ALBERT

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October–December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Mutation Research/Reviews in Mutation Research, Volume 782〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yuxiao Liao, Zhao Peng, Liangkai Chen, Liegang Liu, Qinghua Wu, Wei Yang〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Mycotoxins, produced by fungi, are secondary metabolites causing adverse, toxic and pathological effects on human and animals. Studies about the association between mycotoxins and microRNAs (miRNAs) were developed since miRNAs have been demonstrated to play a critical role in many developmental processes for regulating messenger RNA (mRNA). As published studies showed, dozens of miRNAs were influenced by mycotoxins, indicating that miRNAs can play important roles in the occurrence and development of mycotoxicosis. Besides, a hypothesis called competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) was reported to indirectly modulate the expression of mRNA 〈em〉via〈/em〉 miRNA response elements (MREs) to consequently regulate cell functions. As a result, four common miRNAs were focused to predict the corresponding ceRNAs based on their own characteristics and the effects of mycotoxins on them, in hope of providing potential ways or directions of miRNAs regulation for mycotoxicosis, and expanding the research field about mycotoxicosis from ceRNA.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October–December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Mutation Research/Reviews in Mutation Research, Volume 782〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yanan Xu, Qian Zhang, Liang Tan, Xubiao Xie, Yong Zhao〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Niemann–Pick C disease (NPC) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by severe neurodegeneration of central nervous system. Linkage studies in multiplex NPC families and genetic complementation research revealed two disease genes, 〈em〉NPC1 and NPC2,〈/em〉 both of which are important transporters for cholesterol trafficking. NPC2 executes cholesterol-transport function through protein-protein interaction with NPC1 as well as through protein-membrane interaction directly with membrane of late endosome and lysosome. In addition, NPC2 may play many other roles as indicated by its widely expressing pattern in different cells and presenting in numerous secretory fluids, although it biological significance is less studied today. About 50 clinical cases have been reported documenting over twenty different mutations of 〈em〉NPC2〈/em〉 in NPC patients so far. In this review, we will mainly summarize the molecular characteristics and biological significance of NPC2, highlighting its vital roles in NPC disease.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Electrochimica Acta, Volume 319〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Subish John, Samba Siva Vadla, Somnath C. Roy〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉CuO is a narrow band gap 〈em〉p〈/em〉-type semiconducting material having a wide range of applications. However, it is quite challenging to obtain phase pure CuO nanostructures grown directly on Cu substrate as most of the synthesis techniques like thermal oxidation results in the formation of additional Cu〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O phase. In this work, we report the growth of CuO nanoflakes without the formation of Cu〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O by a facile two-step synthesis process which consist of electrochemical anodization of Cu foil followed by low-temperature hydrothermal treatment at 100 °C. The phase purity of the sample is confirmed through XRD, XPS, and HRTEM. Further, photocurrent response of the sample is evaluated, and a rapid thermal treatment was used to improve the photo-response without altering the phase and morphology of the CuO nanoflakes. Such a process at 400 °C for 10 s resulted in a high photocurrent density of −4.6 mAcm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 (at 0.05 V 〈em〉vs.〈/em〉 RHE under AM 1.5G conditions). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and Mott Schottky analysis shows the direct role of rapid thermal treatment in increasing the charge carrier density of the sample.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0013468619313337-fx1.jpg" width="500" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Electrochimica Acta, Volume 319〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Cong Liu, Fenyun Yi, Dong Shu, Weixin Chen, Xiaoping Zhou, Zhenhua Zhu, Ronghua Zeng, Aimei Gao, Chun He, Xia Li〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Three-dimensional N/S co-doped succulent-like hierarchical carbon (3D NS-SHC) is synthesized by carbonization of a supramolecular cluster. In this supramolecular process, potassium citrate can act as a reliable carbon source, while the thiourea as a N/S source and then, two molecules gradually tend to generate a giant “all-in-one” precursor via hydrogen bonding verified by Independent Gradient Model (IGM) calculation. TEM and SEM images show the N/S co-doped carbon holds a novel 3D succulent-like hierarchical structure. For NS-SHC-8:8 sample, element mapping images display the uniform N/S atoms distribution. These distinct features can be related to the supramolecular polymerization which promotes in-situ N/S co-doping homogenously and conduces to build 3D structure. Typically, NS-SHC-8:8 electrode exhibits prominent specific capacitance (258.5 F g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 0.5 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) and excellent cycle stability (94.4% after 20000 cycles) in three-electrode system. Furthermore, an assembled quasi-solid state symmetric supercapacitor delivers good energy density (10.2 Wh kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 250 W kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) and steady cycle endurance (85.1% after 10000 cycles). These eximious behaviors of NS-SHC-8:8 are mainly attributed to (1) the uniform N/S atoms distribution and their synergistic effect, which brings extra Faradaic reaction to higher specific capacitance, (2) the charming 3D succulent-like hierarchical structure, which serves as a multifunctional reservoir that can accommodate the ion/charge and facilitate their migration to further promote the electrochemical performance. Above mentions suggest that this uniformly heteroatom-modified carbon material produced by supramolecular technique is promising for high-performance energy storage devices.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0013468619313283-fx1.jpg" width="296" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Electrochimica Acta, Volume 319〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Arunprabaharan Subramanian, Mahadeo A. Mahadik, Jin-Woo Park, In Kwon Jeong, Hee-Suk Chung, Hyun Hwi Lee, Sun Hee Choi, Weon-Sik Chae, Jum Suk Jang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Herein, we report the surface treatment on Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉/Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 codoped α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 photoanode for high-performance photoelectrochemical water splitting. A high-temperature quenching exhibits the Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉/Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 codoping in α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 photoanode without damaging morphology. The presence of Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉/Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 codoping shows a cathodic shift in onset potential, but lack of increment in photocurrent reveals the major role of passivation and the minimum doping effect of aluminum. Additionally, CoO〈sub〉x〈/sub〉 cocatalyst exhibits increment in photocurrent with the greater cathodic shift in onset potential than the pristine α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 nanorods. The CoO〈sub〉x〈/sub〉 surface-reworked Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉/Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 codoped α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 photoanode displays the highest photocurrent of 1.5 mA/cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 at 1.23 V vs. RHE (76% increment over the pristine α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉) and 0.7 mA/cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 at 1.0 V vs. RHE (102% increment over the pristine α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉). The systematic characterization carried out using x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy confirms that after Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉/Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 codoping, and surface treatment, the crystalline structure, and morphology of the photoanodes remains unchanged. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the existence of Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉/Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 codopants in the hematite nanostructure. The electrochemical properties of the photoanode suggest that Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 and Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉 codoping, as well as surface treatment with CoO〈sub〉x〈/sub〉, cocatalyst lowers charge transfer resistance across the FTO/hematite interface, and hematite/electrolyte interface. This designs not only lowers onset potential but also offers the blueprint for the development of an efficient catalyst for solar water oxidation.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉CoO〈sub〉x〈/sub〉 surface-reworked Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉/Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 codoped α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 photoanode displays the 102% increment in PEC performance than pristine α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 at 1.0 V vs. RHE.〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0013468619312927-fx1.jpg" width="471" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Molecular Biology〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Adam J.H. Quek, Blake A. Mazzitelli, Guojie Wu, Eleanor W.W. Leung, Tom T. Caradoc-Davies, Gordon J. Lloyd, Devadharshini Jeevarajah, Paul J. Conroy, Martina Sanderson-Smith, Yue Yuan, Yetunde A. Ayinuola, Francis J. Castellino, James C. Whisstock, Ruby H.P. Law〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Plasminogen (Plg)-binding M protein (PAM) is a group A streptococcal cell surface receptor that is crucial for bacterial virulence. Previous studies revealed that, by binding to the kringle 2 (KR2) domain of host Plg, the pathogen attains a proteolytic microenvironment on the cell surface that facilitates its dissemination from the primary infection site. Each of the PAM molecules in their dimeric assembly consists of two Plg binding motifs (called the a1 and a2 repeats). To date, the molecular interactions between the a1 repeat and KR2 have been structurally characterized, whereas the role of the a2 repeat is less well defined. Here, we report the 1.7-Å x-ray crystal structure of KR2 in complex with a monomeric PAM peptide that contains both the a1 and a2 motifs. The structure reveals how the PAM peptide forms key interactions simultaneously with two KR2 via the high-affinity lysine isosteres within the a1a2 motifs. Further studies, through combined mutagenesis and functional characterization, show that a2 is a stronger KR2 binder than a1, suggesting that these two motifs may play discrete roles in mediating the final PAM-Plg assembly.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0022283619304243-ga1.jpg" width="402" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, Volume 27, Issue 16〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Tao Li, Jing Li, Yang Yang, Yilin Han, Dirong Wu, Tao Xiao, Yang Wang, Ting Liu, Yonglong Zhao, Yongjun Li, Zeqin Dai, Xiaozhong Fu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The deficiency of nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) as anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) drugs in clinical use is attributable to their insufficient enrichment in liver and non-target organ toxicity. We aimed to develop potent anti-HBV adefovir derivatives with hepatotrophic properties and reduced nephrotoxicity. A series of adefovir mono 〈span〉l〈/span〉-amino acids, mono cholic acid-drug conjugates were designed and synthesized, and their antiviral activity and uptake in rat primary hepatocytes and Na〈sup〉+〈/sup〉-dependent taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide (NTCP)-HEK293 cells were evaluated. We isolated compound 〈strong〉6c〈/strong〉 as the optimal molecular candidate, with the highest antiviral activity (EC〈sub〉50〈/sub〉 0.42 μmol/L, SI 1063.07) and highest cellular uptake in primary hepatocytes and NTCP-HEK293 cells. In-depth mechanistic studies demonstrated that 〈strong〉6c〈/strong〉 exhibited a lower toxicity in HK-2 cells when compared to adefovir dipivoxil (ADV). This is because 〈strong〉6c〈/strong〉 cannot be transported by the human renal organic anion transporter 1 (hOAT1). Furthermore, pharmacokinetic characterization and tissue distribution of 〈strong〉6c〈/strong〉 indicates it has favorable druggability and pharmacokinetic properties. Further docking studies suggested compounds with ursodeoxycholic acid and 〈span〉l〈/span〉-amino acid groups are better at binding to NTCP due to their hydrophilic properties, indicating that 〈strong〉6c〈/strong〉 is a potential candidate as an anti-HBV therapy and therefore merits further investigation.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0968089619309034-ga1.jpg" width="327" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, Volume 27, Issue 17〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Bo Hou, Ze Liu, Xiao-Bei Yang, Wen-Fei Zhu, Jin-Yu Li, Liu Yang, Fu-Cai Reng, Yong-Feng Lv, Jiang-Miao Hu, Guo-Yang Liao, Jun Zhou〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The stems of 〈em〉Dryopteris crassirhizoma〈/em〉, one of the main components of Lianhua-Qingwen Formula (LQF) was traditionally used for heat-clearing and detoxifying. Dryocrassin 〈strong〉ABBA〈/strong〉 is a key antiviral component in the herbal medicine while the compound is hard to get in large amounts with the features of homologous compounds, polyphenol groups, and low contents. Therefore, the present work aims to seek influenza H7N9 virus inhibitors from natural source by synthesis of dryocrassin 〈strong〉ABBA〈/strong〉 and its analogues. As a result, total synthesis of the compound was achieved in nine steps with an over-all yield of 4.6%. Neuraminidases (NAs) inhibitory activities of the synthesized product and its analogues were evaluated afterward. Comparing with the positive control, OSV (9.6 μM), it was very exciting that dryocrassin 〈strong〉ABBA〈/strong〉 and its analogues (〈strong〉b5〈/strong〉 and 〈strong〉e2〈/strong〉) showed better NAs inhibitory activity against Anhui H7N9 with IC〈sub〉50〈/sub〉 values of 3.6 μM, 2.5 μM and 1.6 μM. For the highly resistant Shanghai N9, these compounds can also show medium inhibitory activities. Docking results indicated the direct interaction of synthesized 3 hits with the key K294 by hydrogen bonds, but no direct interaction of OSV with the key K294 was observed in Shanghai N9. This study suggested that dryocrassin 〈strong〉ABBA〈/strong〉 and its analogues especially 〈strong〉AB〈/strong〉, which consisted of polyphenol groups may have beneficial effects on treating avian influenza H7N9 virus.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Total synthesis of dryocrassin ABBA and analogue structures with potential inhibitory activity against drug-resistant neuraminidases.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0968089619308879-ga1.jpg" width="278" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Energy Conversion and Management, Volume 196〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhendong Zhang, Hui Qin, Yongqi Liu, Liqiang Yao, Xiang Yu, Jiantao Lu, Zhiqiang Jiang, Zhongkai Feng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉As a renewable and clean energy, wind energy plays an important role in easing the increasingly serious energy crisis. However, due to the strong volatility and randomness of wind speed, large-scale integration of wind energy is limited. Therefore, obtaining reliable high-quality wind speed prediction is of great importance for the planning and application of wind energy. The purpose of this study is to develop a hybrid model for short-term wind speed forecasting and quantifying its uncertainty. In this study, Minimal Gated Memory Network is proposed to reduce the training time without significantly decreasing the prediction accuracy. Furthermore, a new hybrid method combining Quantile Regression and Minimal Gated Memory Network is proposed to predict conditional quantile of wind speed. Afterwards, Kernel Density Estimation method is used to estimate wind speed probabilistic density function according to these conditional quantiles of wind speed. In order to make the model show better performance, Maximal Information Coefficient is used to select the feature variables while Genetic Algorithm is used to obtain optimal feature combinations. Finally, the performance of the proposed model is verified by seven state-of-the-art models through four cases in Inner Mongolia, China from five aspects: point prediction accuracy, interval prediction suitability, probability prediction comprehensive performance, forecast reliability and training time. The experimental results show that the proposed model is able to obtain point prediction results with high accuracy, suitable prediction interval and probability distribution function with strong reliability in a relatively short time on the prediction problems of wind speed.