Activation of persulfate by a layered double oxide supported sulfidated nano zero-valent iron for efficient degradation of 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether in soil.

The nano zero-valent iron (nZVI) activated persulfate (PS) is recognized as a promising approach to degrade 2,2',4,4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47), which is ubiquitous in the soil at electronic waste sites. However, all the reported studies were performed in liquids, gaps in the real behaviour and microbial contribution to the degradation of BDE-47 in soil media need to be urgently filled. The removal efficiency of BDE-47 is low using traditional nZVI as activator because of its aggregation and corrosion.

Co-transport of citrate-modified biochar nanoparticles and released plant-available silicon in saturated porous media: Effect of LMWOAs and solution chemistry.

Citrate-modified biochar nanoparticles (CBCNPs) represent a promising amendment with plant-available silicon (PASi) releasing capacity. However, the co-transport behavior with released PASi remain poorly understood. This study investigated their co-transport in saturated porous media under various solution chemistry and low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOAs).

Photoexcitation-induced efficient detoxification and removal of arsenite in contaminated water by a layered double hydroxide-supported polyacrylate stabilized ferrous sulfide composite.

The effective detoxification and removal of arsenite (As(III)) has been widely concerned because of its strong toxicity and migration ability. In this study, we designed a layered double hydroxide-supported polyacrylate stabilized ferrous sulfide composite (PAA/FeS@LDH) and coupled it with UV excitation to purify As(III)-polluted water. The removal efficiency of As(III) under UV irradiation reached almost 100% in 120 min, and the first-order kinetic constant was 3.

Coupling physiochemical adsorption with biodegradation for enhanced removal of microcystin-LR in water.

To innovate the design of water treatment technology for algal toxin removal, this research investigated the mechanisms of cyanotoxin microcystin-LR (MC-LR) removal by a coupled adsorption-biodegradation. Eight types of woody carbonaceous adsorbents with and without Sphingopyxis sp. m6, a MC-LR degrading bacterium, were tested for MC-LR removal in water.

Uncovering widespread Anthropocene dietary shifts in Chinese large mammalian herbivores.

The Anthropocene's human-dominated habitat expansion endangers global biodiversity. However, large mammalian herbivores experienced few extinctions during the 20th century, hinting at potentially overlooked ecological responses of a group sensitive to global change. Using dental microwear as a proxy, we studied large herbivore dietary niches over a century across mainland China before (1880s-1910s) and after (1970s-1990s) the human population explosion.

Ultra-narrow linewidth and a low-noise cascading Brillouin random fiber laser with a dual pump.

A cascading Brillouin random fiber laser with a dual pump (DP-CBRFL) is proposed and demonstrated. The DP-CBRFL can improve the Brillouin gain significantly to achieve an ultra-narrow linewidth (95.5 Hz) with 200 mW pump power, due to two cascading Brillouin gain fibers with an identical Brillouin frequency shift.

Immobilization of Microcystin by the Hydrogel-Biochar Composite to Enhance Biodegradation during Drinking Water Treatment.

Microcystin-LR (MC-LR), the most common algal toxin in freshwater, poses an escalating threat to safe drinking water. This study aims to develop an engineered biofiltration system for water treatment, employing a composite of poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)-biochar (PDDA-BC) as a filtration medium. The objective is to capture MC-LR selectively and quickly from water, enabling subsequent biodegradation of toxin by bacteria embedded on the composite.

Contact forces and motion behavior of non-Newtonian fluid-solid food by coupled SPH-FEM method.

The non-Newtonian fluid-solid interaction food has complex physical properties and complicated contact force, which brings the greater technical challenge to improving the food fetching rate. In this work, we used the smooth particle hydrodynamics and finite element coupling method for a node-to-surface penalty function contact to characterize the contact forces between non-Newtonian fluid food and solid foods. The shear rheological properties and density of non-Newtonian fluid food, including xanthan gum (XG) and guar gum (GG), were investigated by a viscometer and densitometer, respectively.

Effect of spectrum broadening on photon-counting fiber Bragg grating sensing.

