ALBERT

Description: For silage production, high bulk density (BD) is critical to minimize aerobic deterioration facilitated by oxygen intrusion. To precisely assess packing quality for bunker silos, there is a desire to visualize the BD distribution within the silage. In this study, a penetrometer-based mapping system was developed. The data processing included filtering of the penetration friction component (PFC) out of the penetration resistance (PR), transfer of the corrected penetration resistance (PRc) to BD, incorporation of Kriged interpolation for data expansion and map generation. The experiment was conducted in a maize bunker silo (width: 8 m, middle height: 3 m). The BD distributions near the bunker silo face were represented using two map groups, one related to horizontal- and the other to vertical-density distribution patterns. We also presented a comparison between the map-based BD results and core sampling data. Agreement between the two measurement approaches (RMSE = 19.175 kg·m−3) demonstrates that the developed penetrometer mapping system may be beneficial for rapid assessment of aerobic deterioration potential in bunker silos.

Description: Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) CASC8 rs10505477 polymorphism has been identified to be related to risk of many kinds of cancers, such as colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, and invasive ovarian cancer, and it may be involved in the prognosis of gastric cancer patients who have received platinum-based chemotherapy after surgical treatment. So far, there is no study investigating the clinical significance of lncRNA CASC8 rs10505477 in lung cancer susceptibility and treatment. In this study, we genotyped 498 lung cancer patients and 213 healthy control subjects to explore the correlation between the rs10505477 polymorphism and lung cancer risk in a Chinese population. Among the 498 patients, 467 were selected for the chemotherapy response and toxicity study. We found that the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) rs10505477 was greatly related to lung cancer risk in male and adenocarcinoma subgroups in recessive model (adjusted OR = 0.51, 95%CI = 0.29–0.90, p = 0.02; adjusted OR = 0.52, 95%CI = 0.30–0.89, p = 0.02, respectively). It was also closely correlated with platinum-based chemotherapy response in dominant model (adjusted OR = 1.58, 95%CI = 1.05–2.39, p = 0.03). Additionally, we observed that CASC8 rs10505477 polymorphism was significantly relevant to severe hematologic toxicity in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) subgroup in dominant model (adjusted OR = 0.59, 95%CI = 0.35–0.98, p = 0.04) and in additive model (adjusted OR = 0.62, 95%CI = 0.43–0.90, p = 0.01). Furthermore, it was found that rs10505477 polymorphism was greatly associated with gastrointestinal toxicity in SCLC and cisplatin subgroups in dominant model (adjusted OR = 7.82, 95%CI = 1.36–45.07, p = 0.02; adjusted OR = 1.94, 95%CI = 1.07–3.53, p = 0.03, respectively). Thus, lncRNA CASC8 rs10505477 could serve as a possible risk marker for diagnosing lung cancer, and could be used to forecast the response and toxicity of platinum-based treatment in lung cancer patients.

Description: Dysregulated long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been found in human diseases, especially in cancer. Emerging evidence indicates that dysregulated lncRNAs are implicated in tumorigenesis and cancer progression. LncRNA AB073614 characterized as a new candidate lncRNA promotes the development of ovarian cancer. However, the role of lncRNA AB073614 in human gliomas remains unknown. The expression of AB073614 was detected in 65 glioma tissues and 13 normal brain tissues by qRT-PCR, showing that lncRNA AB073614 expression was significantly up-regulated in cancerous tissues compared with normal brain tissues (p 〈 0.001), and it was positively correlated with tumor grade (I–II grades vs. III–IV grades, p = 0.013) in glioma patients. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that increased AB073614 expression contributed to poor overall survival (HR (hazard ratio) = 1.952, 95%CI: 1.202–3.940, p = 0.0129). Further, univariate Cox regression analysis indicated that lncRNA AB073614 overexpression was an unfavorable prognostic factor in gliomas (HR = 1.997, 95%CI: 1.135–3.514, p = 0.016), regardless of the tumor grade (I–II grades vs. III–IV grades, HR = 1.902, 95%CI: 1.066–3.391, p = 0.029). Finally, after adjustment with age, sex, tumor grade and tumor location, multivariate Cox regression analysis suggested that both highly expressed lncRNA AB073614 (HR = 2.606, 95%CI: 1.408–4.824, p = 0.002) and high tumor grade (III–IV grades, HR = 2.720, 95%CI: 1.401–5.282, p = 0.003) could be considered independent poor prognostic indicators for glioma patients. In conclusion, our study suggested that increased lncRNA AB073614 expression may be identified as a poor prognostic biomarker in gliomas.