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0196890419306958-ga1.jpg" width="159" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Renewable Energy, Volume 146〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): K.R. Arun, M. Srinivas, C.A. Saleel, S. Jayaraj〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this work, an outdoor experimental analysis is conducted to determine the impact on the useful heat gain when discrete cylindrical energy storage units are directly integrated into the solar collector. The collector has a double-pass airflow channel pathway, and the storage is intended to serve only for a short-term. The location of storage inside the collector is always a major concern. This study seeks to determine whether the thermodynamic performance of the system is effective by the location of cylindrical energy storage (paraffin wax) capsules on the upper or the lower airflow channel pathway. The obtained results suggest that due to asymmetric channel depth, the thermodynamic performance of the collector was not greatly influenced by the placement of capsules, unlike with symmetric channel depths. The amount of useful heat gain when storage was placed in the upper (Case A) and lower (Case B) airflow pathways was 0.35 kW and 0.4 kW. For Case A and Case B, the average collector thermal efficiency was 62.9% and 73.7%, and the exergy efficiency was 44.3% and 47.5%. The energy payback time for the collector based on energy calculations is nine months, and that on exergy analysis is 34 months and 20 days.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Renewable Energy, Volume 146〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yan Wu, Shuai Zhang, Ruiqi Wang, Yufei Wang, Xiao Feng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Wind farm designing is a crucial stage to realize the application of wind energy. This work studies the problem of wind farm layout optimization (WFLO). A new method based on power production, wind distribution, wake loss is proposed to optimize the layout of wind farm. Genetic algorithm (GA) is utilized to optimize the locations of wind turbine in the wind farm. GeoSteiner algorithm is used to optimize the layouts of cable which has important influence on power transmission. The objective function is annual economic benefit (AEB) including annual production benefit (APB) and the costs of energy, cable and land. In the case study, the wind farm size is 3850 m × 3850 m. The number of wind turbines (WTs) of the cases changes from 2 to 58. The capacity achieves 87 MW when the number of WTs is 58. The result shows that the case considering all factors mentioned above has the highest AEB with 1.87 × 10〈sup〉9〈/sup〉 ¥ per year. There is a 27.01% increase compared with the original case with APB as objective function. Specifically, the investment of cable is 3.68 × 10〈sup〉6〈/sup〉 ¥ comparing with 4.06 × 10〈sup〉6〈/sup〉 ¥ of the case only considering APB.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Proteins and Proteomics, Volume 1867, Issue 9〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Deo R. Singh, Christopher King, Matt Salotto, Kalina Hristova〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉EGFR is a receptor tyrosine kinase that plays a critical role in cell proliferation, differentiation, survival and migration. Its activating ligand, EGF, has long been believed to stabilize the EGFR dimer. Two research studies aimed at quantitative measurements of EGFR dimerization, however, have led to contradicting conclusions and have questioned this view. Given the controversy, here we sought to measure the dimerization of EGFR in the absence and in the presence of saturating EGF concentrations, and to tease out the effect of ligand on dimer stability, using a FRET-based quantitative method. Our measurements show that the dissociation constant is decreased ~150 times due to ligand binding, indicative of significant dimer stabilization. In addition, our measurements demonstrate that EGF binding induces a conformational change in the EGFR dimer.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0005273619301476-ga1.jpg" width="265" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Renewable Energy, Volume 146〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): José Núñez, Miguel F. Moctezuma-Sánchez, Elizabeth M. Fisher, Víctor M. Berrueta, Omar R. Masera, Alberto Beltrán〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The fluid flow, heat transfer, and gas-phase chemical reactions for a natural-draft plancha-type biomass cookstove are studied at steady state with a commercial CFD code, ANSYS Fluent™. Different firepowers (in the range of real operating conditions), modeled as different flow rates of wood volatiles entering the 3D computational domain, were investigated. Firepower was found to have minimal effect on the air flow rate through the cookstove and the efficiency, but to strongly affect stove temperatures and heating rates. The main results were duplicated by a simple analytical model with one tunable parameter, and with simplified combustion, heat transfer, fluid properties, and pressure losses. The analytical model highlights the importance of the air mass flow rate through the cookstove, which is affected by design choices. The largest diferences between the CFD model and the analytical model occurred at the lower firepowers, when temperatures were so low that combustion was incomplete.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 113〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): S.K. Kim, K.H. Cho, J.Y. Kim, G. Byeon〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper presents long-term field test results of lithium-polymer and advanced lead-acid battery systems for consumer load management. The battery systems aimed to minimize electricity bills of an industrial consumer by shifting its load to lower priced time-zones and regulating its peak. Annual and daily peak reduction effects and operating revenues are examined under a time-of-use tariff and battery promotional incentive. Capacity degradations of the batteries are calculated to estimate the actual lifetime. Based on actually earned revenue during the field test and predicted service life for the each type of the batteries, total expected revenue per unit installation capacity is estimated and compared with investment cost per capacity to perform the economics of the tested battery systems for consumer load. This analysis found that the profitability cannot be assured under the considered time-of-use pricing alone but can be expected when adequate incentive is provided. It is also revealed that the batteries in real use conditions lose their capacity considerably quicker than suggested by manufacturers. Therefore, it is recommended to consider actual fading pattern of the battery for accurate economic evaluation at the design stage and to reflect the battery degrading cost into the charge-discharge scheduling model to optimize operating revenue.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Renewable Energy, Volume 146〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Fujiao Tang, Hossein Nowamooz〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Generally, a Horizontal Ground Heat Exchanger (HGHE) is installed in shallow depths, which can influence the land surface temperature during its operation period, especially when a high heat demand is required. Consequently, the existing methods of using time-varying land surface temperatures are not sufficient for the HGHE simulations. In this paper, a numerical framework considering the atmosphere-soil-HGHE interaction was proposed and validated. The outlet temperatures of a slinky-type HGHE installed in a multi-layered soil field were then investigated under the heating scenario by considering the local meteorological and geological conditions. The results showed that the operation of the HGHE affected obviously the land surface temperature and the ground heat flux. The increase of the installation depth from 0.5 to 2 m increased the outlet temperatures. However, this increase was insignificant when the installation depth increased from 0.5 to 1 m. It was further identified that the non-consideration of the atmosphere-soil interaction overestimated the annual fluid outlet temperature in the heating scenario, and this overestimation decreased from 47.99% to 17.16% as the installation depth increased from 0.5 to 2 m. In conclusion, it is necessary to consider the atmosphere-soil interaction to predict precisely the outlet temperatures of a shallow HGHE.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Carbon, Volume 153〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ayoub H. Jaafar, N.T. Kemp〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper reports on the first optically tunable graphene oxide memristor device. Modulation of resistive switching memory by light opens the route to new optoelectronic devices that can be switched optically and read electronically. Applications include integrated circuits with memory elements switchable by light and optically reconfigurable and tunable synaptic circuits for neuromorphic computing and brain-inspired, artificial intelligence systems. In this report, planar and vertical structured optical resistive switching memristors based on graphene oxide are reported. The device is switchable by either optical or electronic means, or by a combination of both. In addition the devices exhibit a unique wavelength dependence that produces reversible and irreversible properties depending on whether the irradiation is long or short wavelength light, respectively. For long wavelength light, the reversible photoconductance effect permits short-term dynamic modulation of the resistive switching properties of the light, which has application as short-term memory in neuromorphic computing. In contrast, short wavelength light induces both the reversible photoconductance effect and an irreversible change in the memristance due to reduction of the graphene oxide. This has important application in the fabrication of cloned neural networks with factory defined weights, enabling the fast replication of artificial intelligent chips with pre-trained information.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0008622319306943-fx1.jpg" width="485" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 3 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Volume 516, Issue 4〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yanjie Hou, Tian Gong, Jiangtao Zhang, Xi Yang, Yurong Guo〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The thinned-young apple polysaccharides from three varieties were obtained by hot water extraction at 88 ̊C for 120 min. The compositional monosaccharides of the three polysaccharides were shown to be the same (xylose, mannose, galactose and glucose) and the molecular weights of the polysaccharides were in the range of 200–300 kDa. Compared with “Qinyang” and “Pinklady”, the polysaccharide from “Jinshiji” had the highest emulsifying capacity. Moreover, the variations in pH and cation ion concentrations had also a significant effect on the emulsifying properties of the extracted polysaccharides. At pH 2.0–4.0, the prepared emulsion had smaller droplet sizes than at higher pH values. Although the emulsion was stable at low concentrations of Na〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 and Ca〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 ions, high concentrations of Na〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 and Ca〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 led to significant destabilization of the emulsion. Conclusively, our results demonstrated the potential application of thinned-young apple polysaccharide as a natural polysaccharide emulsifying agent.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Proteins and Proteomics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Martina Paumann-Page, Rupert Tscheliessnig, Benjamin Sevcnikar, Romy-Sophie Katz, Irene Schwartz, Stefan Hofbauer, Vera Pfanzagl, Paul G. Furtmüller, Christian Obinger〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Human peroxidasin 1 is a multidomain peroxidase situated in the basement membrane. The iron enzyme with covalently bound heme oxidizes bromide to hypobromous acid which facilitates the formation of distinct sulfilimine cross-links in the collagen IV network and therefore contributes to its mechanical stability. Additional to the catalytically active peroxidase domain peroxidasin comprises a leucine rich repeat domain, four Ig domains and a C-terminal von Willebrand factor type C module (VWC). Peroxidasin has been shown to form homotrimers involving two redox-sensitive cysteine residues and to undergo posttranslational C-terminal proteolytic cleavage. The present study on several recombinantly produced truncated peroxidasin variants showed that the VWC is not required for trimer formation whereas the alpha-helical linker region located between the peroxidase domain and the VWC is crucial for trimerization. Our data furthermore implies that peroxidasin oligomerization occurs intracellularly before C-terminal cleavage. For the first time we present overall solution structures of monomeric and trimeric truncated peroxidasin variants which were determined by rotary shadowing combined with transmission electron microscopy and by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). A triangular arrangement of the peroxidase domains to each other within the homotrimer was revealed and this structure was confirmed by a model of trimeric peroxidase domains. Our SAXS data showed that the Ig domains are highly flexible and interact with the peroxidase domain and that within the homotrimer each alpha-helical linker region interacts with the respective adjacent peroxidase domain. The implications of our findings on the structure-function relationship of peroxidasin are discussed.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1570963919301219-ga1.jpg" width="240" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Trends in Genetics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Joost Schimmel, Robin van Schendel, Johan T. den Dunnen, Marcel Tijsterman〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉〈div〉〈p〉A recognized source of disease-causing genome alterations is erroneous repair of broken chromosomes, which can be executed by two distinct mechanisms: non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and the recently discovered polymerase theta-mediated end joining (TMEJ) pathway. While TMEJ has previously been considered to act as an alternative mechanism backing up NHEJ, recent work points to a role for TMEJ in the repair of replication-associated DNA breaks that are excluded from repair through homologous recombination. Because of its mode of action, TMEJ is intrinsically mutagenic and sometimes leaves behind a recognizable genomic scar when joining chromosome break ends (i.e., ‘templated insertions’). This review article focuses on the intriguing observation that this polymerase theta signature is frequently observed in disease alleles〈span〉,〈/span〉 arguing for a prominent role of this double-strand break repair pathway in genome diversification and disease-causing spontaneous mutagenesis in humans.〈/p〉〈/div〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Carbon, Volume 153〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): C.M. Ramos-Castillo, M.E. Cifuentes-Quintal, E. Martínez-Guerra, R. de Coss〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Energy gap engineering in graphene nanostructures is one of the most important topics towards development of graphene-based electronics. In this work, based on the density functional theory, the role of the edge magnetism on the size dependence of Kohn-Sham gap and fundamental energy gap for 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si1.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈msub〉〈mrow〉〈mtext〉C〈/mtext〉〈/mrow〉〈mrow〉〈mn〉6〈/mn〉〈mtext〉nn〈/mtext〉〈/mrow〉〈/msub〉〈msub〉〈mrow〉〈mtext〉H〈/mtext〉〈/mrow〉〈mrow〉〈mn〉6〈/mn〉〈mtext〉n〈/mtext〉〈/mrow〉〈/msub〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉 (〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si2.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈mtext〉n〈/mtext〉〈mo linebreak="badbreak"〉=〈/mo〉〈mn〉2〈/mn〉〈mo linebreak="goodbreak" linebreakstyle="after"〉−〈/mo〉〈mn〉16〈/mn〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉) hexagonal graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with zigzag edges is studied. We found a transition from a nonmagnetic to an antiferromagnetic state at a certain critical diameter (〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si3.