were obtained through caesarean section of ICR mice. Purified AECⅡ cells were separated from the female and male fetus,respectively,and confirmed using immunofluorescence staining. The cells were exposed to sodium arsenite (NaAsOPurity of AECⅡ cells reached (87.0±2.5)%. NaAsOArsenic exposure increases expressions of AECⅡ's ERβ,more so in female cells than in male cells. This can be blocked by estrogen receptor antagonists.

Functional membranes with separation ability for water/oil mixtures based on contrasting wetting behavior have recently received significant attention in the application field of water contamination treatment. Herein, we demonstrated a surface functionalization method for cost-efficient nonwoven fabrics with no selectivity of water/oil mixture. This nonwoven membrane was fabricated by hydrothermal growth of ZnO hierarchical nanorods on the surface of atomic-layer-deposited ZnO ultrathin layer. Due to the ZnO nanostructure with roughened morphology and the amphiphilic nature of the nonwoven fabrics, the functionalized nonwoven membranes were endowed with both underwater oleophobicity and under oil hydrophobicity. Separation of any phase in the mixture of water and oil can be achieved simply by pre-wetting the nonwoven membrane surface with the heavier component. Driven by gravity solely, the as-prepared nonwoven membranes can efficiently and selectively separate water/oil mixtures with exceptional stability. These functionalized nonwoven membranes may find potential application against complex water/oil separation systems.

To investigate the polymorphisms in interleukin 17AA case-control study among 193 subjects, including 67 subjects in case group and 126 in control group was conducted. PCR-RFLP was applied to genotypeThe genotypes analysis showed that the proportions ofUnder the same dust concentration, the dust exposed workers carrying

It remains a great challenge for the simple and affordable production of membranes for oil/water separation. We prepare low-cost but highly efficient paper-based membranes for oil/water separation through hydrophobic modification to filter papers. The simple modification contains only two steps: a thin layer of aluminum oxide is first coated on the surface of the filter paper by atomic layer deposition, and silane molecules are subsequently coupled on the precoated aluminum oxide layer via their reaction with hydroxyl groups on the surface. Both the alumina layer and the silanization layer are very thin with a total thickness less than 10 nm. The modified filter paper is endowed with strong hydrophobicity and oleophilicity, therefore exhibits strongly retarded permeation to water and enhanced permeation to nonpolar oils. The modified filter paper is demonstrated to show excellent separation efficiencies greater than 90% in the separation of various types of oils and organic solvents from their mixtures wi...

The experiments are designed to study influence of different loading mass and microwave power on drying kidney beans. A conclusion is obtained that all the two factors significantly affect dehydration and power consumption. When the power level increased, the dehydration rate increased while the drying energy consumption decreased. The same water loss will consume more energy when the moisture content is less than about 300 (w%,d.b.). The sensory quality of the dried samples decreased with increase first-stage of power and second-stage power when the power was more than 1.6kW/kg and 1.0kW/kg.

In order to purify lactoferrin from crude sweet whey in one step, an expanded bed adsorption process was proposed with cation-exchanger Fastline SP. A series of experiments were carried out to assess the possibility of this process and optimize the operating conditions. First the adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of lactoferrin with Fastline SP were measured. The results indicated that Fastline SP had a fast adsorption of lactoferrin and was suitable for high-velocity operation. Then the expansion properties, liquid mixing, and breakthrough behaviors in the expanded bed were investigated, and the expansion factor was set at 2.0. In addition, the elution condition was optimized as 0.5 M NaCl in the phosphate buffer (pH 7.0). Finally, lactoferrin was successfully recovered with a high purity of 88.5% and a reasonable recovery of 77.1% in a single step. The purification factor reached 553.

For flood control purpose, the water level of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) varies significantly. The annual reservoir surface elevation amplitude is about 30 m behind the dam. Filling of the reservoir has created about 349 km(2) of newly flooded riparian zone. The average flooding period lasts for more than 6 months, from mid-October to late April. The dam and its associated reservoir provide flood control, power generation, and navigation, but there are also many environmental challenges. The littoral zone is the important part of the TGR, once its eco-health and stability are damaged,which will directly endanger the ecological safety of the whole reservoir area and even the Yangtze River Basin. So, understanding the great ecological opportunities which are hidden in littoral zone of TGR (LZTGR) and putting forward approaches to solve the environmental problems are very important. LZTGR involves a wide field of problems, such as the landslides, potential water pollution, soil erosion, biodiversity loss, land cover changes, and other issues. The Three Gorges dam (TGD) is a major trigger of environmental change in the Yangtze River. The landslides, water quality, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, dam operation, and challenge for land use are closely interrelated across spatial and temporal scales. Therefore, the ecological and environmental impacts caused by TGD are necessarily complex and uncertain. LZTGR is not only a great environmental challenge but also an ecological opportunity for us. In fact, LZTGR is an important structural unit of TGR ecosystem and has special ecosystem services function. Vegetation growing in LZTGR is therefore a valuable resource due to accumulation of carbon and nutrients. Everyone thinks that the ecological approach to the problem is needed. If properly designed, dike-pond systems, littoral woods systems, and re-created waterfowl habitats will have the capacity to capture nutrients from uplands and obstruct soil erosion. Ecological engineering approaches can therefore reduce environmental impacts of LZTGR and optimize ecological services. In view of the current situation and existing ecological problems of LZTGR, according to function demands such as environmental purification, biodiversity conservation, and vegetation carbon sink enhancement, we should explore the eco-friendly utilization mode of resources in LZTGR. Ecological engineering approaches might minimize the impacts or optimize the ecological services. Natural regeneration and ecological restoration in LZTGR are valuable for soil erosion decrease, pollutant purification, biodiversity conservation, carbon sink increase, and ecosystem health maintenance in TGR.