Description: Water, Vol. 10, Pages 1101: Analysis of Irrigation Canal System Characteristics in Heilongjiang Province and the Influence on Irrigation Water Use Efficiency Water doi: 10.3390/w10081101 Authors: Tianxiao Li Mengxin Sun Qiang Fu Song Cui Dong Liu Irrigation water use efficiency is a primary evaluation index that links economic production development with the efficient use of water resources. Canal water conveyance is an important part of irrigation, and the distribution characteristics of canal systems have an important influence on irrigation water use efficiency. In this paper, 75 irrigated districts in Heilongjiang Province in 2015 were selected as the study objects. The main, branch, lateral, and sublateral canals were graded into first-, second-, third-, and fourth-order classes, respectively. The irrigation districts were divided into three classes, that is, four-order, three-order, and two-order, according to the canal orders that the irrigation districts contained. The canal system framework was described by Horton’s law. The fractal dimension of the canal system was calculated based on the bifurcation ratio and length ratio of the canals. The relationships between fractal dimensions and irrigation water use efficiency were evaluated. The results showed that the irrigation water use efficiency of the four-order and three-order irrigation districts initially increased and then decreased with increases in the fractal dimension (D). In the irrigation districts, an irrigation water use efficiency of more than 10 × 103 hm2 and less than 0.67 × 103 hm2 was proportional to the increase in the fractal dimension, whereas the opposite result was found for districts with (0.67–10) × 103 hm2. The irrigation water use efficiency of the four-order and two-order irrigation districts with less than 3.3 × 103 hm2 had the greatest potential to increase the water use efficiency. Therefore, canal system reconstruction suggestions for different irrigation districts were provided. The results have important theoretical significance and practical value for the improvement of irrigation construction and the promotion of irrigation water efficiency planning.

Description: In this paper, an inexact two-stage stochastic programming model was developed for supporting regional water resource allocation management under uncertainties. The proposed model is an integrated framework of interval parameter programming and two-stage stochastic programming, which can tackle uncertain parameters expressed as interval values with probability distribution information. The proposed model was successfully applied to a typical heavy industrial city suffering water shortage in the east of China, Tianjin. The uncertainties of future water demand were taken into account through generating a set of representative scenarios. The results indicated that different scenarios would affect the water distribution patterns, water shortages, total benefits and system cost. The results revealed that the transferred water from Luan River and Changjiang River would still be the main water resource for each water user. Besides, nearly all water demand in planning horizon would be guaranteed through the reasonable dispatch except under high demand level scenario, in which a small proportion of water requirement in agricultural, municipal and environmental sectors would not be satisfied. The developed method could be used by environmental managers to identify the optimal water supply plan from multiple sources to different end-user sectors under system uncertainties.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 10, Pages 1236: Spatiotemporal Patterns of Extreme Temperature across the Huai River Basin, China, during 1961–2014, and Regional Responses to Global Changes Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su10041236 Authors: Peng Sun Qiang Zhang Rui Yao Vijay Singh Changqing Song Global warming and its relevant effects have aroused increasing human concerns in recent decades. These anomalies are likely influencing vegetation dynamics and ecosystem stability. This paper aims to dissect extreme temperature variations in both space and time, and related regional responses to global warming in the Huai River Basin. Using the daily maximum and minimum air temperature at 153 stations across the Huai River Basin, China, covering the period of 1961–2014, trends and relations amongst extreme air temperature indices were analyzed, and regional responses of the Huai River Basin to global warming process were also investigated. The results indicated that: (1) widespread increasing trends can be observed in maximum and minimum air temperature, with the largest increasing magnitude of 0.4 °C per decade and 1.3 °C per decade, respectively. The minimum air temperature regimes have a larger increasing magnitude than the maximum air temperatures. (2) There is an increasing trend in the extreme maximum temperature indices, and the increasing rates of TN90p and TR20 are greater than those of the other extreme maximum temperature indices. However, the extreme minimum temperature indices, except for consecutive icy days (CID), show significant decreasing trends. The growing season length (GSL) would increase due to the joint action of (i) an increase in maximum temperature indices, and (ii) a decrease in minimum temperatures indices. Although increases in the GSL would be beneficial for increasing the growing time of crops, a decreased extreme minimum temperature and increased extreme maximum temperature may reduce the winter wheat yield. (3) Extreme low temperature indices show a larger changing magnitude than the extreme high temperature indices. Temporally, a larger changing magnitude can be identified for temperature indices during night-time than during daytime. Moreover, a larger changing magnitude and higher significance of trends of extreme temperature indices can be observed in the eastern Huai River Basin than in the western Huai River Basin. Particularly, we detect an even higher changing rate of extreme temperature indices in the southeastern Huai River Basin. These findings can be well explained by urban heat island effects resulting from urban aggregation across the Yangtze Delta. (4) The correlation between the extreme low temperature indices is slightly higher than that of the extreme high temperature indices. The changing trends of the most extreme temperature indices are closely related to latitude and altitude. Trends in the main extreme temperature indices of the Huai River Basin are essentially similar to those in other regions around the world, implying consistent spatial patterns of extreme temperature indices across the globe.