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈mo〉∼〈/mo〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉 3 nm), characterized by the opening of a Kohn-Sham gap as a consequence of the exchange interaction between localized edge states. Furthermore, the fundamental gap is obtained from the difference between the calculated vertical ionization and electron affinity energies. Such approximation includes relaxation in the exchange correlation potential when the electron is added to the system, which might be useful for GQDs transport properties interpretation. We found a scaling rule for the fundamental gap dependence on quantum dot size, providing a practical way to predict this property for large GQDs with zigzag edges, which currently in most demanding approaches, such as GW, is unfeasible.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0008622319306876-fx1.jpg" width="500" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Trends in Microbiology〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Geneviève Lajoie, Steven W. Kembel〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉〈div〉〈p〉There is an increasing interest in applying trait-based approaches to microbial ecology, but the question of how and why to do it is still lagging behind. By anchoring our discussion of these questions in a framework derived from epistemology, we broaden the scope of trait-based approaches to microbial ecology from one oriented mostly around explanation towards one inclusive of the predictive and integrative potential of these approaches. We use case studies from macro-organismal ecology to concretely show how these goals for knowledge development can be fulfilled and propose clear directions, adapted to the biological reality of microbes, to make the most of recent advancements in the measurement of microbial phenotypes and traits.〈/p〉〈/div〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Volume 114〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Deep Pooja, Anusha Gunukula, Nitin Gupta, David J. Adams, Hitesh Kulhari〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The biggest challenge in delivering anticancer agents is the ability to direct these molecules specifically to cancer cells. With this in mind, modern research is focussing on improving the precision of cancer drug delivery by incorporating a ligand that has the ability to specifically recognize cancer cells. Peptides are emerging as a new tool in drug and gene delivery. Peptide-drug conjugates, peptide-modified drug delivery systems, and peptide-coupled imaging agents have been shown to increase on-site delivery. This has allowed better tumor mass contouring in imaging and increased therapeutic efficacy of chemotherapies, reducing adverse effects. Benefits of peptide ligands include their small size, easy and affordable production, high specificity and remarkable flexibility regarding their sequence and conjugation possibilities. Bombesin (Bn) receptors have shown great promise for tumor targeting due to their increased expression in a variety of human cancers, including prostate, breast, small cell lung, and pancreatic cells. This review discusses the overexpression of Bn receptors in different cancers and various approaches to target these receptors for therapeutic and diagnostic interventions in human malignancies.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, Volume 192〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): A.J. Álvarez, F. Nieto, D.T. Nguyen, J.S. Owen, S. Hernández〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Vortex induced vibration (VIV) is an important phenomenon which appears in flexible structures immersed in a moving fluid. This oscillation is self-sustained and self-limited, but VIV might cause fatigue damage and affect the structure's serviceability.〈/p〉 〈p〉In the present study, the aerodynamics of the flow fields around a static and vertically free-to-oscillate 4:1 rectangular cylinder are analysed by means of 3D LES simulations, adopting the OneEqEddy viscosity model. Integral parameters, pressure distributions, amplitudes of oscillation, coherences and correlations are obtained and compared with the available experimental data. Aiming to ascertain the impact of the boundary conditions and the grid resolution on the accuracy of results, five cases adopting 3 different meshes including two different spanwise discretisations have been considered. When studying the aerodynamics of the cylinder in static conditions, the influence of the spatial discretisation is very limited, and the agreement with experimental data is fairly good. On the other hand, for the free-to-oscillate cylinder, the structural response is dramatically dependent on the spanwise discretisation. The maximum amplitude of the structural response decreases as the mesh resolution increases, providing a closer fit with the experimental data. Also, the spanwise correlation of pressures is studied, finding remarkable differences depending on the level of spatial discretisation.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Marine Systems, Volume 199〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Peisheng Huang, Kerry Trayler, Benya Wang, Amina Saeed, Carolyn E. Oldham, Brendan Busch, Matthew R. Hipsey〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Effective short- and long-term estuarine water quality management decisions require a holistic view of estuarine response to multiple stressors that may be achieved through the integration of numerical modelling and observed data. Such an approach has been developed for the Swan-Canning Estuary system, a eutrophic urban estuary in Western Australia under threat from nutrient enrichment and a drying climate. Numerical modelling was integrated with long-term monitoring to develop the system Swan-Canning Estuary Virtual Observatory (SCEVO), which has been used to facilitate water quality management and streamline prediction workflows of hindcast, forecast, and environmental response functions. The system is based on a validated 3D water quality model, integrated within a data management system and related environmental models. A machine-learning method to improve the patchy and time-lagged catchment inputs is also highlighted. This work has identified that the key challenge associated with estuarine water quality prediction is the capability to (1) simulate internal physical and biogeochemical processes at suitable spatial resolution to resolve the gradients along the freshwater-ocean continuum; and (2) transition from using routine monitoring data as the basis for management decisions to using a diverse and integrated set of data streams as the basis for real-time operational decisions. Recommendations for high-frequency monitoring to support water quality modelling and dynamic integration between numerical and observed data for improved forecasting are discussed.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Volume 135〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lamya H. Al-Wahaibi, Yusuf Sert, Fatih Ucun, Nora H. Al-Shaalan, Aisha Alsfouk, Ali A. El-Emam, Mustafa Karakaya〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This research relates to the molecular structure, electronic properties and IR, Raman and XPS analyses of the potential chemotherapeutic agent namely, 5-(adamantan-1-yl)-〈em〉N〈/em〉-methyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-amine. Another purpose is to explore the structural stabilities and consistencies and, to assess the stable interaction energy and intermolecular hydrogen bond geometry for its dimeric structure. The monomer and dimer optimizations of the molecule have been calculated by the DFT method using various functionals such as B3LYP, B3PW91, mPW1PW91 and M06-2X. Although the minimum energy optimization was calculated at the B3LYP functional, the BSSE-corrected and uncorrected interaction energies of the dimer structure were more effectively obtained with the M062X functional. This assured us a test of the efficiency of M06-Class functional calculations on intermolecular interactions of strongly bound systems. Additionally, the molecular docking study was done between our molecule (ligand) and the previously studied and known as cortisone reductase 11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (receptor, 11-β-HSD1: PDB-2ILT).〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0022369718334346-fx1.jpg" width="455" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Adrian Doicu, Michael I. Mishchenko〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The problem of backscattering of light by a discrete random medium illuminated by an obliquely incident plane electromagnetic wave is considered. The analysis is performed in a linear-polarization basis and includes (i) a complete derivation of the cross reflection matrix for a layer with densely and sparsely distributed particles, (ii) the design of an approximate method for computing the ladder and cross reflection matrices in the case of a semi-infinite medium with a sparse distribution of particles, (iii) the derivation of the relations between the elements of the ladder and cross reflection matrices in the exact backscattering direction for dense and sparse media, and (iv) the development of practical algorithms for solving the underlying integral equations by the method of Picard iterations and the discrete ordinate method. Simulation results for particles with large size parameters are also presented.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Volume 135〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hongfang Jiu, Na Ren, Lixin Zhang, Qing Zhang, Yuying Gao, Yajuan Meng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The flower-like ZnMn〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 hollow microtubules were synthesized by a hydrothermal method and calcination method. The composition and morphology were characterized. The results showed that flower-like hollow microtubules were obtained through calcination treatment. The as-prepared ZnMn〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 electrochemical properties of flower-like hollow microtubules anode material for lithium-ion batteries were investigated. The first charge and discharge capacity was measured at 2152/1263 mA h g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 when the current density at 400 mA g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. After 300 cycles, the capacity kept 515 mA h g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 corresponding to the coulombic efficiency of 99%, which exhibited preferable cycling performance. The stability of the structure has been shown by rate performance, which had been tested under different current density. The results suggest a promising application of the ZnMn〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 as anode material for lithium-ion batteries.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0022369718333468-fx1.jpg" width="500" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, Volume 192〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ali C. Kheirabadi, Ryozo Nagamune〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This article presents a review of control strategies for maximizing power production within wind farms. Discussions focus on three notable concepts; power de-rating, yaw-based wake redirection, and turbine repositioning. Existing works that have examined the potential of these concepts via optimization studies, numerical simulation, experimentation, as well as those that have developed and evaluated control algorithms, are reviewed thoroughly and quantitatively. Criteria for this review process include the evaluation methods employed, simulated wind conditions, controller properties such as model dependency and communication architecture, and the resulting relative rise in wind farm efficiency. The data collected from existing literature is then utilized to draw conclusions regarding the influence of each of these criteria on the potential and performance of wind farm controllers. Appropriate recommendations for future modeling and controller design research are then offered based on these conclusions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: December 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Volume 135〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Takahiro Iijima, Tadashi Shimizu, Atsushi Goto, Kenzo Deguchi, Toshihito Nakai, Ryutaro Ohashi, Masayoshi Saito〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In Ti-based Ziegler-Natta catalysts (ZNCs), disagreements exist concerning which lateral surface of the MgCl〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 support adsorbs Ti species so as to be an active site for the catalysis of polymerization. In the present paper, we investigated the local structure of TiCl〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 adsorbed onto the surface of MgCl〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 by 〈sup〉47,49〈/sup〉Ti solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra at 21.8 T along with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The magic-angle-spinning NMR spectrum of the TiCl〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/MgCl〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 adduct sample prepared by 20 h of milling, which exhibited broadened and shifted peaks compared to that of the sample without milling, was simulated by a Czjzek model considering the distribution of quadrupole interaction parameters. The electric field gradient and chemical shielding tensors of 〈sup〉49〈/sup〉Ti were obtained via DFT calculations for model molecules of TiCl〈sub〉4〈/sub〉, 2TiCl〈sub〉4〈/sub〉, and Ti〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Cl〈sub〉8〈/sub〉 adsorbed onto the (110), (104), and (104)-step defect surfaces of MgCl〈sub〉2〈/sub〉. By comparing the obtained NMR parameters, the 〈sup〉47,49〈/sup〉Ti NMR spectrum of the milled sample was assigned to TiCl〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 adsorbed onto the (104) surface of MgCl〈sub〉2〈/sub〉, which may not be a principal component of adsorption.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S002236971930472X-fx1.jpg" width="380" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Marine Systems, Volume 199〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Arseny A. Kubryakov, Alexander S. Mikaelyan, Sergey V. Stanichny〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Bio-Argo measurements of the backscattering coefficient (〈em〉bbp〈/em〉) were used to investigate the time-depth evolution of coccolithophore blooms in the Black Sea. Five years of Bio-Argo data obtained in 2014–2018 revealed two distinct peaks of 〈em〉bbp〈/em〉 corresponding to the winter and early summer coccolithophore blooms. The latter started in the upper mixed layer (UML) in April–May and was characterized by the highest coccolithophore concentrations. During the most extensive summer bloom in 2017, its estimates reach 10 × 10〈sup〉6〈/sup〉 cells l〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. The summer blooms occupied the UML (0–10 m) and a seasonal thermocline (10–30 m). The lower boundary of the bloom was related to the position of isopycnal 1014 kg m〈sup〉−3〈/sup〉, which deepens in May–July due to summer heating. Consequently, the coccolithophore bloom deepened to 20–30 m and terminated rapidly in July. Bloom termination was accompanied by a significant rise in light attenuation (〈em〉kd〈/em〉) in the sea basin. This peak was attributed to the release of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which was possibly related to viral lysis and the exudation of lipids from coccolithophore cells. Data on the 〈em〉kd〈/em〉 was used to estimate the seasonal variability in DOC in the Black Sea. Maximal estimated values of DOC were observed at 15–35 m depth in June-August and coincided with the early summer coccolithophore bloom termination.〈/p〉 〈p〉The winter coccolithophore bloom started in October–November in the UML. The maximum 〈em〉bbp〈/em〉 was observed in January. High values of 〈em〉bbp〈/em〉 were observed down to a depth of 60 m during the maximal deepening of the mixed layer. The winter blooms were distinctly observed in MODIS satellite images, where they were characterized by high reflectance and relatively low chlorophyll concentrations. The estimated coccolithophore concentration in winter was lower than that in summer, but column-averaged 〈em〉bbp〈/em〉 values were comparable. The winter coccolithophore bloom reached a peak within one month after the autumn peak of chlorophyll A, indicating the possible importance of the nutrients recycled after the diatom autumn bloom. In contrast to summer, the maximum DOC observed at the surface preceded the winter coccolithophore bloom, and the mass DOC production was probably attributed to the excretion and lysis of the non-calcified phytoplankton cells.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Maxim Rakhuba, Alexander Novikov, Ivan Oseledets〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Such problems as computation of spectra of spin chains and vibrational spectra of molecules can be written as 〈em〉high-dimensional eigenvalue problems〈/em〉, i.e., when the eigenvector can be naturally represented as a multidimensional tensor. Tensor methods have proven to be an efficient tool for the approximation of solutions of high-dimensional eigenvalue problems, however, their performance deteriorates quickly when the number of eigenstates to be computed increases. We address this issue by designing a new algorithm motivated by the ideas of 〈em〉Riemannian optimization〈/em〉 (optimization on smooth manifolds) for the approximation of multiple eigenstates in the 〈em〉tensor-train format〈/em〉, which is also known as matrix product state representation. The proposed algorithm is implemented in TensorFlow, which allows for both CPU and GPU parallelization.