ALBERT

Description: Developing Pd-lean catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is the key for large-scale application of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In the present paper, we have proposed a multiple-descriptor strategy for designing efficient and durable ORR Pd-based alloy catalysts. We demonstrated that an ideal Pd-based bimetallic alloy catalyst for ORR should possess simultaneously negative alloy formation energy, negative surface segregation energy of Pd, and a lower oxygen binding ability than pure Pt. By performing detailed DFT calculations on the thermodynamics, surface chemistry and electronic properties of Pd-M alloys, Pd-V, Pd-Fe, Pd-Zn, Pd-Nb, and Pd-Ta, are identified theoretically to have stable Pd segregated surface and improved ORR activity. Factors affecting these properties are analyzed. The alloy formation energy of Pd with transition metals M can be mainly determined by their electron interaction. This may be the origin of the negative alloy formation energy for Pd-M alloys. The surface segregation energy of Pd is primarily determined by the surface energy and the atomic radius of M. The metals M which have smaller atomic radius and higher surface energy would tend to favor the surface segregation of Pd in corresponding Pd-M alloys.

Description: Steel alloys corrosion is ubiquitous and is conventionally protected by anticorrosion chromate coatings. However, the process suffers from the release of carcinogenic hexavalent chromium ions that needs to be replaced by an ecofriendly alternative. In this context, the need for the development of satisfactory ecofriendly chromium-free coating with superior corrosion performance is highly desirable. In the present study, we synthesized fully dispersible nanocrystalline Beta zeolite seeds and coated on steel alloys followed by steaming. The samples were characterized by XRD, FE-SEM, and DLS analyses. The anticorrosion behavior of the synthesized nanoparticle coatings on steel alloys was investigated by electrochemical measurements (DC polarization) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in NaCl and acid and alkaline media under identical experimental conditions. The present study demonstrated that the nanozeolite coating can be a potential alternative for toxic and carcinogenic chromate coating.

Description: Soil is useful as a kind of trace evidence for forensic science. Thus it is very crucial to identify sources of soil. The nanoscale soil organic matter (NSOMs) can be used to differentiate soil sources because their constituents and contents are relatively stable with time but variant by location. In this study, NSOMs from eighteen regions of Shandong Province in China were examined by middle infrared spectrum (4000–400 cm−1). The results showed that the constituents and contents of NSOMs in eighteen samples were dramatically different; a NSOM fingerprint for each sample was drawn based on these characteristics. This suggests that a national or global NSOM fingerprint database could be rapidly established by the one-step middle infrared spectrum analysis for different soil samples, which will be helpful to determine crime scenes by comparing the middle infrared spectrum of forensic soil with the NSOMs fingerprint database.

Description: Maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) nanopowders were synthesized under aeration (oxidizing) conditions by aqueous synthesis in this study. The microstructures of the prepared powders were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and BET-BJH. The XRD analysis and the chemical experiments showed that well-crystallized γ-Fe2O3 nanoparticles were successfully obtained with a mean particle size of approximately 17 nm. The prepared γ-Fe2O3 was spherical with a BET surface area of 14.357 m2/g and a total pore volume of 0.050 cm3/g. Varying the reaction conditions, such as pH, temperature, and reaction time, we obtained crystallized γ-Fe2O3 powders with different crystallization extent and different particle sizes. When the pH of the reaction suspension was increased, the reaction time was prolonged, and the reaction temperature was increased, the γ-Fe2O3 powders underwent superior crystallization and had larger particle sizes. All the obtained γ-Fe2O3 powders had significant photocatalytic activities under both UV and visible light irradiation for Orange I degradation, and the powders with better crystallization and larger particle size had relatively lower activities for Orange I photocatalytic degradation. The one-step aqueous synthesis method presented in this paper may provide an advantageous pathway to synthesize large quantities of this important iron oxide.

Description: An analysis of the stable isotopes and the major ions in the surface water and groundwater in the Leizhou Peninsula was performed to identify the sources and recharge mechanisms of the groundwater. In this study, 70 water samples were collected from rivers, a lake, and pumping wells. The surface water was considered to have a lower salinity than the groundwater in the region of study. The regression equations for δD and δ18O for the surface water and the groundwater are similar to those for precipitation, indicating meteoric origins. The δD and δ18O levels in the groundwater ranged from −60; to −25; and −8.6; to −2.5, respectively, and were lower than the stable isotope levels from the winter and spring precipitation. The groundwater in the southern area was classified as the Ca2+-Mg2+--type, whereas the groundwater in the northern area included three types (Na+-Cl−-type, Ca2+-Mg2+--type, and Ca2+-Mg2+-Cl−-type), indicating rapid and frequent water-rock exchange in the region. A reasonable conclusion is that the groundwater chemistry is dominated by rock weathering and rainwater of local origin, which are influenced by seawater carried by the Asian monsoon.

Description: The performance of ethanethiol removal in biotrickling filter was investigated by microorganisms fixed on iron oxide-based porous ceramsite (IPC) under different operating parameters conditions. Ethanethiol removal efficiency was examined as a function of inlet concentration, empty bed residence time (EBRT), and spray density of nutrient solution. The results showed that the optimized operation conditions and operation characteristics of biotrickling filter for this study were at the inlet concentration of less than 250 mgm−3, the spray density of 0.24 m3m−2 h−1, and the EBRT of 68.7 s. The variation of the EBRT of about 100 s and the spray density of about 0.24 m3m−2 h−1 did not change the ethanethiol removal efficiencies at certain ethanethiol concentrations of less than about 300 mg/m3, respectively. The main metabolic product was sulfate such as under continuous long-running regime in filter. The ethanethiol desulfurization process better meets the Michaelis-Menien model with calculated kinetic degradation parameters  mgm−3 and  gm−3 h−1.

Description: Permanganate [Mn(VII)] chemistry oxidation of fluoroquinolone (FQ) antibiotic enrofloxacin (ENR) in water is investigated with respect to the kinetics, pH effect, buffer effect, and the evaluation of residual antibacterial activity after oxidative treatment. The degradation of ENR by Mn(VII) obeyed a secondary-order kinetics. Modern high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry coupled with high performance liquid chromatography was used to analyze the structures of degradation products. Four main oxidation products were identified at different pH values. Several influencing factors, pH value, and buffer obviously affect reaction rate and products relative abundance. Autocatalysis taking place at slightly acidic pH promotes the reaction but has no effect on the product types. A plausible oxidation pathway for enrofloxacin with Mn(VII) was proposed. The oxidation took place at the piperazine ring. Structural changes to the piperazine ring include N-dealkylation, hydroxylation, and hydrolysis. Residual antibacterial activity of the oxidative reaction solutions against nonresistant Escherichia coli reference strain DH5α is evaluated by means of quantitative bioassays. It is noticed that the oxidation products exhibited negligible antibacterial activity just when the structures of the products changed.

Description: Soil and plant samples were collected from Tongliao, China, during the maize growth cycle between May and October 2010. Heavy metals, such as Cr, Pb, Ni, and Zn, were analyzed. The concentrations of Cr, Pb, Ni, and Zn in the wastewater-irrigated area were higher than those in the topsoil from the groundwater-irrigated area. The concentrations of metals in the maize increased as follows: Pb 〈 Ni 〈 Zn 〈 Cr. In addition, Cr, Pb, and Ni mainly accumulated in the maize roots, and Zn mainly accumulated in the maize fruit. The results of translocation factors (TF) and bioconcentration factors (BCF) of maize for heavy metals revealed that maize is an excluder plant and a potential accumulator plant and can serve as an ideal slope remediation plant. In addition, the increasing heavy metal contents in soils that have been polluted by wastewater irrigation must result in the accumulation of Cr, Pb, Ni, and Zn in maize. Thus, the pollution level can be decreased by harvesting and disposing of and recovering the plant material.

Description: Interactions of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from landfill leachate with clays could affect significantly the fate of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) in soils. The complexes of montmorillonite (MT) and kaolinite (KL) with DOM extracted from landfill leachate were prepared under controlled conditions, termed CMT and CKL, respectively. The bare clays and their complexes were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermogravimetry (TG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Batch experiments were designed to investigate the sorption behavior of pyrene onto the clays in the presence of DOM. The maximum sorption capacities of pyrene on MT, CMT, KL, and CKL were 22.18, 38.96, 42.00, and 44.99 μg·g−1, respectively, at the initial concentration of 1000 ± 150 μg·L−1. The sorption isotherms of pyrene by the bare clays followed the Henry model well, whereas the Freundlich sorption isotherm provided a better fit to the equilibrium data of the sorption by the complexes. The role of montmorillonite and kaolinite complexes with DOM in the retention of pyrene in soils was different. This may be due to the different crystal structures between montmorillonite and kaolinite.

Description: BDD anodes were selected for quinoline mineralization and influence of operating parameters, such as current density, initial quinoline concentration, supporting electrolyte, and initial pH was investigated. Based on the consideration of quinoline removal efficiency and average current efficiency, at initial quinoline concentration of 50 mg L−1 and pH of 7, the optimal condition was confirmed as current density of 75 mA cm−2, electrolysis time of 1.5 h, and Na2SO4 concentration of 0.05 mol L−1 by orthogonal test. At different electrolysis time, its effluent characteristics were focused on. The biodegradability (the ratio between BOD5 and COD) was enhanced from initial 0.02 to 0.57 at 90 min. The specific oxygen uptake rate was used to assess effluent toxicity, and the value gradually reduced with decreasing effluent organic concentration with mean value of 5.51, 4.19, and 2.20 mgO2 g−1MLSS at electrolysis time of 15, 30, and 45 min, respectively. Compared with control sample (prepared with glucose), the effluent of quinoline mineralization showed obvious inhibition effect on microorganisms at electrolysis time of 15 min, and then it was significantly faded at 30 min and 45 min.

Description: Sandstone reservoir acidizing is a complex and heterogeneous acid-rock reaction process. If improper acid treatment is implemented, further damage can be induced instead of removing the initial plug, particularly in high-temperature sandstone reservoirs. An efficient acid system is the key to successful acid treatment. High-temperature sandstone treatment with conventional mud acid system faces problems including high acid-rock reaction rate, short acid effective distance, susceptibility to secondary damage, and serious corrosion to pipelines. In this paper, a new multichelating acid system has been developed to overcome these shortcomings. The acid system is composed of ternary weak acid, organic phosphonic chelating agent, anionic polycarboxylic acid chelating dispersant, fluoride, and other assisted additives. Hydrogen ion slowly released by multistage ionization in ternary weak acid and organic phosphonic within the system decreases the concentration of HF to achieve retardation. Chelating agent and chelating dispersant within the system inhibited anodic and cathodic reaction, respectively, to protect the metal from corrosion, while chelating dispersant has great chelating ability on iron ions, restricting the depolarization reaction of ferric ion and metal. The synergic effect of chelating agent and chelating dispersant removes sulfate scale precipitation and inhibits or decreases potential precipitation such as CaF2, silica gel, and fluosilicate. Mechanisms of retardation, corrosion-inhibition, and scale-removing features have been discussed and evaluated with laboratory tests. Test results indicate that this novel acid system has good overall performance, addressing the technical problems and improving the acidizing effect as well for high-temperature sandstone.