Description: Water, Vol. 10, Pages 470: Low Flow Regimes of the Tarim River Basin, China: Probabilistic Behavior, Causes and Implications Water doi: 10.3390/w10040470 Authors: Peng Sun Qiang Zhang Rui Yao Vijay Singh Changqing Song Droughts are a frequent occurrence in Xinjiang, China, and therefore fundamental to determining their hydrologic characteristics is low flow analysis. To that end, 11 probability distribution functions and 26 copulas functions were employed to analyze the changing characteristics of low flow regime (defined as seven-day low flow) of the Tarim River Basin. Results indicated that: (1) The Wakeby distribution satisfactorily described the probabilistic behavior of the low flow regime. According to Akaike Information Criterion (AIC), Bayesian Information Criterions (BIC), maximum likelihood, and other residual-based metrics, Tawn copula, Farlie–Gumbel–Morgenstern copula and Frank copula were the best choice and used in this current study. (2) After 1987, hydrological droughts of longer return periods were prone to higher occurrence frequency. (3) The low flow volume has been increasing in recent years due to the temperature-induced increase of snowmelt and increasing precipitation. However, hydrological droughts can be expected to occur due to the massive increase in water demand from the development of irrigated agriculture, increasing arable land and livestock farming. As a result, the water shortage in the lower Tarim River Basin will be increasingly severe under the influence of climate change and human activities. To alleviate the shortage would call for the development of water-saving agricultural irrigation, water-saving technology, conservation of eco-environment and sustainable development of local socio-economy.