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Chen Liu, Florian Frank, Faruk O. Alpak, Béatrice Rivière〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Permeability estimation of porous media from directly solving the Navier–Stokes equations has a wide spectrum of applications in petroleum industry. In this paper, we utilize a pressure-correction projection algorithm in conjunction with the interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin scheme for space discretization to build an incompressible Navier–Stokes simulator and to use this simulator to calculate permeability of real rock samples. The proposed method is accurate, numerically robust, and exhibits the potential for tackling realistic problems.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Marine Systems, Volume 199〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yuanyi Li, Huan Feng, Haiwen Zhang, Jian Sun, Dekui Yuan, Lei Guo, Jing Nie, Jinglong Du〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The time required for water exchange characterizes the hydrodynamic condition of a water body, which is related to its self-purification ability. In this study, a numerical model based on a three-dimensional hydrodynamic model is established and implemented to calculate the age of water. Using the model, the spatial distribution and seasonal variation of the age of the water discharged into the New York/New Jersey (NY/NJ) Harbor from the Passaic River and the Hackensack River are calculated. The hydrodynamic conditions and the characteristics of water exchange in the harbor are analyzed from the perspective of age. The results indicate that the monthly-averaged age at the entrance of the NY/NJ Harbor is approximately 26 days and 40 days during the wet season and the dry season, respectively. River discharge has a significant impact on the spatial distribution of water age in the NY/NJ Harbor. Generally, high river discharge results in better water exchange and flushes contaminants out of the harbor quickly. However, discharges from several rivers flowing into the harbor interact and interfere with one another. Such interactions can improve or inhibit water and contaminant flushing from the harbor. The analysis of age variations and residual flows indicates that the Kill van Kull is one of the key channels controlling the contaminant transport and water quality in the Newark Bay. This study demonstrates the advantages of using water age to study the water exchange and physical self-purification ability of this complex harbor.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, Volume 226〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Mehrdad Bastani, Thomas Harter〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Nitrate in drinking water may cause serious health problems for consumers. Agricultural activities are known to be the main source of groundwater nitrate contaminating rural domestic and urban public water supply wells in farming regions. Management practices have been proposed to reduce the amount of nitrate in groundwater, including improved nutrient management practices and “pump and fertilize” with nitrate-affected irrigation wells. Here, we evaluate the feasibility and long-term impacts of agricultural managed aquifer recharge (Ag-MAR) in the source area of public water supply wells. A numerical model of nitrate fate and transport was developed for the Modesto basin, part of California's Central Valley aquifer system. The basin is representative of semi-arid agricultural regions around the world with a diversity of crop types, overlying an unconsolidated sedimentary aquifer system. A local public supply well in an economically disadvantaged community surrounded by farmland was the focus of this study. Model scenarios implemented include business as usual, alternative low-impact crops, and Ag-MAR in the source area of the public supply well. Alternative nutrient management and recharge practices act as remediation tools in the area between farmland and the public supply well. Improved agricultural source area management practices are shown to be an effective tool to maintain or even enhance groundwater quality in the targeted supply well while remediating ambient groundwater.〈/p〉 〈p〉Best results are obtained when lowering nitrate load while also increasing recharge in the source area simultaneously. This scenario reduced nitrate in the supply well's drinking water by 80% relative to the business as usual scenario. It also remediated ambient groundwater used by domestic wells between the source area farmlands and the supply well and showed 60% more reduction of nitrate after 60 years of application. Increasing recharge led to shorter initial response time (five years) and showed the most sustainable impact. Our analysis further suggests that Ag-MAR in a highly discontinuous, wide-spread pattern leads to slow water quality response and may not yield sufficient water quality improvements.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Mustapha Malek, Nouh Izem, M. Shadi Mohamed, Mohammed Seaid, Omar Laghrouche〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉An efficient partition of unity finite element method for three-dimensional transient diffusion problems is presented. A class of multiple exponential functions independent of time variable is proposed to enrich the finite element approximations. As a consequence of this procedure, the associated matrix for the linear system is evaluated once at the first time step and the solution is obtained at subsequent time step by only updating the right-hand side of the linear system. This results in an efficient numerical solver for transient diffusion equations in three space dimensions. Compared to the conventional finite element methods with 〈em〉h〈/em〉-refinement, the proposed approach is simple, more efficient and more accurate. The performance of the proposed method is assessed using several test examples for transient diffusion in three space dimensions. We present numerical results for a transient diffusion equation with known analytical solution to quantify errors for the new method. We also solve time-dependent diffusion problems in complex geometries. We compare the results obtained using the partition of unity finite element method to those obtained using the standard finite element method. It is shown that the proposed method strongly reduces the necessary number of degrees of freedom to achieve a prescribed accuracy.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Computational Physics〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lahbib Bourhrara〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This document presents a new numerical scheme dealing with the Boltzmann transport equation. This scheme is based on the expansion of the angular flux in a truncated spherical harmonics function and the discontinuous finite element method for the spatial variable. The advantage of this scheme lies in the fact that we can deal with unstructured, non-conformal and curved meshes. Indeed, it is possible to deal with distorted regions whose boundary is constituted by edges that can be either line segments or circular arcs or circles. In this document, we detail the derivation of the method for 2D geometries. However, the generalization to 2D extruded geometries is trivial.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Icarus〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kandis-Lea Jessup, Emmanuel Marcq, Jean-Loup Bertaux, Franklin P. Mills, Sanjay Limaye, Anthony Roman〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (HST/STIS) observations were obtained on 3 dates in December 2010 and January 2011 recording the cloud top properties over Aphrodite Terra and a low elevation region downwind of Aphrodite through LSTs extending from 7 to 11 a.m. From these data we trace the cloud top sulfur-oxide chemistry and UV albedo sensitivity to LST, latitude and topography. Above regions co-located in LST and latitude, albedo variations observed at 245 nm parallel those observed at 365 nm-following the pattern expected from Hadley cell circulation. However, darkening of the cloud top albedo at LSTs between 9.5 and 11 h beyond that expected from simple Hadley circulation was also observed. Above the plains the albedo darkening intensified rapidly with LST and was observed at latitudes extending as high as ~30 N; however, above the mountains the darkening was either entirely absent or evident only at 0 N at an intensity 2× lower than that observed over the plains. Because the observed 245 nm albedo LST variations were inconsistent with that expected from multiple scattering of the coincidently retrieved SO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 gas abundance, we conclude that the 245 nm albedo is diagnostic of the vertical and spatial distribution, abundance (and potentially the identity) of Venus' unidentified UV absorber—rather than SO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 gas. The LST albedo trends are best explained by the onset of subsolar convective activity that intensifies with LST expanding vertically from the boundary between the middle and upper clouds to the cloud tops and increasing the detectability of the unknown absorbing species at the cloud tops. The terrain dependence in the observed intensity implies the time at which the expansion reaches the cloud tops is later above the mountains than over the plains. Additionally, at the time of observation, the low-latitude large-scale vertical mixing rates that control the latitudinal gradients of the SO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 and unknown absorber abundances above and within the cloud top region were lower over Aphrodite Terra than the plains, to the extent that photochemical processing destroyed the spatial correlation between those absorbing species. These observations show the power of UV spectroscopy to diagnose the distinct influences of deep (Hadley-cell type) and shallow convective mixing processes on the vertical and horizontal distribution of Venus' unknown absorbing species, and the sensitivity of these processes to LST and topography, relative to the sulfur oxide chemistry. These results are essential for accurate climate modeling—and when compared to recent Venus missions motivate a need for additional follow-on observing campaigns that simultaneously trace key cloud top chemistry and dynamic processes including the LST dependent evolution of planetary scale gravity waves (GWs). With the inevitable aging of the Hubble Telescope, follow-on observations providing temporally coincident traces of the cloud top albedo, sulfur-oxide chemistry and GW features will require a new age of space-based telescopes and Venus orbiting mission with sensitivity to UV, visible and IR wavelengths.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Contaminant Hydrology〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Héloïse A.A. Thouement, Tomasz Kuder, Timo J. Heimovaara, Boris M. Van Breukelen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Back-diffusion of chlorinated ethenes (CEs) from low-permeability layers (LPLs) causes contaminant persistence long after the primary spill zones have disappeared. Naturally occurring degradation in LPLs lowers remediation time frames, but its assessment through sediment sampling is prohibitive in conventional remediation projects. Scenario simulations were performed with a reactive transport model (PHT3D in FloPy) accounting for isotope effects associated with degradation, sorption, and diffusion, to evaluate the potential of CSIA data from aquifers in assessing degradation in aquitards. The model simulated a trichloroethylene (TCE) DNAPL and its pollution plume within an aquifer-aquitard-aquifer system. Sequential reductive dechlorination to ethene and sorption were uniform in the aquitard and did not occur in the aquifer. After 10 years of loading the aquitard through diffusion from the plume, subsequent source removal triggered release of TCE by back-diffusion. In the upper aquifer, during the loading phase, δ〈sup〉13〈/sup〉C-TCE was slightly enriched (up to 2‰) due to diffusion effects stimulated by degradation in the aquitard. In the upper aquifer, during the release phase, (i) source removal triggered a huge δ〈sup〉13〈/sup〉C increase especially for higher CEs, (ii) moreover, downstream decreasing isotope ratios (caused by downgradient later onset of the release phase) with temporal increasing isotope ratios reflect aquitard degradation (as opposed to downstream increasing and temporally constant isotope ratios in reactive aquifers), and (iii) the carbon isotope mass balance (CIMB) enriched up to 4‰ as lower CEs (more depleted, less sorbing) have been transported deeper into the aquitard. Thus, enriched CIMB does not indicate oxidative transformation in this system. The CIMB enrichment enhanced with more sorption and lower aquitard thickness. Thin aquitards are quicker flushed from lower CEs leading to faster CIMB enrichment over time. CIMB enrichment is smaller or nearly absent when daughter products accumulate. Aquifer CSIA patterns indicative of aquitard degradation were similar in case of linear decreasing rate constants but contrasted with previous simulations assuming a thin bioactive zone. The Rayleigh equation systematically underestimates the extent of TCE degradation in aquifer samples especially during the loading phase and for conditions leading to long remediation time frames (low groundwater flow velocity, thicker aquitards, strong sorption in the aquitard). The Rayleigh equation provides a good and useful picture on aquitard degradation during the release phase throughout the sensitivity analysis. This modelling study provides a framework on how aquifer CSIA data can inform on the occurrence of aquitard degradation and its pitfalls.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Chemosphere, Volume 235〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sanober Kahkashan, Xinhong Wang, Jianfang Chen, Youcheng Bai, Miaolei Ya, Yuling Wu, Yizhi Cai, Siquan Wang, Monawwar Saleem, Javed Aftab, Asif Inam〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in surface sediments were investigated from the Bering Sea, the Chukchi Sea and adjacent Arctic Ocean in 2010. Total concentrations (dry weight) of Σ〈sub〉14〈/sub〉PFAS in surface sediments (0.85 ± 0.22 ng g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) of the Bering Sea were lower than that in the Chukchi Sea and adjacent Arctic Ocean (1.27 ± 0.53 ng g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉). Perfluoro-butanoic acid (PFBS) and perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA) were the dominant PFAS in these areas. The concentrations of Σ〈sub〉15〈/sub〉OCPs in the sediment of the Bering Sea (13.00 ± 6.17 ng g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) was slightly higher than that in the Chukchi and Arctic Ocean (12.05 ± 2.27 ng g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉). The most abundant OCPs were hexachlorocyclohexane isomers (HCHs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites. The composition patterns of HCHs and DDTs indicated that they were mainly derived from the early residues via river runoff. Increasing trends of PFAS, HCHs and DDTs in surface sediments from the Bering Sea to the Arctic Ocean were found, indicating oceanic transport. In summary, the concentrations of OCPs were orders of magnitude greater than the observed PFAS concentrations, and the concentrations of PFAS and OCPs in surface sediments from the Bering Sea to the Chukchi Sea and adjacent Arctic Ocean are at the low to moderate levels by comparing with other coastal and marine sediments worldwide.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Continental Shelf Research, Volume 184〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Israel Medina-Gómez, Ana Aguilar Trujillo, Ismael Marino-Tapia, Giuliana Cruz, Jorge Herrera-Silveira, Cecilia Enriquez〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Inorganic nutrients and phytoplankton (chlorophyll-〈em〉a〈/em〉 concentration and community variables) were studied under a hydrologic scenario defined by a joint topographic-hydrodynamic upwelling event and an algal bloom in the southeast Gulf of Mexico. To do so three oceanographic cruises (GOMEX series) were undertaken throughout the Yucatan shelf during: September 11th-21st of 2010, September 23rd-October 3 〈sup〉rd〈/sup〉 of 2011, and November 29th-December 9th〈sup〉,〈/sup〉 2012 (named as GOMEX-1, GOMEX-2 and GOMEX-3, respectively). We aim to assess the spatial inorganic nutrients and Chl-a patterns corresponding to each cruise to explore potential biochemical consequences of the temporal variability of the vertical inflow in the eastern shelf boundary (Cape Catoche: CC) and further spatial propagation of water featuring this hydrographic signature onto a shallow shelf, marked also by a high algal bloom incidence. This framework allows tackling the implications of the interplay between coastal variability and oceanographic processes on the phytoplankton biomass and community parameters. The spatial pattern of surficial Chl-a, as well as sub-surface maxima of ≈10 mgm〈sup〉−3〈/sup〉 concurrent with the 22.5 °C isotherm over the southeastern shelf area of CC supports the fact that vertical nutrients supply is removed from the euphotic layer through phytoplankton uptake. This scenario indicates a biochemical setting consistent with rapid transfer of external resources advected from deep levels, capable not only to enhance phytoplankton growth, but also to change its species composition. Vertical mixing conditions associated with N-NW winds (locally known as “nortes”) and a lack of upwelling scenario during GOMEX-3 in 2012 lead to relatively more homogeneous nitrate spatial distribution with overall high concentrations in deep, oceanic areas subject to nutrients entrainment. The distribution of specific richness among diatoms and dinoflagellates and relative abundance within such groups, as well as Chl-〈em〉a〈/em〉 concentrations are considered normal with regards to what has been observed in other studies for the Gulf of Mexico. The potential implications of large-scale, inter-annual climatic processes (e.g., El Niño-Southern Oscillation) on marine resources relevant to regional primary productivity variability (changes in the phytoplankton community) are discussed.