In a photon-counting fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing system, a shorter probe pulse width reaches a higher spatial resolution, which inevitably causes a spectrum broadening according to the Fourier transform theory, thus affecting the sensitivity of the sensing system. In this work, we investigate the effect of spectrum broadening on a photon-counting FBG sensing system with a dual-wavelength differential detection method. A theoretical model is developed, and a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration is realized.

Diversity and distribution of fish in the Qilian Mountain Basin.

The Qilian Mountain Basin, on the north-eastern edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), supports a high diversity of native and endemic fish. However, the detailed species inventory and distribution patterns concerning fish in the whole Basin remain unknown, which hinders the conservation of biodiversity and assessment of ecological health. We compiled a comprehensive species richness and distribution database of freshwater fish in the Qilian Mountain Basin, based on field investigations and exhaustive data collection from 50 rivers or lakes.

Alpine Musk Deer () Adjusts to a Human-Dominated Semi-Arid Mountain Ecosystem.

Comprehension of whether human and livestock presence affects wildlife activity is a prerequisite for the planning and management of humans and livestock in protected areas. Xinglong Mountain Nature Reserve (XMNNR) in northwest China, as a green island in a semi-arid mountain ecosystem, is one of the scattered and isolated areas for Alpine musk deer (AMD), an endangered species. AMD cohabits their latent habitat area with foraging livestock and humans.

Hybrid Fine-Tuning Strategy for Few-Shot Classification.

Few-shot classification aims to enable the network to acquire the ability of feature extraction and label prediction for the target categories given a few numbers of labeled samples. Current few-shot classification methods focus on the pretraining stage while fine-tuning by experience or not at all. No fine-tuning or insufficient fine-tuning may get low accuracy for the given tasks, while excessive fine-tuning will lead to poor generalization for unseen samples.

ECTFE Membrane Fabrication Using Green Binary Diluents TEGDA/TOTM and Its Performance in Membrane Condenser.

Poly(ethylene-chlorotrifluoroethylene) (ECTFE) membrane is a hydrophobic membrane material that can be used to recover water from high-humidity gases in the membrane condenser (MC) process. In this study, ECTFE membranes were prepared by the thermally induced phase separation (TIPS) method using the green binary diluents triglyceride diacetate (TEGDA) and trioctyl trimellitate (TOTM). Thermodynamic phase diagrams of the ECTFE/TEGDA: TOTM system were made.

Camera Trapping Reveals Spatiotemporal Partitioning Patterns and Conservation Implications for Two Sympatric Pheasant Species in the Qilian Mountains, Northwestern China.

Studying the spatio-temporal niche partitioning among closely related sympatric species is essential for understanding their stable coexistence in animal communities. However, consideration of niche partitioning across multiple ecological dimensions is still poor for many sympatric pheasant species. Here, we studied temporal activity patterns and spatial distributions of the Blue Eared Pheasant (EP, ) and Blood Pheasant (BP, ) in the Qilian Mountains National Nature Reserve (QMNNR), Northwestern China, using 137 camera traps from August 2017 to August 2020.

Immobilization of hexavalent chromium in contaminated soil by nano-sized layered double hydroxide intercalated with diethyldithiocarbamate: Fraction distribution, plant growth, and microbial evolution.

Soil contamination by hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) poses great risks to human health and ecosystem safety. We introduced a new cheap and efficient layered double hydroxide intercalated with diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC-LDH) for in-situ remediation of Cr(VI)-contaminated soil. The content of Cr(VI) in contaminated soil (134.

Adsorption and photocatalysis removal of arsenite, arsenate, and hexavalent chromium in water by the carbonized composite of manganese-crosslinked sodium alginate.

The preparation of easily synthesized and cheap composite materials for the efficient removal of toxic oxoanions still remains challenging in sewage treatment. Herein, a new carbonized manganese-crosslinked sodium alginate (Mn/SA-C) was fabricated for the removal of arsenite (As(III)), arsenate (As(V)) and hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) in water. The results indicated that the Mn/SA-C pretreated with MnSO solution (Mn/SA-C-S) exhibited a rapid adsorption toward As(III) and As(V) with the removal efficiency of >98% within 10 min, and had a high adsorption capacity toward As(III), As(V), and Cr(VI) with the maximum value of 189.