Description: Energies, Vol. 11, Pages 1751: Improved Buffering Capacity and Methane Production by Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Corn Stalk and Straw Depolymerization Wastewater Energies doi: 10.3390/en11071751 Authors: Fuli Yang Wenzhe Li Mingchao Sun Qiang Li Mengyi Wang Yong Sun A new method has been developed to improve the buffer capacity and methane production of the anaerobic digestion of Corn Stalk (CS), in which both an anaerobic co-digestion of CS with Straw Depolymerization Wastewater (SDW) and a mono-digestion of CS at different substrate concentrations (25.9, 36.2 and 45.3 mg/L) were investigated. Batch assays were conducted under thermophilic conditions for 70 days, which showed that an anaerobic co-digestion significantly increased the buffering capacity and methane production of the digestion process. The lag time for methane generation resulting from an anaerobic co-digestion of CS with SDW was 10 days, while the lag time for a mono-digestion of CS was 23 days. A maximum methane production of 214.81 mL/g-VS was obtained for the anaerobic co-digestion of CS with SDW when the substrate concentration was 36.2 g/L, which was around 13.54% higher than for mono-digestion of CS of 189.20 mL/g-VS. The removal rate for sulfate increased from 10.43% to 58.40% when the substrate concentration was increased from 25.9 to 45.3 mg/L for the anaerobic co-digestion of CS with SDW. Microbial communities were analyzed using 16S rDNA sequencing technology which showed that anaerobic co-digestion of CS and SDW promotes the growth of methanogens. The relative abundance of these methanogens (Euryarchaeota) for the anaerobic co-digestion of CS with SDW was increased significantly, being approximately 8.25% higher than that of a mono-digestion of CS, which was at a substrate concentration of 36.2 g/L. This means that the anaerobic co-digestion of CS and SDW is beneficial for improving buffer capacity and methane production from the digestion of CS, with higher organic matter and sulfate removal rates also being obtained.

Description: Materials, Vol. 11, Pages 1312: Polymer-Functionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Characterization, and Methylene Blue Adsorption Materials doi: 10.3390/ma11081312 Authors: Xinyu Zheng Huaili Zheng Rui Zhao Yongjun Sun Qiang Sun Shixin Zhang Yongzhi Liu The removal of methylene blue (MB) from wastewater has attracted global concerns. In this study, polymer-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles for MB removal, Fe3O4@SiO2-MPS-g-AA-AMPS (FSMAA), were successfully synthesized by grafting acrylic acid (AA) and 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (AMPS) on the surface of vinyl-modified Fe3O4@SiO2. With various characterization techniques, it was confirmed that the obtained FSMAA had a core–shell structure, a good magnetic property, and plenty of functional groups on its surface. MB adsorption experiments showed that the adsorption capacity of FSMAA was notably enhanced as the grafted monomer concentration and solution pH were increased. The adsorption kinetic data and isothermal data were well described by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the Langmuir model, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity of FSMAA was 421.9 mg g−1 with grafted monomer concentration at 2.0 mol L−1 and solution pH at 9, much higher than those of other adsorbents stated in previous literatures. Based on XPS analysis, surface adsorption mechanism between FSMAA and MB was electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interaction. Furthermore, FSMAA was effectively regenerated by acid pickling, and the remaining adsorption capacity was more than 60% after eight adsorption–regeneration cycles. All the results demonstrated the self-made FSMAA was a desirable adsorbent to remove MB from wastewater.

Description: The Poyang Lake Basin has been suffering from severe water problems such as floods and droughts. This has led to great adverse impacts on local ecosystems and water resource utilization. It is therefore important to understand stream flow changes and their driving factors. In this paper, the dynamics of stream flow and precipitation in the Poyang Lake Basin between 1961 and 2012 were evaluated with the Mann–Kendall test, Theil–Sen approaches, Pettitt test, and Pearson’s correlation. Stream flow was measured at the outlets of five major tributaries of Poyang Lake, while precipitation was recorded by fourteen meteorological stations located within the Poyang Lake Basin. Results showed that annual stream flow of all tributaries and the precipitation over the study area had insignificant (P > 0.1) temporal trends and change points, while significant trends and shifts were found in monthly scale. Stream flow concentration indices (SCI) at Waizhou, Meigang, and Wanjiabu stations showed significant (P 〈 0.05) decreasing trends with change points emerging in 1984 at Waizhou and 1978 at Wanjiabu, while there was no significant temporal trend and change point detected for the precipitation concentration indices (PCI). Correlation analysis indicated that area-average stream flow was closely related to area-average precipitation, but area-average SCI was insignificantly correlated with area-average PCI after change point (1984). El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) had greater impacts on stream flow than other climate indices, and La Niña events played a more important role in stream flow changes than EI Niño. Human activities, particularly in terms of reservoir constructions, largely altered the intra-annual distribution of stream flow but its effects on the amount of stream flow were relatively low. Results of this study provided a useful reference to regional water resource management and the prevention of flood and drought disasters.