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Chemosphere, Volume 235〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Misganaw Alemu Zeleke, Dong-Hau Kuo〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Methylene blue dye is among the toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic pollutants. Hence, its treatment via photocatalytic degradation is an important remediation method for the sake of a healthy environment. Herein, the V〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉-CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 nanocomposite catalysts were synthesized via a simple precipitation-thermal decomposition approach and used for the photodegradation of methylene blue in the presence of H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 as an effective electron scavenger under visible light illumination. The nanocomposite catalysts were systematically characterized to investigate the effects of V〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉 with the aids of X-ray, morphology, light absorption, catalytic activity, and charge transfer properties of the nanocomposite catalysts. The VC-2 nanocomposite prepared with NH〈sub〉4〈/sub〉VO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉:CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 molar ratios at 0.15:1 was found to be the best efficient catalyst where ≥98% of methylene blue was degraded within 25 min irradiation time. From the kinetics analysis, its rate constant was found to be higher than those of the pure V〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉 and CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 catalysts by a factor of 12.0 and 13.5, respectively. The plausibly mechanistic elucidation of charge transfer and utilization of reactive species are conspicuous allegations of the combined effects of the nanocomposite catalyst, H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 sacrificial agent, and visible light for the photodegradation of the dye.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0045653519314717-fx1.jpg" width="294" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 International Journal of Hydrogen Energy〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Muhammad Abid, Muhammad Sajid Khan, Tahir Abdul Hussain Ratlamwala〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Parabolic dish solar collector system has capability to gain higher efficiency by converting solar radiations to thermal heat due to its higher concentration ratio. This paper examines the exergo-economic analysis, net work and hydrogen production rate by integrating the parabolic dish solar collector with two high temperature supercritical carbon dioxide (s-CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉) recompression Brayton cycles. Pressurized water (H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O) is used as a working fluid in the solar collector loop. The various input parameters (direct normal irradiance, ambient temperature, inlet temperature, turbine inlet temperature and minimum cycle temperature) are varied to analyze the effect on net power output, hydrogen production rate, integrated system energetic and exergetic efficiencies. The simulations has been carried out using engineering equation solver (EES). The outputs demonstrate that the net power output of the integrated reheat recompression s-CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 Brayton system is 3177 kW, whereas, without reheat integrated system has almost 1800 kW net work output. The overall energetic and exergetic efficiencies of former system is 30.37% and 32.7%, respectively and almost 11.6% higher than the later system. The hydrogen production rate of the solarized reheat and without reheat integrated systems is 0.0125 g/sec and 0.007 g/sec, accordingly and it increases with rise in direct normal irradiance and ambient temperature. The receiver has the highest exergy destruction rate (nearly 44%) among the system components. The levelized electricity cost (LEC) of 0.2831 $/kWh with payback period of 9.5 years has proved the economic feasibility of the system design. The increase in plant life from 10 to 32 years with 8% interest rate will decrease the LEC from (0.434-0.266) $/kWh. Recuperators have more potential for improvement and their cost rate of exergy is higher as compared to the other components.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 International Journal of Hydrogen Energy〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yuan Xue, Shixiong Min, Fang Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Although black phosphorous (BP) and its derived materials have shown great potential for application in photocatalytic H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 evolution reaction (HER), their HER activity and stability still remains unsatisfied mainly due to the insufficient charge separation, the lack of surface active sites, and the defect-riched nature of BP. Herein, we report that BP nanosheets decorated with in situ grown Pt (BP NSs/Pt) could act as a highly efficient catalyst for photocatalytic H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 evolution in an Erythrosin B (ErB)-sensitized system under visible light irradiation (≥450 nm) in the presence of triethanolamine (TEOA) as sacrificial electron donor. It is found that BP NSs can provide large surface area for the confined growth of Pt nanoparticles with a high dispersion and a reduced size but also stabilize the loaded Pt nanoparticles by covalent bonds at the BP NSs/Pt interfaces. Moreover, BP NSs offer a fast electron transfer pathway to facilitate the photocatalytic HER over in situ grown Pt catalyst. As a result, BP NSs/Pt catalyst exhibits ∼6 times higher H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 evolution activity than free Pt nanoparticles and an apparent quantum yield (AQY) of 0.57% at 500 nm irradiation in ErB-TEOA system. This work indicates the potential of BP NSs as an effective 2D matrix to construct numerous high performance photocatalysts and photocatalytic systems.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 International Journal of Hydrogen Energy〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): C. Juillet, M. Tupin, F. Martin, Q. Auzoux, C. Berthinier, F. Miserque, F. Gaudier〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Under Pressurized Water Reactor normal operating conditions, the external surface of zirconium alloys cladding absorbs a fraction of the hydrogen produced by water reduction. During spent fuel transport, hydrogen may desorb from the cladding. The study aims to identify and quantify the rate-limiting step in the hydrogen desorption process initially present in the alloy. To better understand this process, the Thermal Desorption Spectrometry (TDS) was used in association with X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy analysis. TDS results were analysed with finite elements simulations using the Cast3M code. The optimization of the kinetic constants of hydrogen desorption was performed with CEA (Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission)-tool URANIE. Results showed that hydrogen desorption kinetics from the metal is limited by the surface molecular recombination. Arrhenius-type temperature dependence of kinetic constants allowed to simulate experimental data with a good agreement. The optimized activation energy and the pre-exponential factor for desorption processes were in the range of 290 ± 10 kJ mol〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 and 3 × 10〈sup〉7〈/sup〉 m〈sup〉4〈/sup〉 mol〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 s〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 respectively.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 International Journal of Hydrogen Energy〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Abhishek Rajput, Prem P. Sharma, Vikrant Yadav, Vaibhav Kulshrestha〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Proton exchange membrane is a basic element for any redox flow battery. Nafion is the only commercial available proton exchange membrane used in different electro-chemical energy systems. High cost restrict it's used for energy generation devices. In present work, we synthesised styrene divinylbenzene based composite proton exchange membranes (PEMs) with varying sulfonated graphene oxide (sGO) content for redox flow battery (RFB). Synthesized copolymer PEMs were analyzed in terms of their chemical structure with the help of FT-IR spectroscopy to confirm desired functional groups at appropriate position. Electrochemical characterization was performed in terms proton-exchange capacity, protonic conductivity and water uptake. Membrane shows adequate proton exchange capacity with good proton conductivity. Vanadium ion permeability was also tested for the prepared membrane to assess capability for vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) in contrast with commercially available Nafion 117 PEM. Higher VO〈sup〉+2〈/sup〉 ion cross-over resistance was found for CEM-4 with 7.17 × 10〈sup〉−7〈/sup〉 cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 min〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 permeability, which is about half of the CEM-1. Further CEM-4 was also evaluated for charging-discharging phenomenon for single cell VRFB. The values of columbic, voltage and energy efficiency for VRFB confirms prepared membrane as a good candidate for redox flow battery. Composite PEM also shows better mechanical and thermal stability. Results indicates that synthesized composite membrane can be used in vanadium redox flow battery.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0360319919323584-fx1.jpg" width="395" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Solid State Ionics, Volume 340〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ananda Shastri, Deborah Watson, Qing-Ping Ding, Yuji Furukawa, Steve W. Martin〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈sup〉23〈/sup〉Na NMR spin lattice relaxation times, T〈sub〉1〈/sub〉, and central linewidths were obtained for yNa〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S + (1 − y)[xSiS〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 + (1 − x)PS〈sub〉5/2〈/sub〉] glassy solid electrolytes for two series of glasses, y = 0.5 and 0.67, and x = 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9. No pronounced mixed glass former effect in the activation energy was observed within experimental uncertainty for either series of glasses. Energy barriers to sodium motion were calculated using the Anderson-Stuart model for the y = 0.67 sample, and the results suggested that the energy barriers as a function of composition are strongly influenced by the dielectric constant of these glasses. DC Na〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 ion conductivity values calculated using NMR-derived correlation times, an available Na〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 ion site coordination number in the range z = 3–4, and an energy cutoff determined from the critical percolation threshold, were in agreement with the increasing trend in the experimental values for the y = 0.67 glasses. Using the same model, the conductivity values were calculated for the y = 0.50 glasses, which have as yet to be measured, and these revealed a decreasing conductivity as x increased. Sodium NMR second moment studies showed that the cation spatial arrangement followed a homogeneous distribution for y = 0.50 and 0.67 samples over most of the composition range, but deviated significantly away from this above a sodium concentration of 1.85 × 10〈sup〉28〈/sup〉 m〈sup〉-3〈/sup〉, suggesting a tendency for sodium to cluster under these conditions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Science of The Total Environment, Volume 690〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Marie-Ange Massicotte, Antony T. Vincent, Anna Schneider, Valérie E. Paquet, Michel Frenette, Steve J. Charette〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The Gram-negative bacterium 〈em〉Aeromonas salmonicida〈/em〉 subsp. 〈em〉salmonicida〈/em〉 is an aquatic pathogen which causes furunculosis to salmonids, especially in fish farms. The emergence of strains of this bacterium exhibiting antibiotic resistance is increasing, limiting the effectiveness of antibiotherapy as a treatment against this worldwide disease. In the present study, we discovered an isolate of 〈em〉A. salmonicida〈/em〉 subsp. 〈em〉salmonicida〈/em〉 that harbors two novel plasmids variants carrying antibiotic resistance genes. The use of long-read sequencing (PacBio) allowed us to fully characterize those variants, named pAsa5-3432 and pRAS3-3432, which both differ from their classic counterpart through their content in mobile genetic elements. The plasmid pAsa5-3432 carries a new multidrug region composed of multiple mobile genetic elements, including a Class 1 integron similar to an integrated element of 〈em〉Salmonella enterica〈/em〉. With this new region, probably acquired through plasmid recombination, pAsa5-3432 is the first reported plasmid of this bacterium that bears both an essential virulence factor (the type three secretion system) and multiple antibiotic resistance genes. As for pRAS3-3432, compared to the classic pRAS3, it carries a new mobile element that has only been identified in 〈em〉Chlamydia suis〈/em〉. Hence, with the identification of those two novel plasmids harboring mobile genetic elements that are normally encountered in other bacterial species, the present study puts emphasis on the important impact of mobile genetic elements in the genomic plasticity of 〈em〉A. salmonicida〈/em〉 subsp. 〈em〉salmonicida〈/em〉 and suggests that this aquatic bacterium could be an important reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes that can be exchanged with other bacteria, including human and animal pathogens.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969719330293-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Science of The Total Environment, Volume 689〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Christopher Markosian, Natella Mirzoyan〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Pollution by heavy metals and metalloids is detrimental to human health due to their toxic, genotoxic, and carcinogenic effects. The traditional approach to assess the extent of environmental and occupational exposures of metals is human biomonitoring (HBM). This method has several limitations, including invasiveness, sampling bias, cost- and time-intensiveness, and ethical issues. This suggests the need for a more robust, non-invasive, epidemiological tool for assessment of exposure to metals and their public health effects. Recently, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been suggested and utilized as a novel approach to accurately determine the extent of exposure to multiple substances on the population level. We suggest the potential application of WBE to the study of metal exposure on the population level, including possible biomarkers for wastewater analysis of 10 metals belonging to three categories according to health effects and nutritional benefits, and its public health implications. Similar to previous studies of exposure to regulated or illegal drugs, unregulated legal substances, and pesticides, WBE can be applied to the study of metal exposure in a given community. Parental substance biomarkers (PSBs), metabolic substance biomarkers (MSBs), and non-substance biomarkers (NSBs) of 10 common metals are available for consideration in wastewater analysis. The use of WBE would allow for the interpretation of the relationship between metal exposure and population health, reveal synergistic effects of different health factors, and model public health risks under different scenarios.