Microbial investigations of new hydrogel-biochar composites as soil amendments for simultaneous nitrogen-use improvement and heavy metal immobilization.

Agricultural sustainability is challenging because of increasingly serious and co-existing issues, e.g., poor nitrogen-fertilizer use and heavy metal pollution.

Citrate-modified biochar for simultaneous and efficient plant-available silicon release and copper adsorption: Performance and mechanisms.

Silicon (Si) deficiency and heavy metals (HMs) pollution are common for farmland soil because of long-term intensive farming. In this study, a novel citrate-modified biochar (C-BC) was introduced as a soil conditioner to simultaneously increase the amount of plant-available Si (PASi) and immobilize HMs. The maximum amount of PASi released was 33.

Efficient removal of selenate in water by cationic poly(allyltrimethylammonium) grafted chitosan and biochar composite.

The discovery of cheap and eco-friendly functional materials for the removal of anionic heavy metal ions is still challenging in the treatment of heavy metal-contaminated water. Herein, a new poly(allyltrimethylammonium) grafted chitosan and biochar composite (PATMAC-CTS-BC) was introduced for the removal of selenate (SeO) in water. Results suggest that the PATMAC-CTS-BC showed a rapid removal of SeO with efficiency of >97% within 10 min and it followed a pseudo-second-order model.

Facile assembled N, S-codoped corn straw biochar loaded BiWO with the enhanced electron-rich feature for the efficient photocatalytic removal of ciprofloxacin and Cr(VI).

To the best of our knowledge, in few studies, biochar (BC)-based materials have been used as the photocatalyst for water purification, and their application is limited to a great extent due to catalyst agglomeration and inefficient electron migration. In this study, a novel BiWO loaded N, S co-doping corn straw biochar (BiWO/NSBC) was successfully synthesized with a simple solvothermal method for the removal of ciprofloxacin (CIP) and Cr(VI) under visible light irradiation. The BiWO/NSBC was featured with efficient and rapid catalytic removal toward CIP (5 mg/L) and Cr(VI) (10 mg/L), with efficiencies of ∼90.

Modeling in-stream attenuation of N-nitrosodimethylamine and formaldehyde during urban river transportation based on seasonal and diurnal variation.

Disinfection by-products (DBPs) discharged from sewage treatment plants (STPs) could harm downstream receiving waters and drinking water resources. In-stream attenuation of photo- and non-photodegradable DBPs during river transportation is currently not well understood. Here we sought to fill this knowledge gap by meta-data-analysis for modeling in-stream attenuation of DBPs.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of diaryl urea derivatives as FLT3 inhibitors.

As a class III receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK), FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) is always overexpressed in many cases of acute leukemia. This paper studies the structure-based synthesis and biological evaluation of diaryl urea derivatives as FLT3 inhibitors. Encouragingly, compounds 15b, 16b, 24a, and 24c showed excellent biological activities in a low nanomolar range.

Fast and efficient removal of Cr(VI) to ppb level together with Cr(III) sequestration in water using layered double hydroxide interclated with diethyldithiocarbamate.

It is still a great challenge to find an eco-friendly, easy-to-synthesize, and cheap adsorbent to rapidly remove Cr(VI) to ppb level in the Cr(VI)-polluted water. Herein, a new layered double hydroxide nanocage intercalated with diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC-LDH) was fabricated via a facile calcination-rehydration method. The DDTC-LDH rapidly decreased Cr(VI) concentration from 5 to <0.

Fenton cleaning strategy for ceramic membrane fouling in wastewater treatment.

Membrane fouling is an obstacle impeding the wide applications of ceramic membranes and organics are responsible for most of the membrane fouling issues in wastewater treatment. In this study, Fenton cleaning strategy was firstly proposed to clean ceramic membrane fouling in wastewater treatment. Fe efficiently catalyzed fouling cleaning with HO (1.