Description: Optical diagnostics is an effective method to understand the physical and chemical reaction processes in homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) and low temperature combustion (LTC) modes. Based on optical diagnostics, the true process on mixing, combustion, and emissions can be seen directly. In this paper, the mixing process by port-injection and direct-injection are reviewed firstly. Then, the combustion chemical reaction mechanism is reviewed based on chemiluminescence, natural-luminosity, and laser diagnostics. After, the evolution of pollutant emissions measured by different laser diagnostic methods is reviewed and the measured species including NO, soot, UHC, and CO. Finally, a summary and the future directions on HCCI and LTC used optical diagnostics are presented.

Description: Recently, PM2.5 (particulate matter with diameter of 2.5 micron or less) has become a major health hazard from the polluted air in many cities in China. The regular gauze masks are used to prevent inhaling the PM2.5 fine particles; however, those masks are not able to filter out the PM2.5 because of the large porosity of the mask materials. Some well-prevented masks usually have poor breathability, which increases other health risks. In this study, a polysulfone based nanofiber for mask filtration material was synthesized by electrospinning. That nanofiber mask material was characterized by SEM, air permeability test, and PM2.5 trapping experiment. The results indicate that nanofiber mask material can efficiently filter out the PM2.5 particles and simultaneously preserve a good breathability. We attribute such improvement to the nanoscaled fibers, having the same porosity as that of regular gauze mask but with extremely reduced local interfiber space.

Description: The present work has main target to study the effect of additives molecular weight and composition on the flow characteristics of wax crude oil at low temperature below pour point temperature. In this respect, maleic anhydride ester-co-vinyl acetate copolymers with varied monomers feed ratios and different alkyl ester lengths, namely, dodecyl, stearyl, and behenyl alkyl chains, were prepared. These polymeric materials were characterized by FTIR, 1HNMR, and GPC. The performance of these additives as pour point depressants and flow improver for Egyptian waxy crude oil was evaluated through measurements of pour point and rheological parameters (viscosity and yield stress). It was observed that stearyl maleate-vinyl acetate copolymer with 1 : 2 feed ratio shows the best efficiency as pour point depressant even at low concentration while octadecyl maleate-vinyl acetate copolymers with 2 : 1 feed ratio are effective as flow improver.

Description: A surface-modified nanoscale carbon black (MCB) as Ni adsorbent in contaminated soil was prepared by oxidizing the carbon black with 65% HNO3. The surface properties of the adsorbent were characterized by zeta potential analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRs). Batch experiments were conducted to evaluate the improvement of Ni2+ adsorption by MCB. Greenhouse cultivation experiments were conducted to examine the effect of MCB on the DTPA-extractable Ni2+ in soil, Ni2+ uptake of ryegrass shoot, and growth of ryegrass. Results indicated that MCB had much lower negative zeta potential, more functional groups for exchange and complexation of cation, and more heterogeneous pores and cavities for the adsorption of cation than the unmodified parent one (CB). MCB showed enhanced sorption capacity for Ni (, 49.02 mg·g−1) compared with CB (, 39.22 mg·g−1). Greenhouse cultivation experiment results showed that the biomass of ryegrass shoot and the Ni uptake of the ryegrass shoot were significantly increased and the concentrations of DTPA-extractable Ni in soil were significantly decreased with the increasing of MCB amount. It is clear from this work that the MCB had good adsorption properties for the Ni and could be applied in the in situ immobilization and remediation of heavy metal contaminated saline-alkali soils.

Description: Novel high strength composite hydrogels were designed and synthesized by introducing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into cellulose/NaOH/urea aqueous solution and then cross-linked by epichlorohydrin. MWCNTs were used to modify the matrix of cellulose. The structure and morphology of the hydrogels were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results from swelling testing revealed that the equilibrium swelling ratio of hydrogels decreased with the increment of MWCNTs content. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) results demonstrated that the introduction of MWCNT into cellulose hydrogel networks remarkably improved both thermal and mechanical properties of the composite hydrogels. The preparation of MWCNTs modifiedcellulose-based composites with improved mechanical properties was the first important step towards the development of advanced functional materials.

Description: In order to analyze system performance and develop model-based control algorithms for turbocharged spark ignition and direct injection (SIDI) gasoline engines, a control oriented mean value model is developed and validated. The model is constructed based on theoretical analysis for the different components, including the compressor, turbine, air filter, intercooler, throttle, manifold, and combustion chamber. Compressor mass flow and efficiency are modeled as parameterized functions. A standard nozzle model is used to approximate the mass flow through the turbine, and the turbine efficiency is modeled as a function of blade speed ratio (BSR). The air filter is modeled as a tube for capturing its pressure drop feature. The effectiveness number of transfer units (NTU) modeling method is utilized for the intercooler. The throttle model consists of the standard nozzle model with an effective area regressed to throttle position. Manifolds are modeled for their dynamically varying pressure state. For the cylinder, the air mass flow into cylinders, fuel mass, torque, and exhaust temperature are modeled. Compared to the conventional lookup table approach, transient dynamics error can be improved significantly through using the model from this work.

Description: The curing process of prosthetic socket base materials requires attention owing to a series of associated problems that are yet to be addressed and solved. However, to date, few relevant studies have been reported. In this paper, nanodiamonds modified with a silane coupling agent were dispersed into a prosthetic socket base material, and the performance of the modified base materials was investigated. Adding a predetermined amount of nanodiamonds to the prosthetic socket base material increased the glass transition temperature, improved the mechanical properties of the cured base material, and reduced the influence of the volatile gas formed during the curing process on the environment. With increasing nanodiamond contents, the glass transition temperature increased and the mechanical properties improved slightly. Owing to the high thermal conductivity of the nanodiamonds, the localized heat, as a result of the curing process, could be dissipated and released. Thus, adding nanodiamonds led to a more uniform temperature field forming in the curing system. This improved the curing process and reduced the formation of volatile monomers, thereby decreasing the adverse impact of the generated volatile gases on the environment. All of these provide a potential strategy for modifying prosthetic socket base materials.

Description: The effect of lubricating oil on the morphology of particulate matter (PM) was studied in a diesel engine fueled with pure diesel fuel and blended fuel containing 0.5% by weight of lubricating oil. Particulate matter emitted by diesel engines is formed primarily by soot agglomerates which are composed of primary particles. In this paper, particulate matter was collected with a thermophoretic sampling system, and a high-resolution transmission electron microscope (TEM) was used to investigate the primary particles. A Fast Particulate Spectrometer, DMS 500, was used to determine the particle size distributions. The TEM results indicated that the mean diameters of the primary particles increased after the oil was added into the fuel. Particle size distributions results showed that lubricating oil in the fuel gave rise to a higher concentration in nucleation mode.

Description: This paper deals with the study of the kinetics decomposition reaction of the peroxyacetic acid under influence of surfactant additives. The peroxyacetic acid shows a decomposition rate of 1.70 10−3 h−1 and its activation energy is 66 kJ mol−1. The influence of temperature on the reaction of spontaneous decomposition of peroxyacetic acid was studied at two seasonal periods. Peroxyacetic acid standard and four prototypes of biocide samples with known concentration of peroxyacetic acid and hydrogen peroxide were studied. Finally, a factorial analysis ANOVA was carried out to establish significant differences () between the four biocide samples over time with respect to peroxyacetic acid and hydrogen peroxide concentration. From the study carried out, it can be concluded that the biocide with surfactant substances in its composition offers the best stability and its difference versus the other biocides may guarantee a better behaviour.

Description: As a kind of microscale physical evidence, soil can provide significant assistance to forensic science. In this study, soil samples that were collected from eighteen different regions of Shandong Province, China, were examined by scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS). The homogeneities and diameters of the samples were evaluated by SEM which has been applied to observe objects at nanoscale. The soil from Jiaxiang, a city in Eastern Shandong Province, showed the maximal particle diameter and the sample from Liaocheng, another Eastern city in Shandong Province, showed the best homogeneity. The mass fraction and molar percentages of nine inorganic elements in all samples were analyzed by EDS. Oxygen and silicon showed the highest content in all of these samples. However, different samples exhibited their own characteristic elements, which can help to discriminate them from other samples. In this regard, SEM-EDS-based homogeneity and element analysis might be used as a fast and reliable technique for the soil criminological analysis in Shandong Province.

Description: The present study focuses on the experimental investigation on the effect of fuel injection strategies on LTC with gasoline on a single-cylinder CI engine. Firstly, the engine performance and emissions have been explored by sweeping SOI1 and split percentage for the load of 0.9 MPa IMEP at an engine speed of 1500 rpm. Then, the double-injection strategy has been tested for load expansion compared with single-injection. The results indicate that, with the fixed CA50, the peak HRR is reduced by advancing SOI1 and increasing split percentage gradually. Higher indicated thermal efficiency, as well as lower MPRR and COV, can be achieved simultaneously with later SOI1 and higher split percentage. As split percentage increases, emission decreases but soot emission increases. CO and THC emissions are increased by earlier SOI1, resulting in a slight decrease in combustion efficiency. Compared with single-injection, the double-injection strategy enables successful expansion of high-efficiency and clean combustion region, with increasing soot, CO, and THC emissions at high loads and slightly declining combustion efficiency and indicated thermal efficiency, however. MPRR and soot emission are considered to be the predominant constraints to the load expansion of gasoline LTC, and they are related to their trade-off relationship.

Description: The ground state structures, HOMO and LUMO energy levels, band gaps , ionization potentials (IP), and electron affinities (EA) of three types of copolymer P1 and its derivatives P2, P3, and PBDT-BTA were investigated by using density functional theory (DFT) with B3LYP and 6-31G (d) basis set. On the base of optimized structures of ground states, their absorption spectra were obtained by using TD-DFT//Cam-B3LYP/6-31 G (d). Research shows that with the increasing conjugated units, HOMO energy levels increased, LUMO energy levels decreased, and band gaps decreased gradually. Moreover, their ionization potentials decreased and electron affinities increased along with the increase of conjugated chains, and absorption spectra red-shifted. In addition, the side chain has a significant effect on the properties of ground and excited states. In order to investigate the influence of conjugated units and side chain on the charge transport, their hole and electron reorganization energies were calculated, and the results indicated that Pb have a good hole transport capability. Considering the practical application, the HOMO and LUMO energy levels, band gaps, and absorption spectra under external electric field were studied, and the results proved that the external electric field has an effect on the optical and electronic properties.

Description: Composite soil samples collected from suburban areas were analyzed for Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Sr, and Zn by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Based on pseudototal metal analysis, Fe, Mn, Sr, and Zn were the prevailing metals while Cd, Co, Cr, and Pb were the least participants. However, based on bioavailability, Cd, Co, Pb, and Sr were easily leachable and might pose adverse effects to soil biota. In ecological risk assessment, contamination factor demonstrated moderate contamination by Co, Sr, and Zn and high contamination by Cd, Cu, and Pb; geoaccumulation index indicated heavy to extreme contamination by Cd and heavy contamination by Pb; enrichment factor revealed significant enrichment by Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Sr, and Zn and extreme enrichment by Cd and Pb. Substantial human inputs for Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Pb, Sr, and Zn were also revealed by principal component analysis in the examined soil. Overall the study area was found to be contaminated at considerable/high degree.