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969719329924-ga1.jpg" width="459" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Science of The Total Environment, Volume 690〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yong-Lin Liu, Yong-Tao Li, Jian-Fei Huang, Yu-Long Zhang, Zhong-Hang Ruan, Tian Hu, Jin-Jin Wang, Wen-Yan Li, Han-Jian Hu, Gang-Biao Jiang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The application of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONs) is often limited by agglomeration and low loading. Here, we presented a facile phase change material (PCM) -based sol-gel strategy for the fabrication of α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 nanoparticles. Rosin was used as the PCM in the sol-gel process and the carbon-based substrate of α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 nanoparticles in the thermal process. The α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 nanoparticle embedded rosin-derived biochar(α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉@HrBc)were highly dispersed. The dispersity of α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 nanoparticle could be regulated by the weight ratios of rosin to FeCl〈sub〉3〈/sub〉·6H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O during the preparation, as evidenced by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) spectrum and the sorption capacity results. Among a series of α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉@HrBc nanocomposites, the one with the weight ratios of 1/1.5 rosin/FeCl〈sub〉3〈/sub〉·6H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O had the highest capacity for hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) sorption. This phenomenon can be ascribed to a remarkably enhanced interfacial reactivity due to an increase in the dispersity of α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 nanoparticle. In addition, SEM showed that the majority of α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 nanoparticles was dispersed on and inside the biochar substrate. Batch adsorption experiments revealed that the α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉@HrBc adsorbed 90% Cr(VI) within one minute, and the maximum capacity was up to 166 mg·g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 based on the Langmuir model. The FTIR and XPS spectra revealed that the adsorbed Cr(VI) species were partially reduced to less toxic Cr(III). Considering that α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 nanoparticles provided important sorption sites, the newly formed Cr(III) and the remaining Cr(VI) ions could be adsorbed on α-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉@HrBc via the formation of Fe〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉Cr coprecipitation.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969719331341-ga1.jpg" width="351" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Science of The Total Environment, Volume 689〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lei Zhang, Zhen Shen, Wangkai Fang, Guang Gao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Efforts to understand the environmental and biological factors that influence the dynamics of microbial communities have received substantial attention in microbial ecology. In this study, Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing technology was used to examine the microbial community structure of activated sludge in municipal wastewater treatment systems (Chuzhou city, China). Overall, 〈em〉Proteobacteria〈/em〉, 〈em〉Chloroflexi〈/em〉, 〈em〉Actinobacteria〈/em〉, 〈em〉Acidobacteria〈/em〉, 〈em〉Actinobacteria〈/em〉, 〈em〉Bacteroidetes〈/em〉, and 〈em〉Firmicutes〈/em〉 were the most dominant phyla in the five activated sludge samples. However, the community structure of nitrifying bacteria was relatively simple, and diversity was low; only AOB (〈em〉Nitrosomonas〈/em〉) and NOB (〈em〉Nitrospira〈/em〉) were detected. The dominant bacteria in the anaerobic sludge, anoxic sludge and oxic sludge were the same, and each bacterial species was relatively uniform, with differences only in proportions. Redundancy analysis indicated that pH, TP and COD were strong environmental factors influencing the bacterial community distribution. PICRUSt was used to describe the metabolic and functional abilities of the activated sludge bacterial communities. The results emphasized the vast genetic diversity of these organisms, which are involved in various essential processes such as amino acid transport and metabolism, energy production and conversion, cell wall/membrane/envelope/biogenesis, signal transduction mechanisms, and carbohydrate transport and metabolism. Activated sludge of municipal wastewater treatment systems can be ranked in the following order based on the 16S rRNA gene copy numbers of the detected phylotypes: S1 〉 S2 〉 S4 〉 S5 〉 S3. This study provides basic data and a theoretical analysis of the optimal design and operation in wastewater treatment plants.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969719330050-ga1.jpg" width="285" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Science of The Total Environment, Volume 690〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhanfei He, Qingying Zhang, Zhen Wei, Yuanhai Zhao, Xiangliang Pan〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Organic micropollutants (OMPs) are frequently detected in water and wastewater, and have attracted wide attention due to potential adverse effects on ecosystems and human health. In this work, manganese-oxidizing aerobic granular sludge (Mn-AGS) was successfully cultivated and applied to remove OMPs from wastewater. Biogenic manganese (III,IV) oxides (bio-MnO〈sub〉x〈/sub〉) were generated and accumulated to 22.0–28.3 mg Mn/g SS in the final sludge. Neither the addition of allochthonous manganese-oxidizing bacteria (MnOB; 〈em〉Pseudomonas putida〈/em〉 MnB1) nor the reduction in hydraulic retention time (HRT) facilitated the cultivation of Mn-AGS. Batch experiments of OMPs degradation indicated that Mn-AGS significantly improved (1.3–3.9 times) degradation rates of most OMPs. Removal rates of bisphenol A (BPA), 17α‑ethinylestradiol (EE2), tetracycline (TC), and chloramphenicol (CAP) were 3.0–12.6 μg/h/g SS by the traditional AGS and 8.0–16.3 μg/h/g SS by Mn-AGS; those of imazethapyr (IM) were relatively high, 64.7 ± 0.1 and 127.8 ± 2.5 μg/h/g SS by AGS and Mn-AGS, respectively. However, degradation of dichlorophenyl phosphine (DCPP) was slower by Mn-AGS than AGS, 9.0 ± 0.4 vs. 21.2 ± 0.9 μg/h/g SS, possibly due to inhibition of microbial activity by bio-MnO〈sub〉x〈/sub〉. This work provides a promising method for treating OMPs in organic wastewater, but the possible inhibition of microbes by bio-MnO〈sub〉x〈/sub〉 should be noted.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969719330827-ga1.jpg" width="301" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Science of The Total Environment, Volume 690〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Alexander Johs, Virginia A. Eller, Tonia L. Mehlhorn, Scott C. Brooks, David P. Harper, Melanie A. Mayes, Eric M. Pierce, Mark J. Peterson〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Mercury (Hg) contamination of soils and sediments impacts numerous environments worldwide and constitutes a challenging remediation problem. In this study, we evaluate the impact of dissolved organic matter (DOM) on the effectiveness of eight sorbent materials considered for Hg remediation in soils and sediments. The materials include both engineered and unmodified materials based on carbon, clays, mesoporous silica and a copper alloy. Initially, we investigated the kinetics of Hg(II) complexation with DOM for a series of Hg:DOM ratios. Steady-state Hg-DOM complexation occurred within 48 to 120 h, taking longer time at higher Hg:DOC (dissolved organic carbon) molar ratios. In subsequent equilibrium experiments, Hg(II) was equilibrated with DOM at a defined Hg:DOC molar ratio (2.4 · 10〈sup〉−6〈/sup〉) for 170 h and used in batch experiments to determine the effect of DOM on Hg partition coefficients and sorption isotherms by comparing Hg(II) and Hg-DOM. Hg sorption capacities of all sorbents were severely limited in the presence of DOM as a competing ligand. Thiol-SAMMS®, SediMite™ and pine biochar were most effective in reducing Hg concentrations. While pine biochar and lignin-derived carbon processed at high temperatures released negligible amounts of anions into solution, leaching of sulfate and chloride was observed for most engineered sorbent materials. Sulfate may stimulate microbial communities harboring sulfate reducing bacteria, which are considered one of the primary drivers of microbial mercury methylation in the environment. The results highlight potential challenges arising from the application of sorbents for Hg remediation in the field.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969719331146-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Science of The Total Environment, Volume 689〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Min Xu, Robert D. Stedtfeld, Fang Wang, Syed A. Hashsham, Yang Song, Yahui Chuang, Jianbo Fan, Hui Li, Xin Jiang, James M. Tiedje〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Different long-term fertilization regimes may change indigenous microorganism diversity in the arable soil and thus might influence the persistence and transmission of manure-born antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). Different manure origins and composting techniques might affect the fate of introduced ARGs in farmland. A four-month microcosm experiment was performed using two soils, which originated from the same field and applied with the same chemical fertilizer or swine manure for 26 years, to investigate the dynamics of ARGs in soil amended with manure or compost from the farm and an agro-technology company. High throughput qPCR and sequencing were applied to quantify ARGs using 144 primer sets and microorganism in soil. Fertilization history had little effect on dynamics of manure-borne ARGs in soil regardless of manure origin or composting. Very different half-lives of ARGs and mobile genetic elements from farm manure and commercial manure were observed in both soils. Composting decreased abundance of most ARGs in manure, but increased the persistence of manure-introduced ARGs in soil irrespective of fertilization history, especially for those from farm manure. These findings help understanding the fate of ARGs in manured soil and may inform techniques to mitigate ARGs transmission.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969719329493-ga1.jpg" width="301" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Science of The Total Environment, Volume 690〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Md. Siddiqur Rahman, Abu Reza Md. Towfiqul Islam〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A comprehensive understanding of the changing behaviors of precipitation concentration and intensity plays a pivotal role in water resource management. Hence, we investigated the spatiotemporal changing behaviors of frequency and intensity of 13 precipitation indices and their probable causes of changes in precipitation systems. This study used daily precipitation datasets from 23 sites in Bangladesh and six atmospheric circulation indices during 1975–2017. The results showed that the precipitation concentration index (LCI) varies between 0.57 and 0.63, and the highest value was found in the southeastern region. The precipitation days frequency indices such as AD, LPD, MPD, HPD, and WPD have significantly increased in Bangladesh while precipitation intensity indices such as AII, LPI, MPI, HPI, and WPI have significantly declined; all types of indices have clear rapid changes. The results of detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) exhibit long-term correlations among all precipitation indices, suggesting that these indices will sustain their present trend line in the upcoming period. The Sunspot (SS) and East Asian Summer Monsoon Index (EASMI) had a negative influence on ACI and South Asian Summer Monsoon index (SASMI) had a strong positive influence on precipitation days frequency indices. The significance analysis using the random forest (RF) algorithm showed that SS is the largest contributing factor affecting the precipitation systems in Bangladesh. ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis datasets revealed that elevating summer geopotential height, higher anticyclonic anomaly, increasing low and decreasing high cloud covers and lower solar radiation with adequate moisture divergence fluxes contributed to variations in precipitation extremes in Bangladesh.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Linear trend of Arid days, AD (a), Sequential Mann-kendall test to detect rapid change (b), DFA long term forecasting of ACI (c) and Cross wavelet between SASMI and ACI (d).〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969719330980-ga1.jpg" width="301" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Science of The Total Environment, Volume 690〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Bláthnaid M. Mahon, Carina Brehony, Niamh Cahill, Elaine McGrath, Louise O'Connor, Aine Varley, Martin Cormican, Sinead Ryan, Paul Hickey, Shane Keane, Martina Mulligan, Bryan Ruane, Keith A. Jolley, Martin C. Maiden, Sylvain Brisse, Dearbháile Morris〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The rapid dissemination of carbapenemase-producing 〈em〉Enterobacterales〈/em〉 (CPE) is a major public health concern. The role that the aquatic environment plays in this dissemination is underexplored. This study aimed to examine seawater as a reservoir for CPE. Seawater sampling took place at a bathing site throughout the 2017 bathing season. Each 30 L sample (〈em〉n〈/em〉 = 6) was filtered using the CapE filtration system. Wastewater samples (200 mL) (pre-treatment (〈em〉n〈/em〉 = 3) and post-treatment (n = 3)) were obtained from a nearby secondary wastewater treatment plant, during the same time period. All samples were examined for CPE. Whole genome sequencing of confirmed CPE was carried out using Illumina sequencing. Isolate genomes were hosted in corresponding BIGSdb databases and analyses were performed using multiple web-based tools. CPE was detected in 2/6 seawater samples. It was not detected in any wastewater samples. OXA-48-like-producing ST131 〈em〉Escherichia coli〈/em〉 (Ec_BM707) was isolated from a seawater sample collected in May 2017 and OXA-48-like-producing ST101 〈em〉Klebsiella pneumoniae〈/em〉 (Kp_BM758) was isolated from a seawater sample collected in August 2017. The genomes of the environmental isolates were compared to a collection of previously described Irish clinical OXA-48-like-producing 〈em〉Enterobacterales〈/em〉 (〈em〉n〈/em〉 = 105). Ec_BM707 and Kp_BM758 harboured 〈em〉bla〈/em〉〈sub〉OXA-48〈/sub〉 on similar mobile genetic elements to those identified in the clinical collection (pOXA-48 fragment in Ec_BM707 and IncL(pOXA-48) plasmid in Kp_BM758). Genetic similarities were observed between Ec_BM707 and several of the clinical ST131 〈em〉E. coli,〈/em〉 with allele matches at up to 98.2% of 2513 core genome multilocus sequence type (cgMLST) loci. In contrast, Kp_BM758 and the 34 clinical 〈em〉K. pneumoniae〈/em〉 were genetically distant. The source of the CPE at this site was not identified. The detection of OXA-48-like-producing ST131 〈em〉E. coli〈/em〉 and OXA-48-like-producing ST101 〈em〉K. pneumoniae〈/em〉 in Irish recreational water is a concern. The potential for contamination of the aquatic environment to contribute to dissemination of CPE in Europe warrants further study.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969719330542-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Science of The Total Environment, Volume 690〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhenyi Chen, Robyn Schofield, Peter Rayner, Tianshu Zhang, Cheng Liu, Claire Vincent, Sonya Fiddes, Robert George Ryan, Joel Alroe, Zoran D. Ristovski, Ruhi S. Humphries, Melita D. Keywood, Jason Ward, Clare Paton-Walsh, Travis Naylor, Xiaowen Shu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The rapid environmental changes in Australia prompt a more thorough investigation of the influence of transportation, local emissions, and optical–chemical properties on aerosol production across the region. A month-long intensive measurement campaign was conducted during spring 2016 at Mission Beach, a remote coastal site west of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) on the north-east coast of Australia. One aerosol pollution episode was investigated in early October. This event was governed by meteorological conditions and characterized by the increase in black carbon (BC) mass concentration (averaged value of 0.35 ± 0.20 μg m〈sup〉−3〈/sup〉). Under the influence of the continental transportation, a new layer of nucleation-mode aerosols with an initial size diameter of 20 nm was observed and aerosol number concentrations reached the peak of 6733 cm〈sup〉−3〈/sup〉 at a diameter of 29 nm. The averaged aerosol extinction coefficient at the height of 2 km was 150 Mm〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, with a small depolarized ratio (3.5–5%). Simultaneously, the boundary layer height presented a fall–rise trend in the presence of these enhanced aerosol concentrations and became stable in a later stage of the episode. We did not observe clear boundary layer height diurnal variations from the LiDAR observations or from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model outputs, except in an earlier stage of the aerosol episode for the former. Although the sea breeze may have been responsible for these particles, on the balance of available data, we suggest that the aerosol properties at the GBR surface during this period are more likely influenced by regional transportation of continental sources, including biomass-burning aerosols.