// James Haley 1 , Sunil Tomar 1 , Nicholas Pulliam 1 , Sen Xiong 1 , Susan M. Perkins 2 , Adam R. Karpf 3 , Sumegha Mitra 1, 4 , Kenneth P. Nephew 1, 5, 6 , Anirban K. Mitra 1, 5, 7 1 Medical Sciences Program, Indiana University School of Medicine, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA 2 Department of Biostatistics, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA 3 Eppley Institute and Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA 4 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA 5 Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA 6 Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA 7 Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA Correspondence to: Anirban K. Mitra, email: anmitra@indiana.edu Keywords: ovarian cancer, migration, invasion, proliferation, clonogenicity Received: January 27, 2016 Accepted: April 10, 2016 Published: April 27, 2016 ABSTRACT Genomic analysis of ovarian cancer cell lines has revealed a panel that best represents the most common ovarian cancer subtype, high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). However, these HGSOC-like cell lines have not been extensively applied by ovarian cancer researchers to date, and the most commonly used cell lines in the ovarian cancer field do not genetically resemble the major clinical type of the disease. For the HGSOC-like lines to serve as suitable models, they need to be characterized for common functional assays. To achieve that objective, we systematically studied a panel of HGSOC cells CAOV3, COV362, Kuramochi, OVCAR4, OVCAR5, OVCAR8, OVSAHO and SNU119 for migration, invasion, proliferation, clonogenicity, EMT phenotype and cisplatin resistance. They exhibited a range of efficacies and OVCAR5, OVCAR8 and Kuramochi were the most aggressive. SNU119 and OVSAHO cells demonstrated the lowest functional activities. Wide differences in expression of EMT markers were observed between cell lines. SNU119 were the most epithelial and OVCAR8 had the most mesenchymal phenotype. COV362 was the most resistant to cisplatin while CAOV3 was the most sensitive. Taken together, our systematic characterization represents a valuable resource to help guide the application of HGSOC cells by the cancer research community.

Xiamen North Railway Station integrates the structural form with the Chinese traditional Minnan architecture style, namely, one-way purline. It’s the first time in the world to combine the mega steel reinforced concrete tower column, large-span steel truss and curved box-section PC beam together to form an innovative mega hybrid frame structure as lateral and vertical force resisting system. This structural style satisfies the requirements of architectural profile and functions. The tower columns and the mega steel trusses are connected by steel plates and prestressed tendons, which successfully solves the problem of the connections between the large-span steel trusses and their supports.Xiamen North Railway Station is the world’s first structure using the innovative space grid roof consisting of bi-directional unequal height intersection trusses with spans of 132m×220m. An innovative steel cylinder joint was designed and adopted to match the features of the innovative space grid structure.

Little detailed information is available on the microwave drying characteristics of potato and the use of different microwave powers to dry food products. Experiments were conducted to study the microwave drying characteristics and the dried quality of potato. The study focuses on describing the microwave drying characteristics of potato and discussing the effect of sample thickness, drying power and mass. The results show that if the power level increases, the mass load decreases and the thickness of the sample decreases, the dehydration rate increases and the drying energy consumption decreases. There are two falling rate periods during microwave drying of potato: the first falling rate period is for a moisture content of more then 1.1 (dry basis, DB); the second falling rate period is for a moisture content of less than 1.1 (DB). The same water loss will consume more energy when the moisture content is less than 1.1 (DB). A two-stage drying process was employed during microwave drying of potato. The microwave power of the first drying stage differed form that of the second drying stage. The moisture content of the breakpoint for the conversion of the first drying stage into the second drying stage is a moisture content of 1.1 (DB). A quadratic orthogonal regression experiment was conducted, and the effects of slice thickness, the first drying load power and the second drying load power on sensory quality, the rehydration ratio and the energy consumption rate were established. The slice thickness, the first drying load power and the second drying load power linearly affected the three indices. The effect of the product of the second drying load power and the potato slice thickness on the rehydration ratio and the energy consumption rate is significant. The optimum drying parameter combination for the three indices was obtained. The rehydration ratio of the dried products decreased with an increase of the second drying load power and the slice thickness. The concave curves of the sensory quality versus the three factors were shown.