Description: The thermal stabilities of polyvinylpyrrolidone-organoclays or organo-acid-activated clay composites prepared by chemical exchange reactions were assessed. The raw clay mineral was acid-activated prior to expansion by cetyltrimethylammonium surfactants. The acid activation process affected the intercalated amount of cetyltrimethylammonium cations in the resulting organoclays and, thus, the amount of polyvinylpyrrolidone in the composite. The content of cetyltrimethylammonium cations decreased with the extent of acid activation. The organophilic modification of the clay mineral was an important step in the intercalation of the polyvinylpyrrolidone molecules and, thus, in the expansion of the silicate sheets from 3.80 nm to 4.20 nm. The composites exhibited better crystalline order with intense reflections at lower angles. The thermal stability of organoclays, acid-activated clays, and composites was studied using thermogravimetric analysis and in situ X-ray diffraction. The decomposition of intercalated surfactants occurred at lower temperatures relative to the neat surfactant salt, and the basal spacing of the organoclays (or acid-activated clays) shrunk to 2.0 nm at 215°C. However, the basal spacing of composites exhibited better stability and collapsed to 2.0 nm at 300°C. This type of material could offer an alternative stable product for engineering purposes in the design of new composites.

Description: Bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) and its composites have good electrocatalytic performance. Quartz column is a good kind of catalyst carrier with the characteristics of high mechanical strength and good stability. A novel Bi-modified quartz column particle electrode (BQP) was prepared by the dipping-calcination method. The characterization results revealed that Bi2O3 was successfully loaded on quartz column. The optimum preparation condition was calcining at 550°C for 4 h. Electrocatalytic performance was evaluated by the degradation of phenol and the results indicated that the triclinic phase of Bi2O3 showed the best electrocatalytic property. Besides, when the dosage concentration of the particle electrode was 125 g/L and the electrolytic voltage was 12 V, the degradation rate of phenol (200 mg/L) reached the highest (94.25%), compared with 70.00% of that in two-dimensional (2D) system. In addition, the removal rate of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was 75.50%, compared with 53.30% of that in 2D system. The reusability and regeneration of BQP were investigated and the results were good. Mechanism of enhanced electrochemical oxidation by BQP was evaluated by the capture of hydroxyl radical.

Description: Parameter identification plays a crucial role for simulating and using model. This paper firstly carried out the sensitivity analysis of the 2-chlorophenol oxidation model in supercritical water using the Monte Carlo method. Then, to address the nonlinearity of the model, two improved differential search (DS) algorithms were proposed to carry out the parameter identification of the model. One strategy is to adopt the Latin hypercube sampling method to replace the uniform distribution of initial population; the other is to combine DS with simplex method. The results of sensitivity analysis reveal the sensitivity and the degree of difficulty identified for every model parameter. Furthermore, the posteriori probability distribution of parameters and the collaborative relationship between any two parameters can be obtained. To verify the effectiveness of the improved algorithms, the optimization performance of improved DS in kinetic parameter estimation is studied and compared with that of the basic DS algorithm, differential evolution, artificial bee colony optimization, and quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization. And the experimental results demonstrate that the DS with the Latin hypercube sampling method does not present better performance, while the hybrid methods have the advantages of strong global search ability and local search ability and are more effective than the other algorithms.

Description: Jinshan Lake is a famous urban landscape lake with approximately 8.8 km2 water area, which is located on the north of Zhenjiang, of Jiangsu Province, China. Eighteen sampled sites were selected and overlying water was sampled from 2013 to 2014 to study the seasonal and spatial variation of nitrogen in overlying water of Jinshan Lake. Results showed that physicochemical characteristics of temperature, pH, and DO showed high seasonal variation, whereas they had no significant spatial differences in the 18 sampling points () in overlying water of Jinshan Lake. Nitrogen concentrations showed strong seasonal variation trends. The ranked order of TN was as follows: spring 〉 summer 〉 autumn 〉 winter; the order of -N was as follows: spring 〉 autumn 〉 summer 〉 winter, whereas -N concentrations revealed an inverse seasonal pattern, with maxima occurring in winter and minimal values occurring in spring. Nitrogen concentrations had dramatic spatial changes in 18 sampling points of Jinshan Lake. Physicochemical parameter difference, domestic wastes pollution, and rainfall runoff source may have led to seasonal and spatial fluctuation variations of nitrogen in overlying water of Jinshan Lake, China.

Description: The UV-ozone (UV-O3) process is not widely applied in wastewater and potable water treatment partly for the relatively high cost since complicated UV radiation and ozone generating systems are utilized. The UV-microozone (UV-microO3), a new advanced process that can solve the abovementioned problems, was introduced in this study. The effects of air flux, air pressure, and air humidity on generation and concentration of O3 in UV-microO3 reactor were investigated. The utilization of this UV-microO3 reactor in microcystins (MCs) degradation was also carried out. Experimental results indicated that the optimum air flux in the reactor equipped with 37 mm diameter quartz tube was determined to be 18∼25 L/h for efficient O3 generation. The air pressure and humidity in UV-microO3 reactor should be low enough in order to get optimum O3 output. Moreover, microcystin-RR, YR, and LR (MC-RR, MC-YR, and MC-LR) could be degraded effectively by UV-microO3 process. The degradation of different MCs was characterized by first-order reaction kinetics. The pseudofirst-order kinetic constants for MC-RR, MC-YR, and MC-LR degradation were 0.0093, 0.0215, and 0.0286 min−1, respectively. Glucose had no influence on MC degradation through UV-microO3. The UV-microO3 process is hence recommended as a suitable advanced treatment method for dissolved MCs degradation.

Description: The coastline of China is approximately 18,000 km long. In most coastal cities, seawater intrusion is a serious threat to groundwater resources. Nine shallow monitoring wells were constructed to study the dynamics of shallow groundwater level and salinity in the coastal plain region of Jiangsu province, China. Results showed that precipitation, evaporation, and river stage affected the groundwater level in our study area. Positive correlations were observed among the groundwater level, precipitation, and river stage; then negative correlation existed between the groundwater level and evaporation. The influencing factors on the groundwater level were in the order precipitation 〉 river stage 〉 evaporation. Sufficient precipitation during the wet season diluted the groundwater salinity. After the dilution, between two continuous precipitation events, the groundwater salinity increased as the groundwater level decreased. During the dry season, the groundwater salinity rapidly increased and reached its peak in December. The groundwater salinity in December was 23 times higher than that in July. The groundwater level and salinity in this study were generally associated with the season. Climate factors led to fluctuation of groundwater levels and salinity during the wet season, and seawater intrusion increased the groundwater salinity during the dry season.

Description: Composite water samples were collected from different sites of Mangla reservoir, Pakistan, in premonsoon, monsoon, and postmonsoon seasons. The physicochemical parameters and trace/heavy metals were determined in all water samples. The results manifested significant seasonal variations among Co, Cr, Ni, and Pb and the metals exhibited highest contribution in premonsoon season except Mn. Principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) revealed considerable anthropogenic intrusions in the reservoir. Probable risk associated with the metals levels on human health was also evaluated using hazard quotients (HQ) by ingestion and dermal routes for adults and children. It was noted that Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, and Pb () were the most important pollutants leading to noncarcinogenic concerns. The levels of all metals were below unity, suggesting that these metals posed no hazards via dermal absorption, while the oral intake was the major exposure pathway. The largest contributors to chronic risks were Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, and Pb in all the seasons. Therefore, immediate measures should be taken for sustaining the healthy aquatic ecosystem.

Description: There is a growing concern worldwide about the prevalence of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) on the farm. In this study, we investigated the distribution of seven antibiotics and ten ARGs in fresh and dried pig feces, in biogas slurry, and in grape-planting soil from an ecological farm. Antibiotics including sulfamethazine, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, tetracycline, oxytetracycline, and chlortetracycline were detected in these samples (except for sulfamethoxazole) in dried feces. In general, antibiotics levels in samples were in the sequence: biogas slurry 〉 fresh feces 〉 soil or dried feces. Results of ecological risk assessments revealed that among the seven antibiotics chlortetracycline showed the highest ecological risk. Among the ten ARGs, sulI and tetO were the most prevalent on this ecological farm. There were positive correlations between certain ARGs and the corresponding antibiotics on this ecological farm. Therefore, continuous monitoring of antibiotics and their corresponding ARGs should be conducted in the agroecosystem near the concentrated animal farming operation systems.

Description: Rotating biological contactors (RBC) are effective for treating wastewater, while they are rarely reported to be used for treating antibiotic pharmaceutical wastewater (APW). The current study investigates treatment of APW using an RBC. The effects of influent concentration, number of stages, and temperature on the remediation of APW were studied. The results indicated, even at low ambient temperature, 45% COD and 40% -N removal efficiencies. Moreover, the BOD5 removal efficiency was 85%. Microscopic observations illustrated that there were various active microorganisms displayed in the biofilms and their distribution changed from stage to stage. Compared with activated sludge, the biofilms in this study have higher content of dry matter and are easier to dehydrate and settle. Compared with current commercial incineration processes or advanced oxidation processes, RBC can greatly reduce the treatment cost. This research shows RBC is effective for such an inherently biorecalcitrant wastewater even at low ambient temperature.

Description: The effect of controlled irrigation and drainage (CID) at different growth stages of rice on nitrogen (N) from rice paddy was studied. Submergence at different stages was imposed in specially designed experimental tanks in 2009 and 2010 based on alternate wetting and drying technology (AWD, the control, CK). Treatments include CID treatment at tiller stage (T1), jointing-booting stage (T2), panicle initiation stage (T3), and milky stage (T4). Results showed that fertilization could significantly increase the concentration of -N and TN in surface water but had a little influence on -N. The concentrations of -N and -N in surface water increased at first and then decreased after fertilization, while the concentrations of -N and TN in groundwater kept on being relatively stable. Compared to CK, CID significantly increased the concentration of -N in surface water at four stages. However, it reduced the concentration of -N. Consistent with the reduction of drainage, CID at four stages could significantly decrease the amount of -N and -N losses by runoff in relation to CK.

Description: This research presents a study of environmental monitoring at different sampling sites from the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Toluca (MAVT), Mexico, using mosses (Leskea angustata (Tayl.) and Fabronia ciliaris (Brid.)) and soil samples. The epiphytic mosses and soils were sampled in two campaigns within two periods of the year, a rainy and dry-cold season. The selected sampling sites included urban regions (UR), transitional regions (TR), and protected natural areas (PA). The samples were analyzed by the Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) to determine As, Cr, Hg, and Se principally. However, due to the versatility of the analytic technique used, other elements including Cs, Co, Sc, Sb, Rb, Ce, La, Eu, and Yb were also detected. Statistical analysis (As, Cr, Hg, and Se) was carried out with principal components and cluster analysis methods; this revealed that a good correlation exists between metal content in mosses and the degree of pollution in the areas sampled. The obtained results in mosses showed that the concentrations of As, Cr, Co, Cs, Rb, Ce, La, and Yb increased with respect to the concentrations obtained during the first sampling, whereas Se, Sc, Sb and Eu, concentrations were decreased. For As and Hg, the concentrations were similar in both sampling periods. The soil samples present the most significant concentration.