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969719331201-ga1.jpg" width="326" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Science of The Total Environment, Volume 690〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Pau Batlle-Vilanova, Laura Rovira-Alsina, Sebastià Puig, M. Dolors Balaguer, Pilar Icaran, Victor M. Monsalvo, Frank Rogalla, Jesús Colprim〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Biogas production in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) plays a decisive role in the reduction of CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 emissions and energy needs in the context of the water-energy nexus. The biogas obtained from sewage sludge digestion can be converted into biomethane by the use of biogas upgrading technologies. In this regard, an innovative water scrubbing based technology, known as ABAD Bioenergy® is presented and considered in this work. The effluents resulting from this system consist of biomethane and treated wastewater with a high CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 concentration. Therefore, the study explores the feasibility of using this CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-containing effluent in the cathode of a bioelectrochemical system (BES) for the transformation of CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 into methane. Techno-economic assessment of the process is presented, including the valorisation of anode reactions through the production of chlorine compounds. Finally, the potential impacts of applying this technology in a WWTP operated by FCC Aqualia are (i) increasing biomethane production by 17.4%, (ii) decreasing CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 content by 42.8% and (iii) producing over 60 ppm of chlorine compounds to disinfect all the treated wastewater of the plant.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969719329341-ga1.jpg" width="265" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Chromatography B, Volume 1125〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Roberta Natália Cestari, Adriana Rocha, Renê Donizeti Ribeiro de Oliveira, Vera Lucia Lanchote〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Gemfibrozil (GFZ) is a derivative of fibric acid and is used in the treatment of dyslipidemia. GFZ may affect the metabolism of various drugs, including statins, by inhibiting the sinusoidal influx transporter OATP1B1 and also CYP2C9 and CYP2C8 enzymes. This study presents the development and validation of a rapid, simple, sensitive and reproducible method of GFZ analysis in human plasma using UPLC-MS/MS. The method was applied in a pharmacokinetic study following administration of multiple doses of 600 mg GFZ every 12 h in healthy volunteers (〈em〉n〈/em〉 = 15). GFZ was separated on a C18 column using a mixture of 0.01% formic acid and acetonitrile (40:60, v/v) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. The method showed linearity in the range from 0.01 μg/mL to 100 μg/mL plasma. The coefficients of variation and the relative standard errors of the accuracy and precision analyses were 〈15%. The method allowed quantification of plasma concentrations of GFZ in the dose interval of the sixth day of administration of multiple oral doses of GFZ every 12 h. The pharmacokinetic parameters are presented as mean (95% CI): area under the plasma concentration 〈em〉versus〈/em〉 time curve 〈strong〉88.84〈/strong〉 (72.72–104.96) μg·h/mL, steady state mean plasma concentration 7.40 (6.06–8.75) μg/mL, minimum plasma concentration 1.24 (0.87–1.61) μg/mL, maximum plasma concentration 26.73 (21.31–32.15) μg/mL, time to reach maximum plasma concentration 2.28 (1.42–3.13) h, elimination half-life 2.81 (2.22–3.40) h, apparent total clearance 7.72 (5.85–9.58) L/h, apparent distribution volume 33.97 (18.41–49.53) L. In conclusion, the method for analysis of GFZ in human plasma showed sensitivity, linearity, precision and accuracy compatible with application in pharmacokinetic studies of multiple oral dose of 600 mg GFZ every 12 h.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 10 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Science of The Total Environment, Volume 690〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Muhammad Bilal, Hafiz M.N. Iqbal〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Steroidal estrogens are widespread water contaminants with potential carcinogenic and endocrine-disrupting activities. The World Health Organization has listed estrogens as group 1 carcinogens. These contaminants are of substantial concern because of potential threats to human health, and aquatic organisms on long-term exposure. A range of methods, including oxidation, adsorption, electrochemical, and irradiation techniques have been employed for their remediation from aqueous systems. However, inadequate removal, toxic sludge generation, high operating costs, and the requisite for skilled operating and maintenance personnel commercially hampered the application of many methods. An interesting alternative treatment approach based on the use of oxidoreductases, particularly laccases, has recently gained amicability for the biotransformation of emerging pollutants. The use of immobilized enzymes is more cost-effective from an industrial perspective due to improved catalytic stability, reusability, reduction of product inhibition, and easier product separation. This review provides comprehensive knowledge on the use of laccases in the biodegradation of steroidal estrogens, including estrone, 17〈em〉β〈/em〉-estradiol, and 17〈em〉α〈/em〉-ethinylestradiol with endocrine-disrupting potency from the environment. After an overview of estrogens and catalytic properties of laccase, the use of free, as well as immobilized laccases with a particular emphasis on estrogens removal by laccase-based fed-batch, packed bed bioreactors, and membrane reactors, is discussed. A comparison of existing treatment technologies with enzyme technology for the removal of estrogens from different environmental matrices is made. Lastly, along with concluding remarks, future research direction aimed at bridging knowledge gaps for estrogenic compounds removal are also proposed in this very important research area.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0048969719331389-ga1.jpg" width="227" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Chromatography A〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jonas Henschel, Simon Wiemers-Meyer, Marcel Diehl, Constantin Lürenbaum, Wen Jiang, Martin Winter, Sascha Nowak〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The expansion of lithium ion battery (LIB) application is accompanied by the growth of battery pack sizes. This progression emphasizes the consideration of electrolyte safety as well as environmental aspects in case of abuse, accident, or recycling. Hexafluorophosphate is one of the most commonly used conducting salt anions in electrolytes. It has great potential to degrade to various acidic and non-acidic organo(fluoro)phosphates with presence of water and during battery cell operation. Consequently, toxicological investigation on these organo(fluoro)phosphates has emerged because they either have structural similarities as chemical warfare agents or play a widespread physiological role as phosphates in the human body. This circumstance underlines the need of isolated examination of these compounds for safety assessment. In this work, we used hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography for the extraction of acidic organofluorophosphates from thermally aged LIB electrolytes. The developed two-step fractionation method provided high separation selectivity towards acidic head groups, which allowed the separation of undesired matrix and target compounds. These findings facilitate isolated toxicological investigations on organofluorophosphates that are beneficial for environmental and safety research, the battery cell industry, and human safety surveillance in regard to aged LIB electrolytes.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biological Conservation, Volume 237〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Joshua I. Brian, David C. Aldridge〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Endosymbionts can often have profound impacts on the growth, reproduction and survivorship of their hosts. Freshwater unionid mussels (Unionida) are important ecosystem engineers, and one of the most globally imperilled taxa, yet evidence concerning their endosymbiotic fauna remains patchy. Further, endosymbionts are not considered in an IUCN assessment for any unionid mussel. Here, we conduct the first literature review of all endosymbionts of the 16 extant European and 279 extant North American unionids, in addition to the four most significant invasive bivalves in Europe. There were 1476 host-endosymbiont records from 239 different studies over a 168-year period, documenting at least 188 unique endosymbiont taxa. However, study effort was uneven in its distribution, with 53% of unionid species (n = 157) having no endosymbiont records. Eighty-eight percent of all hosts are considered under-sampled, including 99% of Endangered or Critically Endangered mussels. This is of significant concern given that when the effects of endosymbionts were examined, 72% showed potentially negative effects on their host, including complete castration in the case of digenean trematodes. However, only a small number of endosymbionts have had their effects quantified. Bipartite network analyses revealed invasive mussels may be competent for native parasites. This leads to the potential for parasite spillback, with conservation implications for vulnerable native species. Recommendations for future work include greater sampling of sympatric native and invasive populations (including non-destructive sampling of endangered species) and experimental manipulation of host-endosymbiont communities. This will facilitate better conservation outcomes for this crucial group of ecosystem engineers.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0006320719306706-ga1.jpg" width="204" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Volume 283〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 November 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Solid State Ionics, Volume 340〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shyamal K. Das, Thangavelu Palaniselvam, Philipp Adelhelm〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The renewal of research interest in rechargeable aluminum-ion batteries could be seen as a massive boost for the exploration of Al〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉-ion electroactive electrode materials in recent times. Titanium dioxide (TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉) is less explored but could be a promising electrode material for aluminum-ion battery. Here, we demonstrate the rechargeability of an Al-ion cell with anatase TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 as cathode in chloroaluminate ionic liquid electrolyte. The Al-TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 cell exhibited excellent long-term stability with maximum specific capacity of 25 mAh g〈sup〉−〈/sup〉〈sup〉1〈/sup〉 at current rate of 500 mA g〈sup〉−〈/sup〉〈sup〉1〈/sup〉 at room temperature. The electroactive nature of TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 in the chloroaluminate electrolyte is clearly demonstrated both by cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic cycling studies. The synergistic effect of current collector in improving the long-term stability of Al-TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 cell is also revealed.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: September 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biological Conservation, Volume 237〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Julia E. Earl〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Population projection models, such as matrix and integral projection models, are used increasingly to understand potential effects of anthropogenic stressors and inform conservation actions. However, vital rate and life history information needed to create robust population models is often missing or incomplete, making assumptions about parameters and population processes necessary. Understanding how assumptions affect results is critical, particularly if the study will be used to guide policy or management actions. I review published amphibian population projection models to determine whether model output is evaluated with population data, what assumptions are made, and whether sensitivity analyses are performed. I found that only 21% of published models were evaluated with population data, and most models (67%) were explored with sensitivity analyses. I then simulated the effects of four assumptions and varying population carrying capacities on model output and sensitivity results using existing matrix population models from three amphibian species with different life histories: 〈em〉Anaxyrus boreas, Lithobates sylvaticus,〈/em〉 and 〈em〉Ambystoma maculatum〈/em〉. Simulations showed that changes in model output and sensitivity analyses under different assumptions depended more on the species examined than the assumption implemented. There were changes in which parameters model output was most sensitive to under all assumptions examined for all species, suggesting caution when using results if there is great uncertainty about model assumptions. Models and their parameterization should be regularly updated with new information to ensure conservation biologists are using the most robust information on potential outcomes of threats and conservation actions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 8 July 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Biological Conservation〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Davi Castro Tavares, Jailson Fulgencio Moura, Agostino Merico〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Anthropogenic debris is rapidly spreading in marine environments and poses major problems to biodiversity and humans. However, mitigation strategies are limited by the lack of information on the accumulation patterns of these pollutants both at sea and in marine wildlife. Using observations from an uninhabited island in Delta du Saloum National Park, Senegal, we investigate here the prevalence and abundance of debris in nests of two sympatric seabird species, Caspian terns 〈em〉Hydroprogne caspia〈/em〉 and great cormorants 〈em〉Phalacrocorax carbo〈/em〉, and its potential as an indicator of ocean pollution. We recorded debris in 15% of the Caspian terns' nests, and 40% of the great cormorants' nests. Plastics accounted for 〉 95% of items recorded in the nests of both species. Caspian terns collected a diverse array of debris, both in terms of types and colours, with a preference for hard plastics and white items. The great cormorants accumulated in nests mainly greenish fishing gears resembling the vegetation typically used as nest materials. Nests of both bird species contained soft plastic in proportions lower than those observed in the environment. Our results suggest that nests of Caspian terns and great cormorants are not useful indicators of pollution by anthropogenic debris in the surrounding waters of the Delta du Saloum National Park. Nests of great cormorants, however, have the potential to indicate areas vulnerable to plastic pollution associated to fishery. The high amount of debris in nests of this species demonstrates the need for a better implementation of waste management strategies in Senegal.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Volume 181〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shuai Zhao, Wanfen Pu, Mikhail A. Varfolomeev, Chengdong Yuan, Shan Qin, Liangliang Wang, Dmitrii A. Emelianov, Artashes A. Khachatrian〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Because the thermal release correlates directly with the success of in-situ combustion (ISC) technology, this research performs a series of investigations concerning thermal behavior and kinetics of heavy crude oil during combustion using high pressure differential scanning calorimetry (HP-DSC) and accelerating rate calorimetry (ARC). The results obtained from HP-DSC profiles indicated that for oil alone and its mixtures with quartz sand/crushed core, the peak temperature was lowered, and the heat flow increased with increasing oxygen partial pressure. The heat enthalpy of low temperature oxidation (LTO) was higher than that of high temperature oxidation (HTO) under oxygen partial pressures of 0.5, 1 and 1.5 MPa, and the increase in heat enthalpy of LTO with oxygen partial pressure was more pronounced than that of HTO. Unlike the crushed core, the addition of quartz sand delayed exothermic oxidation reactions. Compared with oil only and oil + quartz sand, the LTO and HTO peak temperatures of oil + crushed core were considerably lowered, and the effect of crushed core on increasing heat release for LTO at oxygen partial pressure of 1.5 MPa was more prominent. It was observed that the heat enthalpy of LTO and HTO increased quasi-linearly with the oxygen partial pressure in both the presence and absence of quartz sand/crushed core. ISC might be considered as an appropriate candidate for Jiqi block, based on exothermic continuity of the ARC curves, with the near-wellbore zone of target block heated to 180 °C where the exothermic oxidation activity is notably intensified. The kinetic results showed that the LTO and HTO intervals were divided into 6 and 2 subintervals, respectively, which facilitated more precise modelling of the ISC process.