Description: The concentrations of pollutants in soil samples collected in and around a dumpsite in Heze, Shandong, China, were investigated, and the potential ecological and health risks of these pollutants were assessed. Seventeen soil samples from five different locations were analysed for pollution characteristics, and the target pollutants included inorganic pollutants and heavy metals as well as volatile organic compounds/semivolatile organic compounds (VOCs/SVOCs). Results showed that the mean concentration level of each pollutant from the interior area was relatively higher than that from the boundary area of the dumpsite. Inorganic pollutants and heavy metals were detected in all of the soil samples. According to potential ecological risk assessment with environmental background values of Shandong as screening values, heavy metals in majority of the samples pose low ecological risk to the ecosystem except Hg. Hg poses a considerable or very high risk because of its high levels of accumulation. In consideration of future land use pattern, human health risks derived from environmental exposure to heavy metals were assessed. Carcinogenic risk and noncarcinogenic hazards for adults are acceptable, while noncarcinogenic hazards for children exceed the safety threshold. The health risks are primarily attributed to oral exposure to As and Cr.

Description: A novel series of benzophenone oxime ether derivatives with tertiary amine groups were synthesized and their herbicidal activities of 24 compounds against Oryza sativa, Sorghum sudanense, Brassica chinensis, and Amaranthus mangostanus L. were also evaluated. Most of these compounds exhibited significant inhibitory effect on root growth at 20 ppm. Based on the herbicidal activity data, computational Three-Dimensional Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship (3D-QSAR) analysis and molecular docking were undertaken. CoMFA contour maps were generated for the design of benzophenone oxime ether analogues with enhancing activity.

Description: Silver nanoparticles are used an increased attention for various biomedical and medical applications. In this study, green synthesis of silver nanoparticles was made with simple method by using peroxidase enzyme partially purified from Euphorbia (Euphorbia amygdaloides) plant. Optimum pH, temperature and time period were determined to obtain silver nanoparticles using the peroxidase enzyme. The result shows that higher silver nanoparticle was synthesized for 4 hours and at 20°C and pH 8. Also, optimal concentration of metal ions was found as 0.5 mM. The synthesized silver nanoparticles were characterized by UV spectrum, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction. Antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles was measured against some microorganisms such as Serratia marcescens, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes, and Escherichia coli. Synthesized silver nanoparticles have wide spectrum antibacterial activity in low concentration and may be a good alternative therapeutic approach in medicine and pharmaceutical fields in future.

Description: As an innovative cation exchange material, nanozirconium tungestovanadate prepared using homogeneous precipitation technique was immobilized into alginate matrix and evaluated for cationic dye decolourization. Physicochemical properties of the prepared composite material were examined to determine its crystallinity, morphology, and ion exchange capacity. The SEM and TEM images of the prepared zirconium tungestovanadate identified that it was prepared in homogeneous structure with spherical shape in average diameter 22 nm. However, the optical microscope image of the composite matrix confirms the good distribution of nanozirconium tungestovanadate into the polymeric matrix. Batch technique was utilized to test the cation exchange efficiency of the prepared composite material toward C.I. basic violet 16 dye decolourization. The optimum immobilized dosage from nanozirconium tungestovanadate into the polymeric matrix to achieve 99% dye decolourization from 50 ppm initial dye concentration was recorded as 8 g/L. The dye sorption process onto the prepared material is described as an endothermic process. The dye sorption process at equilibrium was following both Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The kinetic sorption behaviour of dye onto the composite matrix is correlated to pseudo-second-order equation model.

Description: Density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations were carried out to study the ground state geometries, electronic structures, and absorption spectra of 4-(cyanomethyl)benzoic acid based dyes (AG1 and AG2) used for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The excited states properties and the thermodynamical parameters of electron injection were studied. The results showed that (a) two dyes have uncoplanar structures along the donor unit and conjugated bridge space, (b) two sensitizers exhibited intense absorption in the UV-Vis region, and (c) the excited state oxidation potential was higher than the conduction band edge of TiO2 photoanode. As a result, a solar cell based on the 4-(cyanomethyl)benzoic acid based dyes exhibited well photovoltaic performance. Furthermore, nine dyes were designed on the basis of AG1 and AG2 to improve optical response and electron injection.

Description: Samples of zeolite ZSM-5 have been synthesized in both the sodium form (ZSM-5) and the acid activated form (H-ZSM-5). In addition, each of these two forms was prepared in the two molar SiO2/Al2O3 ratios of 169 and 15. All samples of these ZSM-5 derivatives were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The samples were successfully loaded with the anticancer drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) with loading capacities varying from 22% (for the sodium form having the lower molar SiO2/Al2O3 ratio of 15, ZSM-5-(15)) to 43% (for the corresponding acid form, H-ZSM-5-(15)). Percent release of the drug-loaded ZSM-5 samples into simulated body fluid (SBF) was measured at pH 7.4 and 37°C. The results showed a slight variation in the % release within the range 84–93%, while the first-order rate constant (k) varied from 2.2 h−1 for ZSM-5-(15) to 3.9 h−1 for H-ZSM-5-(15). It was interesting to note that at the higher molar SiO2/Al2O3 ratios of 169, both the sodium form, ZSM-5-(169), and the acid form, H-ZSM-5-(169), exhibit an intermediate efficiency in either % loading (38%) or first-order kinetic release constant (k = 2.9 h−1).

Description: Noncrystalline, high surface area magnesium silicate gel was successfully prepared by hydrothermal method. Such product was characterized by BET and XRD to determine surface area 576.4 m2·g−1, average pore width 2.76 nm, and amorphous surface. The adsorption behaviors of Basic Brown and Chrysophenine on magnesium silicate gel were investigated through changing initial concentration, adsorbent dosage, solution pH, contact time, and temperature. The experimental data was analyzed by the adsorption isotherms and kinetics. The results showed the adsorption progress was fast for Basic Brown, and the adsorption equilibrium was finished in 2 h, while the adsorption equilibrium of Chrysophenine was finished in 7 h. Freundlich isotherm model and second-order kinetic models described the adsorption process very well.

Description: Prevention of water blocking and optimization of multiscale flow channels will increase gas production of tight reservoirs. Physical properties of samples from representative tight gas reservoirs were measured before and after high temperature treatment. Results show that, with the increase of treatment temperature, mass decreases, acoustic transit time increases, and permeability and porosity increase. Permeability begins to increase dramatically if treatment temperature exceeds the threshold value of thermal fracturing, which is 600~700°C, 500~600°C, 300~500°C, and 300~400°C for shale, mudstone, tight sandstone, and tight carbonate rock, respectively. Comprehensive analyses indicate that the mechanisms of heat treatment on tight porous media include evaporation and dehydration of water, change of mineral structure, generation of microfracture, and network connectivity. Meanwhile, field implementation is reviewed and prospected. Interpretations indicate that, according to the characteristics of multiscale mass transfer in tight gas formation, combining heat treatment with conventional stimulation methods can achieve the best stimulation result.

Description: Long-term effectiveness of rock wettability alteration for water removal during gas production from tight reservoir depends on the surfactant adsorption on the pore surface of a reservoir. This paper selected typical cationic fluorosurfactant FW-134 as an example and took advantage of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and atomic force microscope (AFM) to investigate its adsorption stability on the rock mineral surface under the oscillation condition at high temperature for a long time. The experimental results indicate that the F element content on the sample surface increases obviously, the surface structure of fluorine-carbonization also undergoes a significant change, and the fluorine surfactant exhibits a good interfacial modification and wettability alteration ability due to its adsorption on the pore surface transforming the chemical structure of the original surface. The adsorption increases indistinctly with the concentration of over 0.05% due to a single layer adsorption structure and is mainly electrostatic adsorption because the chemical bonding between the fluorosurfactant and the rock mineral surface, the hydrogen bonding, is weak and inconspicuous.

Description: Fracture-cave carbonate reservoirs occur widely in source rocks and are prospects for exploitation worldwide. However, the presence of massive caves and multiscale fracture systems results in extremely complex fluid flow patterns. Therefore, in this paper, a discrete network model for fracture-cave reservoirs was established to study fluid flow characteristics and pressure distributions in complex flow regimes. In this study, the cave system was treated as a free-flow region, and the fluid flow in fracture systems followed the Navier-Stokes and Darcy equations, respectively. After discrete modeling, the Galerkin finite element method was used for numerical calculation of the single-phase free flow; the method maintains a high-precision result with low grid orientations during the simulation. In addition, because only one linear equation requires solving at each step, the solution is obtained quickly. Moreover, based on the proposed discrete media network model of fracture-cave reservoirs and the finite element numerical calculation method, a corresponding simulator was also developed. The finite element numerical simulation method based on the characteristic-based split (CBS) algorithm has proven to be applicable to complex flow problems in fracture-cave reservoirs.

Description: The addition of LPG to the CO2 stream leads to minimum miscible pressure (MMP) reduction that causes more oil swelling and interfacial tension reduction compared to CO2 EOR, resulting in improved oil recovery. Numerical study based on compositional simulation has been performed to examine the injectivity efficiency and transport behavior of water-alternating CO2-LPG EOR. Based on oil, CO2, and LPG prices, optimum LPG concentration and composition were designed for different wettability conditions. Results from this study indicate how injected LPG mole fraction and butane content in LPG affect lowering of interfacial tension. Interfacial tension reduction by supplement of LPG components leads to miscible condition causing more enhanced oil recovery. The maximum enhancement of oil recovery for oil-wet reservoir is 50% which is greater than 22% for water-wet reservoir. According to the result of net present value (NPV) analysis at designated oil, CO2, propane, and butane prices, the optimal injected LPG mole fraction and composition exist for maximum NPV. At the case of maximum NPV for oil-wet reservoir, the LPG fraction is about 25% in which compositions of propane and butane are 37% and 63%, respectively. For water-wet reservoir, the LPG fraction is 20% and compositions of propane and butane are 0% and 100%.

Description: The heat-moisture transport through the compacted clay was observed in laboratory. The hydraulic conductivity of cracked clay under wetting-drying cycles was also investigated. At the early phase of heating, the temperature of soil columns rose fast and moisture decreased dramatically; after this phase, the temperature rose at a lower speed and moisture loss stabilized gradually. The moisture content of compacted clay at 25 cm depth decayed to 0. The crack intensity factor (CIF) of compacted clay was 0.043 and 0.097; the crack depth was about 6.5 cm and 8.2 cm at 50°C and 60°C, respectively. The hydraulic conductivity of compacted clay was within 8.3 × 10−7 to 1.5 × 10−5 cm/s after four wetting-drying cycles. This value was 2~3 orders of magnitude higher than that of uncracked clay.

Description: Surface property of rock affects oil recovery during water flooding. Oil-wet polar substances adsorbed on the surface of the rock will gradually be desorbed during water flooding, and original reservoir wettability will change towards water-wet, and the change will reduce the residual oil saturation and improve the oil displacement efficiency. However there is a lack of an accurate description of wettability alternation model during long-term water flooding and it will lead to difficulties in history match and unreliable forecasts using reservoir simulators. This paper summarizes the mechanism of wettability variation and characterizes the adsorption of polar substance during long-term water flooding from injecting water or aquifer and relates the residual oil saturation and relative permeability to the polar substance adsorbed on clay and pore volumes of flooding water. A mathematical model is presented to simulate the long-term water flooding and the model is validated with experimental results. The simulation results of long-term water flooding are also discussed.

Description: Well test analysis for polymer flooding is different from traditional well test analysis because of the non-Newtonian properties of underground flow and other mechanisms involved in polymer flooding. Few of the present works have proposed a numerical approach of pressure transient analysis which fully considers the non-Newtonian effect of real polymer solution and interprets the polymer rheology from details of pressure transient response. In this study, a two-phase four-component fully implicit numerical model incorporating shear thinning effect for polymer flooding based on PEBI (Perpendicular Bisection) grid is developed to study transient pressure responses in polymer flooding reservoirs. Parametric studies are conducted to quantify the effect of shear thinning and polymer concentration on the pressure transient response. Results show that shear thinning effect leads to obvious and characteristic nonsmoothness on pressure derivative curves, and the oscillation amplitude of the shear-thinning-induced nonsmoothness is related to the viscosity change decided by shear thinning effect and polymer concentration. Practical applications are carried out with shut-in data obtained in Daqing oil field, which validates our findings. The proposed method and the findings in this paper show significant importance for well test analysis for polymer flooding and the determination of the polymer in situ rheology.

Description: Horizontal well (HW) was divided into several elements after acidizing. In each element, there would exist a composite zone that was made up of damage zone (DZ) and acidizing zone (AZ). Local skin factor after acidizing was used to describe the resistance in each composite zone. The models for local skin factor and productivity of HW were created using the method of equivalent filtration resistance and displacement between two similar flow modes. According to the solution of the models, type curves of skin factor and production-increasing ratio after acidizing were illustrated, and the effect of different parameters in DZ and AZ on distribution of skin factor and production-increasing ratio after acidizing were discussed. The present model has a significant guide on the practice of acidizing technology.

Description: Field evidence indicates that cavities often occur in fractured rocks, especially in a Karst region. Once the immiscible liquid flows into the cavity, the cavity has the immiscible liquid entrapped and results in a low recovery ratio. In this paper, the immiscible liquid transport in cavity-fractures was simulated by Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM). The interfacial and surface tensions were incorporated by Multicomponent Shan-Chen (MCSC) model. Three various fracture positions were generated to investigate the influence on the irreducible nonwetting phase saturation and displacement time. The influences of fracture aperture and wettability on the immiscible liquid transport were discussed and analyzed. It was found that the cavity resulted in a long displacement time. Increasing the fracture aperture with the corresponding decrease in displacement pressure led to the long displacement time. This consequently decreased the irreducible nonwetting phase saturation. The fracture positions had a significant effect on the displacement time and irreducible saturation. The distribution of the irreducible nonwetting phase was strongly dependent on wettability and fracture position. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that the LBM was very effective in simulating the immiscible two-phase flow in the cavity-fracture.

Description: Effective stress coefficient for permeability (ESCK) is the key parameter to evaluate the properties of reservoir stress sensitivity. So far, little studies have clarified which ESCK is correct for a certain reservoir while rock ESCK is measured differently by different fluid media. Thus, three different fluids were taken to measure a fine sandstone sample’s ESCK, respectively. As a result, the ESCK was measured to be the smallest by injecting nitrogen, the largest by injecting water, and between the two by brine. Besides, those microcharacteristics such as rock component, clay mineral content, and pore structure were further analyzed based on some microscopic experiments. Rock elastic modulus was reduced when water-sensitive clay minerals were encountered with aqua fluid media so as to enlarge the rock ESCK value. Moreover, some clay minerals reacting with water can spall and possibly block pore throats. Compared with water, brine can soften the water sensitivity; however, gas has no water sensitivity effects. Therefore, to choose which fluid medium to measure reservoir ESCK is mainly depending on its own exploitation conditions. For gas reservoirs using gas to measure ESCK is more reliable than water or brine, while using brine is more appropriate for oil reservoirs.

Description: Shale is abundant in nanoscale pores, so gas flow in shales cannot be simply represented by Darcy formula anymore. It is crucial to figure out the influence of gas flow in nano/micro pores on actual productivity, which can provide basic theories for optimizing parameters and improving the gas production from engineering perspective. This paper considers the effects of slippage and diffusion in nanoscale based on Beskok-Karniadakis (BK) equation, which can be applicable for different flow regimes including continuum flow, slip flow, transition flow, and free-molecule flow. A new non-Darcy equation was developed based on the analysis of effects of high order terms of BK equation on permeability correction factor. By using the conformal transformation principle and pressure coupling method, we established the productivity formula of fractured well (infinite and limited conductivity) satisfying mass variable seepage flowing in fractures. The simulation results have been compared with field data and influencing parameters are analyzed thoroughly. It is concluded that slippage effect affects gas production of fractured well when wellbore pressure is less than 15 MPa, and the effects of slippage and diffusion have greater influence on gas production of fractured well for reservoir with smaller permeability, especially when permeability is at nano-Darcy scale.

Description: A lattice Boltzmann model of the uniform velocity, driven convective thermal conductivity in a porous cavity is studied. The Darcy, Richardson, and Reynolds numbers are shown to have a significant influence on the heat transfer behavior and the horizontal velocity of the flow field, while the porosity has little influence on either. The model is validated by the average Nusselt number at different Reynolds numbers, and the numerical results are in good agreement with available published data.

Description: After multistage fracturing, the flowback of fracturing fluid will cause two-phase flow through hydraulic fractures in shale gas reservoirs. With the consideration of two-phase flow and desorbed gas transient diffusion in shale gas reservoirs, a two-phase transient flow model of multistage fractured horizontal well in shale gas reservoirs was created. Accurate solution to this flow model is obtained by the use of source function theory, Laplace transform, three-dimensional eigenvalue method, and orthogonal transformation. According to the model’s solution, the bilogarithmic type curves of the two-phase model are illustrated, and the production decline performance under the effects of hydraulic fractures and shale gas reservoir properties are discussed. The result obtained in this paper has important significance to understand pressure response characteristics and production decline law of two-phase flow in shale gas reservoirs. Moreover, it provides the theoretical basis for exploiting this reservoir efficiently.

Description: This study uses similar construction method of solution (SCMS) to solve mathematical models of fluid spherical flow in a fractal reservoir which can avoid the complicated mathematical deduction. The models are presented in three kinds of outer boundary conditions (infinite, constant pressure, and closed). The influence of wellbore storage effect, skin factor, and variable flow rate production is also involved in the inner boundary conditions. The analytical solutions are constructed in the Laplace space and presented in a pattern with one continued fraction—the similar structure of solution. The pattern can bring convenience to well test analysis programming. The mathematical beauty of fractal is that the infinite complexity is formed with relatively simple equations. So the relation of reservoir parameters (wellbore storage effect, the skin factor, fractal dimension, and conductivity index), the formation pressure, and the wellbore pressure can be learnt easily. Type curves of the wellbore pressure and pressure derivative are plotted and analyzed in real domain using the Stehfest numerical invention algorithm. The SCMS and type curves can interpret intuitively transient pressure response of fractal spherical flow reservoir. The results obtained in this study have both theoretical and practical significance in evaluating fluid flow in such a fractal reservoir and embody the convenience of the SCMS.

Description: New amidine and benzene sulfonamide derivatives were developed and structures of the new products were confirmed by elemental and spectral analysis (FT-IR, ESI-MS, 1HNMR, and 13CNMR). In vitro, developed compounds were screened for their antibacterial and antifungal activities against medically important bacterial strains, namely, S. aureus, B. subtilis, and E. coli, and fungi, namely, A. flavus, A. parasiticus, and A. sp. The antibacterial and antifungal activities have been determined by measuring MIC values (μg/mL) and zone of inhibitions (mm). Among the tested compounds, it was found that compounds 3b, 9a, and 9b have most potent activity against S. aureus, A. flavus, and A. parasiticus, respectively, and were found to be more active than sulfamethoxazole and itraconazole with MIC values 40 μg/mL. In contrast, all the compounds were totally inactive against the A. sp. except 10b and 15b to show activity to some extent.

Description: A mathematical dual porosity and dual permeability numerical model based on perpendicular bisection (PEBI) grid is developed to describe gas flow behaviors in shale-gas reservoirs by incorporating slippage corrected permeability and adsorbed gas effect. Parametric studies are conducted for a horizontal well with multiple infinite conductivity hydraulic fractures in shale-gas reservoir to investigate effect of matrix-wellbore flow, natural fracture porosity, and matrix porosity. We find that the ratio of fracture permeability to matrix permeability approximately decides the bottom hole pressure (BHP) error caused by omitting the flow between matrix and wellbore and that the effect of matrix porosity on BHP is related to adsorption gas content. When adsorbed gas accounts for large proportion of the total gas storage in shale formation, matrix porosity only has a very small effect on BHP. Otherwise, it has obvious influence. This paper can help us understand the complex pressure transient response due to existence of the adsorbed gas and help petroleum engineers to interpret the field data better.

Description: A series of Zn/ZSM-5 catalysts with different Zn contents and FePO4 were used to pyrolyze cellulose to produce value added chemicals. The nature of these catalysts was characterized by ammonia-temperature programmed desorption (NH3-TPD), IR spectroscopy of pyridine adsorption, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. Noncatalytic and catalytic pyrolytic behaviors of cellulose were studied by thermogravimetric (TG) technique. The pyrolytic liquid products, that is, the biooils, were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The major components of the biooils are anhydrosugars such as levoglucosan (LGA), 1,6-anhydro-β-D-glucofuranose (AGF), levoglucosenone (LGO, 1,6-anhydro-3,4-dideoxy-β-D-pyranosen-2-one), and 1,4:3,6-dianhydro-α-D-glucopyranose (DGP), as well as furan derivatives, alcohols, and so forth. Zn/ZSM-5 samples with Brønsted and Lewis acid sites and the FePO4 catalyst with Lewis acid sites were found to have a significant effect on the pyrolytic behaviors of cellulose and product distribution. These results show that Brønsted and Lewis acid sites modified remarkably components of the biooil, which could promote the production of furan compounds and LGO. On the basis of the findings, a model was proposed to describe the pyrolysis pathways of cellulose catalyzed by the solid acid catalysts.

Description: New substituted thieno-fused bicyclic compounds named (1H-pyrazol-3-yl)thieno[2,3-b]pyridin-4(7H)-one derivatives (4a,b), 2-([1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidin-7-yl)-3-methyl-7-phenylthieno[2,3-b]pyridin-4(7H)-one (5), phenylthieno[2,3-b]pyridin-4(7H)-one derivatives (6a–c, 7a–c, and 8), and 3-(3-methyl-4-oxo-7-phenyl-4,7-dihydrothieno[2,3-b]pyridin-2-yl)-3-oxopropyl 4-chlorobenzoate (9) were synthesized by reacting the new enaminone (3) with different reagents. The chemical structure of the new molecules was determined by means of different spectroscopic methods such as NMR, IR, MS spectrometry, and by CHN analyses. The molecular structure of the 1,1′-(3-methyl-5-(phenylamino)thiophene-2,4-diyl)diethanone (2) was successfully solved by X-ray single crystal.

Description: The effect of two commercial in vivo transport methods (cardboard boxes and ixtle sacks) on the physiological condition of Japanese oyster (Crassostrea gigas) was evaluated. Total carbohydrates, glycogen, adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) and related products, adenylate energy charge (AEC), and pH of transported oysters in simulated conditions were determined. The results showed that the ATP initial concentration was low from the beginning of the experiment, and AEC decreased in both transport methods. With respect to the total carbohydrates and glycogen, the samples maintained in cardboard box and ixtle sack decreased during transport, respectively. Similarly, significant changes in pH were observed for both methods. Our results showed that physiologically the best in vivo transporting method for Japanese oyster is in cardboard boxes.