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Volume 181〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zan Chen, Menglu Lin, Shuhua Wang, Shengnan Chen, Linsong Cheng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Studies have shown that the gas huff and puff injection potentially perform better than the continuous gas flooding in enhancing the hydrocarbon recovery in the liquid rich tight reservoirs. During the fracturing stimulation, only part of the induced hydraulic fractures is propped because proppants cannot be carried to the fracture tips. Moreover, some secondary and tertiary fractures may be too narrow to accommodate any proppants. The conductivity of the unpropped fractures is highly dependent on the variation of the in-situ pressure and may be open and close periodically during the huff-n-puff cycles. In this study, the stress-dependent fracture conductivity and its impact on the produced gas huff-n-puff performance are investigated in a liquid rich tight reservoir, considering the existence of the large amount of the unpropped fractures. The experimental data of stress-dependent fracture conductivity is employed first to simulate the dynamic conductivity during the depletion and the gas huff and puff cycles. A reservoir model is then constructed and history-matched based on the reservoir fluid samples and the field production data collected from the Montney liquid rich tight reservoir in Western Canada. Performance of the produced gas huff-n-puff is examined in the targeted reservoir and results show that contributions of the unpropped fractures cannot be ignored, which leads to 7.8% more condensate (i.e., oil) production and 2.8% higher in barrel of oil equivalent (BOE), compared to the case with propped fractures only. The effects of complex fracture geometry and the cluster completion are also investigated and results show that the unpropped fracture contributions towards the condensate production and BOE are even more pronounced in the complicated scenarios. The condensate oil and BOE are 42.0% and 22.9% higher in complex fracture geometry case and 12.4% and 5.6% higher in the fractures with multiple clusters than those scenarios with propped fractures only. This paper provides a better understanding on the potential performance of enhanced hydrocarbons recovery in liquid rich tight gas reservoirs via gas huff-n-puff operations.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Volume 181〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Abdelrahman Elkhateeb, Reza Rezaee, Ali Kadkhodaie〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Traditionally, prediction of facies and permeability for a reservoir rock was one of many challenges in the industry that necessitates advanced and sophisticated evaluation for effective reservoir description. Three wells have been studied in the Perth Basin in Western Australia across the shaly sand of the Irwin River Coal Measures Formation, which contain a comprehensive suite of advanced and conventional logs. Due to the reservoir heterogeneity and the clay distribution, it is very challenging to resolve the effective pore volume, the reservoir facies and how the high permeability zones are distributed within the formation.〈/p〉 〈p〉In this paper, a new technique has been successfully tested on the Shaly Sand by integrating the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and the conventional density log. The method allows the establishment of high-resolution facies classification for the reservoir using an Equivalent Flow Zone Indicator Index (EFZI). The studied core facies have been integrated with the EFZI into a new workflow to distribute facies on a larger scale in the uncored wells.〈/p〉 〈p〉Four hydraulic flow units (HFU) have been defined from one cored well using Flow Zone Indicator approach, with each has a unique FZI value and different permeability model based on core measurements. The EFZI-based high-resolution facies have been validated at several formation depths using the core thin sections to ensure the best calibration will be obtained for facies log, hence the permeability log-to-core match.〈/p〉 〈p〉The methodology will help running an advanced petrophysical analysis for the zone of interest and will reduce the parameters uncertainty. Application of this methodology in the uncored wells has shown very encouraging results, which is believed it can be used in the absence of any core data to resolve the rock typing from the well logs.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Volume 181〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Atousa Heydari, Kiana Peyvandi〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this work, the stainless steel mesh was used to study the effect of metallic porous media on the formation of methane hydrate and some parameters such as induction time, the kinetics growth and the mole of gas consumed have been investigated at a temperature of 3 °C (276.15 K) and a pressure of 760 psi (5.24Mpa). The metallic porous media was able to show better results on the methane hydrate formation relative to the silica gel. Hence the induction time and, eventually, the total time of the hydrate formation process decreased by about 60%. The kinetics growth and the amount of gas consumed increased significantly. Also, the effect of two types of anionic and nonionic surfactants as kinetics promoters studied in this porous media. The result of adding SDS and SDBS at a concentration near the CMC designated that the induction time lasted nearly zero and the total time of the process by SDBS was minimal. It should be noted that the non-ionic surfactant SPAN 80 could not have a positive effect on this porous media. In general, therefore, the results of this research attempts to show that the stainless steel mesh with SDBS possessed high potential in obtaining the industrial purpose of gas hydrate growth and also was significant in the field of energy storage and transport.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0920410519306473-fx1.jpg" width="500" alt="Image 1" title="Image 1"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Ecological Engineering, Volume 136〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ramón Perea, Jessica S. Cunha, Cristiani Spadeto, Vanessa M. Gomes, Arthur L. Moura, Bárbara Rúbia, G. Wilson Fernandes〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Roads are known to be a major factor in the ongoing spread and establishment of invasive plants by modifying habitats and providing movement corridors. Controlling plant invasion or restoring highly-invaded areas along roads is a challenging task in current conservation practice. We aim to investigate the possible facilitative effects of nurse shrubs on native vs. exotic species in order to provide applications for conservation and restoration of highly invaded roadsides areas in megadiverse montane areas of Brazil. We estimated the abundance of each plant species (native and exotic) in paired roadsides with and without pioneer nurse shrubs (〈em〉Baccharis〈/em〉 spp.), and measured whether they were facilitated (i.e., growing underneath native nurse shrubs), using a Facilitation Value metric. We found that the proportion of exotic species was 27% greater in areas without the nurse shrubs. In addition, predicted probability of nurse shrubs as facilitators of native species was 61% greater than that of exotic species. Pioneer nurse shrubs that alleviate the environmental shift generated by the construction and use of roads (e.g., disturbed soils with low nutrient content) may represent an interesting alternative to mitigate exotic plant invasion along roadsides, a current global priority for biodiversity conservation. Decision-makers considering whether to build, improve, and maintain roads should take into account the potential spread of exotic plants and the use of nurse shrubs to prevent or mitigate plant invasiveness.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0925857419302216-ga1.jpg" width="263" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Volume 181〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shuaishuai Jiang, Xuehua Chen, Yingkai Qi, Wei Jiang, Jie Zhang, Zhenhua He〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The frequency-dependent attenuation and velocity dispersion of seismic responses are closely related to hydrocarbon reservoirs. To further investigate the characteristics of seismic responses caused by pore fluid-bearing reservoirs, the role of gas saturation is analyzed in seismic responses of sand reservoirs characterized by the patchy saturation model. To this end, a novel wave extrapolation method is developed based on the diffusive-viscous wave equation (DVWE) as well as a scheme for an extended local Rytov Fourier (ELRF) approximation within the extrapolation depth interval. Our proposed method considers the presence of fluid mixtures in the porous media, resulting in seismic attenuation and dispersion by the mechanism generally known as wave-induced fluid flow (WIFF). This method enables an accommodation for the lateral variations in slowness, diffusion coefficient and viscosity. Subsequently, the extrapolation is adopted to model the synthetic seismic data of a distributary channel model. During this modeling, a gas-water saturated sand reservoir embedded into one of the channels was used to comparatively analyze the distinct features on its seismic synthetic data. We exhibited the numerical simulation results using the proposed wave extrapolation method here and the traditional acoustic wave equation (AWE) method. A comparison of the simulation results, demonstrates that our proposed numerical method can depict the seismic dispersion and frequency-dependent attenuation as well as the phase delay effects associated with gas-water-saturated sand reservoirs. Furthermore, we compare the seismic responses by changing the gas saturations of the sand reservoir. The gas saturation of the reservoir has significant effects on the seismic characteristics of the numerical modeling data. The numerical modeling method improves our understanding of the mechanisms of seismic frequency-dependent characteristics associated with gas saturations and potentially contributes to better insights into gas reservoir indicators derived from seismic field data.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Tetrahedron Letters, Volume 60, Issue 33〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Mitali Mishra, Seetaram Mohapatra, Nilima Priyadarsini Mishra, Bighnanshu K. Jena, Pravati Panda, Sabita Nayak〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Heterocyclic compounds particularly five, six and seven membered ring containing heterocycles are the most abundant which constitute a staggeringly diverse and important class of molecules that occur ubiquitously in a variety of synthetic drugs, bioactive natural products, pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. Owing to the glorious past and impressive present of the biologically active heterocyclic scaffolds, these skeletons have long been a subject of immense interest. Hence, substantial efforts have been made to the development of new and innovative synthetic strategies for the synthesis of these heterocycles involving use of different metal catalysts, organic and inorganic reagents etc. Among the different types of metal catalysts used, iron catalysts are one of the cheap and easily available. In recent time, several new and innovative iron(III) chloride catalyzed synthesis of heterocycles with structural diversity are coming in the forefront of the literature by the scientific community. This review highlights the advancements made so far by iron(III) chloride for the synthesis of different assemblies of small heterocycles covering the year 2014–2018.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0040403919306628-ga1.jpg" width="261" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Ocean Modelling, Volume 140〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Oleg Druzhinin, Yuliya Troitskaya, Wu-ting Tsai, Po-chen Chen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The present study is concerned with direct numerical simulation (DNS) of turbulent air flow over a waved water surface. Three-dimensional, turbulent Couette flow is considered in DNS as a model of a constant-flux layer in the marine atmospheric surface layer. Two-dimensional stationary waves at the water surface are prescribed and assumed to be unaffected by the air-flow. We consider capillary-gravity water surface waves and are interested in the influence of “parasitic” capillary ripples riding on the carrier, energy-containing waves, on the properties of the air-flow. The surface waves are prescribed and considered to be stationary, the capillaries being in phase with the carrier wave. The surface elevations spectra are also prescribed and mimicking stationary capillaries riding on Stokes waves observed in a 2D numerical simulation of water-surface capillary-gravity waves by Hung & Tsai (2009). The bulk air velocity and the carrier water surface waves lengths are considered in our DNS in the range of 3 to 5 m/s and 3 to 7 cm, respectively. Under these conditions, the capillaries are found to be submerged within the viscous sublayer of the atmospheric boundary layer. Our DNS results show that although the flow fields are characterized by instantaneous separations of the boundary layer, the ensemble (wave-phase) averaged flow fields are non-separating and well predicted by a quasilinear theoretical model. We find also that capillaries mitigate the development of coherent (horse-shoe) vortex structures as compared to the no-ripples flow-case. We further use DNS results and quasilinear model formulation to parameterize the water surface roughness height in terms of critical layer thickness and the amplitude of a dominant, energy-containing harmonic of the water surface elevation spectrum.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: July–August 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Materials Today, Volume 27〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): George F. Vander Voort〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hiral D. Shah, J.A. Bhalodia〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this communication, we report the structural and electrical transport properties of (1-〈em〉x〈/em〉) La〈sub〉0.7〈/sub〉Sr〈sub〉0.3〈/sub〉Mn〈sub〉0.95〈/sub〉Co〈sub〉0.05〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 (LSMCO) + (〈em〉x〈/em〉) ZnO (〈em〉x〈/em〉 = 0%, 6%, 9%, 12%, 15% & 18%) composites. For the preparation of (1-〈em〉x〈/em〉) LSMCO + (〈em〉x〈/em〉) ZnO (〈em〉x〈/em〉 = 6%, 9%, 12%, 15% & 18%) composites, sample of LSMCO was prepared by the auto combustion technique/inexpensive modified sol-gel technique. The results of Rietveld refined XRD data show that LSMCO sample possesses a rhombohedral structure with the 〈em〉R-3c〈/em〉 space group whereas ZnO compound remains with hexagonal structure with the 〈em〉P6〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉3〈/em〉〈/sub〉〈em〉mc〈/em〉 space group in all the composite samples. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) show that no any extra unwanted phase was observed in each composite excluding the LSMCO and ZnO phases. ZnO is mostly distributed at the grain boundaries and on the surface of the LSMCO grains. Elemental presence and ratio was confirmed through the EDX analysis. The electrical resistivity of LSMCO and each composite was measured in the temperature range of 2 K–320 K at 0 Oe, 10 kOe, 50 kOe & 90 kOe magnetic field. The results indicate that the ZnO addition increases the resistivity of all the composites compare to that of pure LSMCO. The electrical resistivity explored by the theoretical model below 〈em〉T〈/em〉〈sub〉MI〈/sub〉 and fitting enlightenment for the observed behavior is transmitted here in detail.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 October 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Volume 804〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Dezhi Yang, Weihua Liu, Dingfu Cheng, Jieshi Chen, Hao Lu, Chun Yu, Jijin Xu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉(Co, Cr)23C6 type carbide is a typical metallic compound in many cobalt bearing alloys, and it acts as the strengthening phase in the form of bulk eutectic carbides or precipitated carbides. In this work, first-principles calculations were carried out to investigate the electronic structure, phase stability, mechanical and magnetic properties of (Co, Cr)23C6 with different cobalt occupation. Some of the calculated values are compared with previous studies and, they are found to be in a good agreement. The method considering curvature radius is firstly used to describe the degree of anisotropy. The hardness calculated through elastic constants presents an approximate downtrend with the cobalt concentration. Analysis of the density of states (DOS), overlapped population and electron density maps, indicates that the bonds in (Co, Cr)23C6 are the mixture of covalent, ionic and metallic bonds, the interactions of 〈em〉d-d〈/em〉 orbits between metallic atoms contribute most to the hybridization mode. According to the population analysis, the reduction in hardness can attribute to the increase of metallicity and iconicity of the interacted metallic atoms. In addition, the formation of a large quantity of antibonding also plays a negative role in intrinsic hardness of (Co, Cr)23C6 when massive substitution of cobalt atom.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