Description: Phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities of ten juices from arils and whole pomegranate cultivars grown in Iran were studied. Phenolic contents and antioxidant activities of juices from whole pomegranate fruit were significantly higher than juices from pomegranate arils, but the variety has a greater influence than the processing method. The main phenolics in the studied juices were punicalagin A (5.40–285 mg/L), punicalagin B (25.9–884 mg/L), and ellagic acid (17.4–928 mg/L). The major and minor anthocyanins of cyanidin 3,5-diglucoside (0.7–94.7 mg/L), followed by cyanidin 3-glucoside (0.5–52.5 mg/L), pelargonidin 3,5-diglucoside + delphinidin 3-glucoside (0–10.3 mg/L), delphinidin 3,5-diglucoside (0–7.68 mg/L), pelargonidin 3-glucoside (0–9.40 mg/L), and cyanidin-pentoside (0–1.13 mg/L) were identified; the latter anthocyanin as well as cyanidin-pentoside-hexoside and delphinidin-pentoside were detected for the first time in Iranian pomegranates. The total phenolic contents were in the range of 220–2931 mg/100 mL. The results indicate that the pomegranate phenolics are not only influenced by extraction method but also—and even more—affected by the cultivar. Moreover, a good correlation was observed between total phenolic content and ABTS and FRAP methods in all pomegranate juices (〉0.90). The results of current research can help to select the pomegranate cultivars for commercial juice production.

Description: Food industry produces significant amount of waste that represents a problem for the sector. However, by-products are also promising sources of compounds which may be reused for their nutritional properties. The aim of this work is to exploit wine-making by-products, obtaining an extract by ultrasound-assisted extraction only using water as solvent. The characteristics of spaghetti enriched with grape marc were assessed and compared to control samples. In particular, total phenolic and flavonoids contents, the antioxidant activity, the cooking quality, and the sensory acceptability were evaluated at various steps of pasta production. The enriched spaghetti showed higher total phenolic and flavonoids contents and higher antioxidant activity than the control pasta. In addition, low cooking losses were found. In terms of sensory properties fortified pasta is acceptable as the traditional product, thus demonstrating that it is possible to exploit food waste to better satisfy consumer demand for healthy food products in a more sustainable perspective.

Description: Euphorbia factor L713283 is a new lathyrane diterpene isolated from Euphorbia lathyris and shows strong anticancer activity. By using molecular similarity analysis, β-tubulin was identified as one of the possible targets of L713283. We further investigated the binding modes of L713283 with β-tubulin using molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation methods. The results indicated that the binding site between β-tubulin and L713283 was composed of the four regions, that is, residues Phe20~Glu27, Leu225~Thr232, Phe270~Gly277, and Ile356~Met363. MM/GBSA method was used to calculate the binding free energy and determine the key residues for the association of L713283 with β-tubulin. It was found that nonpolar interactions made the major contributions for the binding. In addition, we compared the binding pocket and motion modes of L713283-free and L713283-bound β-tubulin systems. It is proposed that L713283 may bind to β-tubulin and favor the formation of αβ-tubulin dimmer. This work provides possible explanation for molecular mechanism of the anticancer agent L713283, and the strategy used here could benefit the investigation of possible target profile for those bioactive agents with unknown mechanisms.

Description: Handere clay deposits were discovered at Adana in Turkey. These clay units primarily consist of uncoloured claystone, pebbly sandstone, sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone marl and include gypsum lenses and clay levels of various thicknesses in places. The physicochemical properties of these clays have been investigated by different techniques including Scanning Electron and Elemental Analysis (SEM and EDS), mineralogical analyses, chemical and physical analyses, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), and Atterberg (Consistency) Limits Test. The mineralogical composition deduced from XRD is wide (smectite + palygorskite + illite ± feldspar ± chlorite ± quartz ± calcite ± serpentine) due to the high smectite contents (≈85%). SEM studies reveal that smectite minerals are composed of irregular platy leaves and show honeycomb pattern in the form of wavy leaves in places. The leaves presenting an array with surface edge contact are usually concentrated in the dissolution voids and fractures of volcanic glass. Organic matter content and loss on ignition analysis of raw materials are good for all the studied samples. In summary, Handere clays can be used as building materials in bricks, roof tiles, and cement and as a binder.

Description: Characterization of beer samples is of interest because their compositions affect the taste and stability of beer and, also, consumer health. In this work, the characterizations of 20 Romanian beers were performed by mean of Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) in order to trace heavy metals and isotopic content of them. Major, minor, and trace metals are important in beer fermentation since they supply the appropriate environment for yeast growth and influence yeast metabolism. Beside this, the presence of the C4 plants in the brewing process was followed. Our study has shown that the analyzed beers indicated the presence of different plant types used in brewing: C3, C3-C4 mixtures, and also C4, depending on producers. Also the trace metal content of each sample is presented and discussed in this study. A comparison of the beers quality manufactured by the same producer but bottled in different type of packaging like glass, dose, or PET was made; our results show that no compositional differences among the same beer type exist.

Description: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of dehydration conditions on the chemical, physical, and rehydration properties of instant whole beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L. var. Azufrado) using a 22 factorial design (air temperature: 25°C and 30°C, air velocity: 0.5 m/s and 1.0 m/s). To determine the kinetic parameters, the rehydration data were fitted to three models: Peleg’s, First Order, and Sigmoid. The protein, fat, and ash contents of the beans were not significantly affected () by the dehydration conditions. Of the 11 physical properties of the instant whole beans, only water activity and splitting were significantly affected by dehydration conditions (), with a range from 0.58 to 0.67 and from 2.90% to 5.87%, respectively. Of the three models tested, the First Order model gave the best fit for rehydration, with no significant differences () between the observed and predicted equilibrium moisture contents of the instant whole beans. Regarding the rehydration kinetics for the instant whole beans, the activation energy values ranged from 23.56 kJ/mol to 30.48 kJ/mol, depending on the dehydration conditions. The dehydration conditions had no significant effect () on the rehydration properties of instant whole beans.

Description: Based on the data analysis of economic development and the water environmental quality from 2002 to 2012 in the Nansi Lake Basin in China, the correlation between economic development and the water environmental quality was researched. Analysis shows that the GDP of the Nansi Lake Basin had an average annual growth of 7.3% in 2012, and the COD and had the average annual decrease of 7.69% and 6.79%, respectively, compared to 2002. Basin water environmental quality overall improved, reaching Class III of the “Environmental quality standards for surface water (GB3838-2002).” The pollution of the water environment was analyzed from three aspects: agricultural fertilizers and pesticides, livestock, and aquaculture. Results indicated that the water pollution of the Nansi Lake Basin mainly came from nonpoint source pollution, accounting for more than 80% of the overall pollution. The contributions of both agricultural fertilizers and pesticides account for more than 85% of the overall nonpoint source, followed by livestock and aquaculture. According to the water pollution characteristics of the Nansi Lake Basin, the basin pollution treatment strategy and prevention and treatment system were dissected, to solve the pollution problem of the Nansi Lake Basin.

Description: The production of biodiesel from waste vegetable oils through its pretreatment followed by transesterification process in presence of methanol was investigated using a KM micromixer reactor. The parameters affecting biodiesel production process such as alcohol to oil molar ratio, catalyst concentration, the presence of tetrahydrofuran (THF) as a cosolvent, and the volumetric flow rates of inlet fluids were optimized. The properties of the produced biodiesel were compared with its parent waste oil through different characterization techniques. The presence of methyl ester groups at the produced biodiesel was confirmed using both the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and the infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Moreover, the thermal analysis of the produced biodiesel and the comparable waste oil indicated that the product after the transesterification process began to vaporize at 120°C which makes it lighter than its parent oil which started to vaporize at around 300°C. The maximum biodiesel production yield of 97% was recorded using 12 : 1 methanol to oil molar ratio in presence of both 1% NaOH and THF/methanol volume ratio 0.3 at 60 mL/h flow rate.

Description: The formation of pyrazines in food cooking is required to obtain satisfactory “roasted” flavor. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of a new red wine pomace seasoning (RWPS) on the formation of pyrazines in barbecued beef patties. Five pyrazines were successfully identified, 2,5-dimethylpyrazine being the most abundant. Although 2-ethyl-5-methylpyrazine was in lower levels, it presented the highest odor units, due to its low threshold. RWPS enhanced the formation of the five identified pyrazines (2.1 times), without relevant changes in the proportion between them. The highest increase was observed for 2-ethyl-6-methylpyrazine (3 times higher than in control). These results were corroborated by electronic nose analysis, presenting RWPS beef patties higher odor intensities. Mechanisms to explain these effects are also proposed in the present work, and the high content of polyphenols seems to be the major cause of the observed results. The use of RWPS could improve the flavor characteristics of meat products or enable using less intense cooking conditions with no changes in the flavor.

Description: Monitoring of work of the aeration tanks of operating town treatment plants is done. Based on the obtained results a conclusion has been drawn that sewage water is improperly treated from ammonium nitrogen. The velocity of the aeration process, depending on the concentration of dissolved oxygen and ammonium nitrogen, is investigated. The obtained investigation data became the basis for modeling the aeration process in industrial conditions depending on the required initial concentration of ammonium nitrogen.

Description: The worldwide interest about sweet sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) goes towards stem sugar, but little has been focused on its grain. The starches were isolated from the grains of eight sweet and four grain sorghum varieties, and their physical, chemical, and morphological properties were carefully compared. The results reflected that starch from sweet varieties usually had larger granule size than that from grain ones, especially from two sweet varieties GL-4 and GL-6 with the granule size of 15.49 m and 15.67 m, respectively. The amylose content of sweet varieties starch was lower than that of grain ones. For water solubility index, starch from sweet varieties ranked top, whereas that from grain varieties ranked top for swelling power. The starch from both sweet and grain had A-type crystalline pattern, while the data from 13C NMR reflected pattern differences for and resonance between sweet and grain varieties. Chains length distribution from sweet varieties debranched starch was found a little different from grain one. The starch particles surface of sweet sorghum was smooth with some dents, while that from grain was smooth without appearance of dents. As sweet sorghum has ability to withstand harsh environments where other crops do not and is characterized by low production cost, the extensive potential existed for starch from sweet varieties to be used in starch industries.

Description: Conventional activated sludge treatment process has been widely employed to deal with a variety of municipal and industrial waste water, but the production of sludge by this method is considerable. It is urgent to find an appropriate method which can solve this problem. Shear force produced by rotating disk system (a cell lysis system) was employed to break cell wall of sludge microorganism in order to release intracellular materials which can be reused as nutrient materials for metabolism of other sludge microorganisms in this study. Special feature on surfaces of disks had been proved to be a novel improvement which can improve disintegration effect apparently. Ultrasonic system can further promote minimization of excess sludge after treatment by rotating disk system in shorter time.

Description: Benzofuran derivatives are of great interest in medicinal chemistry and have drawn considerable attention due to their diverse pharmacological profiles including anticancer activity. Similarly, chalcones, which are common substructures of numerous natural products belonging to the flavonoid class, feature strong anticancer properties. A novel series of chalcones, 3-aryl-1-(5-bromo-1-benzofuran-2-yl)-2-propanones propenones (3a–f), were designed, synthesized, and characterized. In vitro antitumor activities of the newly synthesized (3a–f) and previously synthesized (3g–j) chalcone compounds were determined by using human breast (MCF-7) and prostate (PC-3) cancer cell lines. Antitumor properties of all compounds were determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Cell viability assay for the tested chalcone compounds was performed and the values of the compounds were calculated after 24-hour treatment. Our results indicate that the tested chalcone compounds show antitumor activity against MCF-7 and PC-3 cell lines ().

Description: Chalcone related compounds have been reported as a poor luminescence molecule due to the quenching processes from the intramolecular torsional motions and cis-trans isomerization in the α,β-unsaturated ketone moiety. Despite this limitation, we found a way to improve the luminescent efficiency of our bis-chalcone derivative. In this project, two series of bis-chalcone compounds have been synthesized through Claisen-Schmidt condensation by reacting terephthaldehyde or 2,5-dimethoxyterephthaldehyde with the respective R-acetophenone [where R = H (1a and 2a) and ortho-hydroxy (1b and 2b)] in 1 : 2 mole ratio. The presence of a methoxy (OMe) substituent on the central phenyl ring of bis-chalcone has weakened the C=C bond at the α,β-unsaturated ketone moiety of 2a and 2b. Interestingly, the OMe group has improved the emission efficiency of the bis-chalcone; that is, the quantum yield of 1a in DCM solution was not able to be determined due to poor luminescence, but the quantum yield of 2a in DCM solution was improved to 0.57. In addition, compound 2a also shows solvatochromism effect where the emission shifted from 499 nm in nonpolar solvents (benzene) to 523 nm in polar solvents (acetonitrile). This work provides another way to improve the emission efficiency of chalcone related compounds apart from using the complexation method which has been reported before.

Description: This paper presents the numerical investigation and optimization of the operating parameters of the in situ generated CO2 Huff-n-Puff method with compound surfactant on the performance of enhanced oil recovery. First, we conducted experiments of in situ generated CO2 and surfactant flooding. Next, we constructed a single-well radial 3D numerical model using a thermal recovery chemical flooding simulator to simulate the process of CO2 Huff-n-Puff. The activation energy and reaction enthalpy were calculated based on the reaction kinetics and thermodynamic models. The interpolation parameters were determined through history matching a series of surfactant core flooding results with the simulation model. The effect of compound surfactant on the Huff-n-Puff CO2 process was demonstrated via a series of sensitivity studies to quantify the effects of a number of operation parameters including the injection volume and mole concentration of the reagent, the injection rate, the well shut-in time, and the oil withdrawal rate. Based on the daily production rate during the period of Huff-n-Puff, a desirable agreement was shown between the field applications and simulated results.

Description: Cancer is a major public health problem with limited success of available treatments, pointing to the need for new strategies to be developed. Phosphoethanolamine exhibits broad antitumor activity in a variety of tumor cells and potent inhibitor effects on tumor progress in vivo. Once-used organophosphates inhibit acetylcholinesterase (AChE), resulting in toxic effects to the user. As this group is present in phosphoethanolamine, we perform prediction of the in silico metabolism of phosphoethanolamine and submit this series to a docking study on AChE. A total of 10 metabolites were indicated by the prediction, including ammonia and hydroxylamine, which were not included in the study. Using a group of 8 organophosphorus whose pIC50 values ranged from 5.92 to 9.47 as template, we observed that no compound present in the phosphoethanolamine series had a binding energy lower than that of organophosphorus, suggesting that the series has low inhibitory power on AChE. In light of this, we conclude that phosphoethanolamine and its predicted metabolites do not significantly inhibit AChE to cause a cholinergic crisis. This finding highlights the importance of investigating this compound as lead for potential anticancer agents.

Description: Characterizations of biomass and coal were undertaken in order to compare their properties and determine the combustion characteristics of both feedstocks. The study was also intended to establish whether the biomass (corn stover) used for this study is a suitable feedstock for blending with coal for the purpose of cogasification based on composition and properties. Proximate and ultimate analyses as well as energy value of both samples including their blends were undertaken and results showed that corn stover is a biomass material well suited for blending with coal for the purpose of cogasification, given its high volatile matter content which was measured and found to be 75.3% and its low ash content of 3.3% including its moderate calorific value of 16.1%. The results of the compositional analyses of both pure and blended samples of corn stover and coal were used to conduct computer simulation of the cogasification processes in order to establish the best blend that would result in optimum cogasification efficiency under standard gasifier operating conditions. The final result of the cogasification simulation process indicated that 90% corn stover/10% coal resulted in a maximum efficiency of about 58% because conversion was efficiently achieved at a temperature that is intermediate to that of coal and corn stover independently.

Description: Two biological contact oxidation reactors, cascade biofilm reactor (CSBR) and one-step biofilm reactor (OSBR), were used in this paper for pretreatment of eutrophic water from Lake Taihu in China. The CSBR was more effective and stable for eutrophic water treatment than OSBR, in terms of extracellular microcystin-LR, chlorophyll-a, DOC, and biodegradable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC) removal. Removal efficiencies of extracellular microcystin-LR and chlorophyll-a were 75.8% and 59.7% in CSBR and 60.5% and 53.0% after 2 h in OSBR. CSBR had much higher removal efficiency (34.3%) than OSBR (22.7%) for DOC, and CSBR could remove 67% BDOC, accounting for 34% of total DOC in source water. 11.5% of DOC was removed through means other than biological degradation, such as biofilm adsorption and bioflocculation. In CSBR at 5.5~13°C, 57.5% of atrazine was removed at 2 h hydraulic retention time, with background concentration of 136.5 ng/L. Meanwhile, removal efficiencies of three phthalic acid esters (PAEs) (dimethyl phthalate, di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, and di-n-butyl phthalate) were 78.7%, 52.4%, and 85.3%, respectively. Only 35.2% of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) could be removed by CSBR with initial concentration of 21.5 μg/L. The results indicated that CSBR is effective in low-molecular-weight organic pollution pretreatment and provides benefits in terms of effluent quality.

Description: Traditionally, reduction of corrosion has been managed by various methods including cathodic protection, process control, reduction of the metal impurity content, and application of surface treatment techniques, as well as incorporation of suitable alloys. However, the use of corrosion inhibitors has proven to be the easiest and cheapest method for corrosion protection and prevention in acidic media. These inhibitors slow down the corrosion rate and thus prevent monetary losses due to metallic corrosion on industrial vessels, equipment, or surfaces. Inorganic and organic inhibitors are toxic and costly and thus recent focus has been turned to develop environmentally benign methods for corrosion retardation. Many researchers have recently focused on corrosion prevention methods using green inhibitors for mild steel in acidic solutions to mimic industrial processes. This paper provides an overview of types of corrosion, corrosion process, and mainly recent work done on the application of natural plant extracts as corrosion inhibitors for mild steel.

Description: This study sought to characterize and compare anti-inflammatory effects of twenty sorghum accessions with contrasting grain polyphenol concentrations but similar genetic backgrounds (based on a genomewide estimate of relatedness). Cell viability, tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-) α, and interleukin- (IL-) 6 were measured in RAW 264.7 macrophages treated with increasing doses (0, 15, 30, and 60 μg/mL) of sorghum ethanol extracts and stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Extract dose had a significant effect on TNF-α and IL-6, with a trend of cytokines decreasing between 0 μg/mL and 15 μg/mL of sorghum extract. Genotype also had a significant effect on the cytokines, with extracts from four accessions significantly decreasing TNF-α and/or IL-6. Cells treated with 3-deoxyanthocyanidin-containing accessions had less cytokine production than non-3-deoxyanthocyanidin accessions, whereas cells treated with proanthocyanidin-containing accessions had more cytokine production than cells treated with nonproanthocyanidin accessions. Additionally, there was a significant effect of the Tannin1 allele on TNF-α and IL-6. Our results demonstrate that sorghum genotypes differentially modulate induction of inflammatory cytokine production in RAW 264.7 macrophages and that specialty grain has the potential to be tailored by controlling traits at the nucleotide level. This study adds to our knowledge of sorghum health effects and contributes to efforts aimed at developing health-promoting sorghum grain.

Description: To obtain the melt cast booster explosive formulation with high energy and low critical detonation diameter, melt cast explosives were designed by 3,4-bis(3-nitrofurazan-4-yl)furoxan (DNTF)/2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT)/glycidyl azide polymer-energetic thermoplastic elastomer (GAP-ETPE)/nano-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetraazacyclooctane (HMX)/Aristowax. Furthermore, the impact sensitivity, small scale gap test, rheological properties, propagation reliability, and detonation velocity were measured and analyzed. The results show that when the mass ratio of DNTF/TNT/GAP-ETPE/nano-HMX/Aristowax is 34.2/22.8/2/40/1, not only does it indicate excellent rheological property but it has a brilliant safety performance as well. Moreover, it can propagate the detonation waves successfully in the groove at 0.7 mm × 0.7 mm. When the charge density in the groove is 1.70 g·cm−3, its detonation velocity can reach 7890 m·s−1.

Description: The second member of Jialingjiang formation is considered to be an important gas reservoir with good exploration prospects in the southern Puguang gasfield. The diagenesis types are analyzed and different diagenetic stages are divided by analyzing carbon and oxygen isotopes as well as observing the slices. The widespread forms of diagenesis in the research area principally include compaction, cementation, pressure solution, dolomitization, recrystallization, dissolution, and tectonic disruption, among which cementation, dissolution, dolomitization, and recrystallization contribute greatly to the development of porosity in the reservoir. The reservoir has experienced four diagenetic stages: syndiagenetic stage, early stage of diagenesis, diagenetic stage, and late diagenetic stage. Most of the primary pores were destroyed in the diagenetic evolution stages of reservoir; the present porosity mainly belongs to the secondary pores.

Description: Hydrolysates were prepared from soybean, walnut, and peanut protein by papain, respectively. Their amino acid compositions and molecular weight distributions, the effects of various hydrolysates on H2O2-induced injury PC12 cells, and cognition of mice were investigated, respectively. Results showed that the three hydrolysates were dominated by the peptides with 1–3 KDa with large amount of neurotrophic amino acids. All the hydrolysates exhibited much stronger inhibitory activity against H2O2-induced toxicity than cerebrolysin, and soy protein hydrolysate showed the highest activity. Moreover, the hydrolysates also could reduce the rate of nonviable apoptotic cells at the concentration of 2 mg/mL. The test of animal’s cognition indicated that three hydrolysates could present partly better effect of improving recurred memory ability of normal mice and consolidated memory ability of anisodine-treated mice than piracetam. Therefore, soybean, walnut, and peanut protein hydrolysates were recommended as a potential food raw material for prevention or treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.

Description: Knowledge about photochemical behavior of sulfonamides under UV light is limited. In this study, photodegradation of sulfadiazine in water by ultraviolet (UV) light was studied using a 300 W, 365 nm UV lamp. The degradation process followed well the first-order kinetics, with a half-life of 9.76 min in water with air saturation. The photodegradation was slower at acidic pH 4.52 than at pH 6.98 and pH 8.90. Addition of H2O2 and nitrate enhanced the photodegradation rate, while addition of ethanol, nitrite, sulfate, and bicarbonate depressed the reaction rate. This study suggested that sulfadiazine photodegradation under UV light is generally favored by the attack of hydroxyl radicals.

Description: To better understand the origin and difference associated with chemical stability, water resistance, and shearing viscosity of three types of different oxidized modified starch-based adhesives, a detailed theoretical investigation from a molecular viewpoint has been performed using the AM1 semiempirical level and the DFT-B3LYP level, respectively. As a result, our findings suggest that, by Mulliken population analysis (MPA), frontier orbital analysis, and electrostatic potential (EP) analysis based on B3LYP/6-31G calculations, the chemical stability, water resistance, and shearing viscosity of the oxidized modified starch-based adhesives are uniformly improved and corresponding difference for each property presents an identical order: the oxidized grafted cross-linked starch-based adhesive 〉 the oxidized grafted starch-based adhesive 〉 the oxidized starch-based adhesive, which is well consistent with experimental results.

Description: Studies of rock stress sensitivity are mainly focused on experimental and data processing methods, and the mechanism cannot be adequately explained using specific pore shape models. This study, based on a random pore network simulation, explains the rock stress sensitivity mechanism for the first time. Based on the network model theory, the hydraulic conductivity equation, the dimensionless radius equation, and the effective stress equation for partially saturated rock are used to generate a three-dimensional random pore network model based on the QT platform. The simulation results show that the influence of the effective stress on the dimensionless radius becomes more significant as the aspect ratio decreases, and the relationship between dimensionless radius and effective stress can be effectively interpreted through different combinations of pore shapes. Moreover, the mechanism behind permeability stress sensitivity can be explained by establishing the relationship between permeability and effective stress.

Description: Novel hybrid TiO2 particles were developed and assessed as an adsorbent for solid phase extraction (SPE) of organophosphorus pesticides (fensulfothion, parathion methyl, coumaphos, and diazinon) from spiked water. The sol-gel method was used to synthesize TiO2 particles, which were coated with free-radical polystyrene (PS) and poly(3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate) (PClHPMA) polymers. Particle structures were determined via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to confirm that the polymers were successfully anchored to the TiO2 particles. Thermogravimetric analysis was conducted to determine organic and inorganic matter in TiO2-PS and TiO2-PClHPMA particles showing results of 20 : 80 wt/wt% and 23 : 77 wt/wt%, respectively. SEM-EDS and X-ray diffraction test were conducted to determine the morphology and semielemental composition of the particles showing amorphous characteristics. By observing the contact angle, particles coated with PClHPMA were determined to be more hydrophilic than TiO2-PS particles. The pore size distributions obtained from the N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms were 0.150 and 0.168 cm3g−1. The specific surface area (BET) was 239.9 m2g−1 for TiO2-PS and 225.7 m2g−1 for TiO2-PClHPMA. The synthesized particles showed relatively high yields of adsorption in SPE. The pesticide recoveries obtained by high performance liquid chromatography ranged from 6 to 26% for TiO2-PClHPMA and 44 to 92% for TiO2-PS.

Description: The quantitative relationships among chemical composition, storage temperature, and texture of cheese were not fully understood. In this study, the effects of composition and temperature on textural properties of eight common varieties of sliced cheese were examined. The textural properties of sliced cheeses, including firmness, cohesiveness, adhesiveness, springiness, chewiness, and resilience, were measured by texture profile analysis after storage at 4 and 25°C for 4 h. Multivariate logistic regression models were established to describe the quantitative relationships of textural properties (dependent variables) to chemical composition and storage temperature (independent variables) of sliced cheeses. Results showed that protein, fat, moisture, and sodium chloride contents as well as storage temperature significantly affected the texture of sliced cheeses (). In particular, fat in the dry matter and moisture in the nonfat substances were negatively correlated with firmness of sliced cheeses (). As storage temperature rose from 4 to 25°C, the average values of firmness, chewiness, and resilience substantially declined by 42%, 45%, and 17%, respectively (). This study provided reference data for adjusting chemical composition and storage temperature of common cheese products to obtain favorable texture for Chinese consumers, which thereby facilitated the localization of cheese industry in Chinese market.

Description: A series of N-nitro acid amide derivatives compounds were synthesized based on the active site of target acetohydroxyacid synthase (AHAS, EC: 2.2.1.6) enzyme. All the structures of newly prepared compounds were thoroughly characterized by satisfied IR and 1H NMR spectra. The IC50 values against AHAS enzyme and EC50 values for herbicidal activity against Amaranthus mangostanus L. and Sorghum sudanense of all synthesized target compounds were determined. The compounds II-10, II-21, and II-22 with IC50 values of 7.09 mg/L, 9.07 mg/L, and 9.11 mg/L and the compounds II-8 and II-22 with EC50 values of 9.87 mg/L and 19.88 mg/L against root of Amaranthus mangostanus L. and Sorghum sudanense were illustrated, respectively. Meanwhile, the possible reasons for the lower activity of compounds were analyzed by molecular docking prediction.

Description: Bioaugmentation with degrading bacteria can improve the treatment of nicotine-containing tobacco industrial wastewater effectively. However, the transient and extremely high feeding of pollutants may compromise the effectiveness of the bioaugmented reactors. The effect of transient nicotine shock loads on the performance of Pseudomonas sp. HF-1 bioaugmented SBRs were studied. The results showed that, under 500–2500 mg/L of transient nicotine shocks, all the reactors still could realize 100% of nicotine degradation in 4 days of recovery, while the key nicotine degradation enzyme HSP hydroxylase increased in expression. Though the dramatic increase of activities of ROS, MDA, SOD, and CAT suggested that transient nicotine shock loads could induce oxidative stress on microorganisms in activated sludge, a decrease to control level demonstrated that most of the microorganisms could resist 500–1500 mg/L of transient nicotine shock under the protection from strain HF-1. After 8 cycles of recovery, high ROS level and low TOC removal in high transient shock reactors implied that 2000–2500 mg/L of transient nicotine shock was out of its recovery of strain HF-1 bioaugmented system. This study enriched our understanding on highly efficient nicotine-degrading strain bioaugmented system, which would be beneficial to tobacco waste or wastewater treatment in engineering.

Description: In the present paper, the adsorption of Astrazon Black AFDL dye onto Vietnamese diatomite has been demonstrated. The diatomite was characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms. The results show that diatomite mainly constituted centric type frustules characterized by pores as discs or as cylindrical shapes. The adsorption kinetics and isotherms of dye onto Vietnam diatomite were investigated. The experimental data were fitted well to both Freundlich and Langmuir in the initial concentration range of 400–1400 mg L−1. The average value of maximum adsorption capacity, , calculated from Freundlich equation is statistically similar to the average value of maximum monolayer adsorption capacity calculated from Langmuir equation. The thermodynamic parameters evaluated from the temperature dependent on adsorption isotherms in the range of 303–343 K show that the adsorption process was spontaneous and endothermic. The Webber and pseudo-first/second-order kinetic models were used to analyze the mechanism of adsorption. The piecewise linear regression and Akaike’s Information Criterion were used to analyze experimental data. The results show that the dye adsorption onto diatomite was film diffusion controlled and the goodness of fit of experimental data for kinetics modes was dependent on the initial concentration.

Description: For the perovskite solar cells (PSCs), the performance of the PSCs has become the focus of the research by improving the crystallization and morphology of the perovskite absorption layer. In this thesis, based on the structure of mesoporous perovskite solar cells (MPSCs), we designed the experiments to improve the photovoltaic performance of the PSCs by improved processing technique, which mainly includes the following two aspects. Before spin-coating PbI2 solution, we control the substrate temperature to modify the crystal quality and morphology of perovskite films. On the other hand, before annealing, we keep PbI2 films for the different drying time at room temperature to optimize films morphology. In our trials, it was found that the substrate temperature is more important in determining the photovoltaic performance than drying time. These results indicate that the crystallization and morphology of perovskite films affect the absorption intensity and obviously influence the short circuit current density of MPSCs. Utilizing films prepared by mentioning two methods, MPSCs with maximum power conversion efficiency of over 4% were fabricated for the active area of 0.5 × 0.5 cm2.

Description: To explore the optimum condition of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) accumulation in germinated tartary buckwheat, effects of some factors including aeration treatment, physiological indexes, air flow rate, culture temperature, and pH value of cultivating solution under hypoxia on GABA in germinated tartary buckwheat were investigated. The results showed that the dark cultures with distilled water at 30°C, 2 days, and aeration stress with 1.0 L/min air flow rate at 30°C were optimal for GABA accumulation. Under these conditions, the predicted content of GABA was up to 371.98 μg/g DW. The analysis of correlation indicated that there was a significant correlation () between GABA accumulation and physiological indexes. Box-Behnken experimental analysis revealed that optimal conditions with aeration treatment for GABA accumulation in germinated tartary buckwheat were air flow rate of 1.04 L/min, culture temperature of 31.25°C, and a pH value of 4.21. Under these conditions, the GABA content was predicted as high as 386.20 μg/g DW, which was close to the measured value ( μg/g DW). The variance analysis and validation test suggested that this established regression model could predict GABA accumulation in tartary buckwheat during germination.

Description: The macerals, including fusinitic coal containing 72.20% inertinite and xyloid coal containing 91.43% huminite, were separated from Shengli lignite using an optical microscope, and their combustion reactivity was examined by thermogravimetric analysis. Several combustion parameters, including ignition and burnout indices, were analyzed, and the combustion kinetics of the samples were calculated by regression. Fusinitic coal presented a porous structure, while xyloid coal presented a compact structure. The specific surface area of fusinitic coal was 2.5 times larger than that of xyloid coal, and the light-off temperature of the former was higher than that of the latter. However, the overall combustion reactivity of fusinitic coal was better than that of xyloid coal. The combustion processes of fusinitic and xyloid coals can be accurately described by both the homogeneous model and the shrinking core model. The features of xyloid coal agree with the shrinking core model when its conversion rate is 10%–90%. The activation energy of fusinitic coal during combustion can be divided into three phases, with the middle phase featuring the highest energy. The activation energy of xyloid coal is lower than that of fusinitic coal in the light-off phase, which may explain the low light-off temperature of this coal.

Description: Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, regression models were fitted to assess the relationship between the levels of bisphenol A and selected parabens and pregnancy status among females 20–44 years old with adjustments made for factors that may affect the levels of these chemicals. Pregnancy did not affect the levels of bisphenol A, ethyl paraben, methyl paraben, and propyl paraben, but the pregnancy was found to be associated with increased levels of butyl paraben. Also, the levels of bisphenol A and butyl, ethyl, and methyl parabens increased as pregnancy progressed from the first trimester to the third trimester. The increasing levels of bisphenol A and parabens during pregnancy are of concern and need further clinical explanation.

Description: Transport of Cryptosporidium in runoff will contaminate the surrounding water body. Cryptosporidium-sized microspheres and inactive Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts removal using an active carbon (AC) filter with/without coal gangue from the runoff was evaluated. Chemical composition of coal gangue was determined, and its performance as a water treatment material was tested. Results showed SiO2 was the dominant chemical component of coal gangue. Removal was only 20% for microspheres and 24% for oocysts by AC filtration alone. The removal for both was increased to more than 98% by addition of coal gangue powder to the filter. Furthermore, gangue reuse turned commercially worthless material to a water treatment material as well helping prevent gangue from occupying agriculture/industry land.