[Nitrogen Removal in Low-C/N Rural Sewage Treatment by Anoxic/Oxic Biofilter Packed with New Types of Fillers].

When low-concentration rural sewage is treated biologically, the effluent total nitrogen (TN) concentration often does not meet the discharge limit because of its low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C/N). To solve this problem, a laboratory-scale anoxic/oxic (A/O) biofilter packed with and activated carbon as the anoxic and aerobic column fillers (No. 2) was operated for treatment of simulated rural sewage and advanced nitrogen removal, while an ordinary gravel-packing A/O biofilter (No.

[Distribution Characteristics and Ecological Risk Assessment of Phthalate Esters in Surface Sediments of the Songhua River].

This study assesses the spatial distribution characteristics and ecological risk of phthalate esters (PAEs) in the surface sediments of the mainstream and tributaries of the Songhua River, China, using concentrations and composition of six PAEs, which were analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometery (GC-MS). We assess the ∑PAEs ecological risk using the hazard quotient (HQ) method and environmental risk levels (ERL). The results were as follows.

[Effect of On-line NaClO Backwashing on Microbial Communities in an Inverted AO-MBR System].

To study the effect of on-line NaClO backwashing on the microbial community structure of membrane bioreactor (MBR) systems, a reversed AO-MBR reactor was used to monitor system performance, membrane fouling, and microbial community structure. Measurements were made during the stabilization stage, the on-line pure water backwashing stage, and the on-line NaClO backwashing stage. The results showed that key system performance indicators during NaClO backwashing stage, such as COD, ammonia nitrogen, and TN treatment efficiency, were similar to previous stages.

[Effect of Nitrogen on Magnesium Modified Biochar Adsorption to Phosphorus].

The effect of ammonia-nitrogen in water on phosphorus removal by magnesium modified biochar (MBC) was developed to increase the utilization of wetland plants. The crystal structures were measured by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). MBC was prepared using reed as the biomass feedstock, which was modified with magnesium chloride.

Structural and functional brain abnormalities in drug-naive, first-episode, and chronic patients with schizophrenia: a multimodal MRI study.

Background: Structural and functional brain abnormalities in schizophrenia (SZ) have been widely reported. However, a few studies have investigated both structural and functional characteristics in SZ patients at different stages to understand the neuropathology of SZ.

Methods: In this study, we recruited 44 first-episode drug-naive SZ (FESZ) patients, 44 medicated chronic SZ (CSZ) patients, and 56 normal controls (NCs) and acquired their structural and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

[Automatic classification of first-episode, drug-naive schizophrenia with multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging].

A great number of studies have demonstrated the structural and functional abnormalities in chronic schizophrenia (SZ) patients. However, few studies analyzed the differences between first-episode, drug-naive SZ (FESZ) patients and normal controls (NCs). In this study, we recruited 44 FESZ patients and 56 NCs, and acquired their multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, including structural and resting-state functional MRI data.

Alterations of regional homogeneity in freezing of gait in Parkinson's disease.

Introduction: Freezing of gait (FOG) is a serious complication in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), and is more common in the late state of the disease. The high risk of falling in patients with FOG impacts their quality of life.

Objective: To explore altered neuroactivity related to cognitive and executive function of PD patients with FOG.

Discriminative analysis of schizophrenia using support vector machine and recursive feature elimination on structural MRI images.

Structural abnormalities in schizophrenia (SZ) patients have been well documented with structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and region of interest (ROI) analyses. However, these analyses can only detect group-wise differences and thus, have a poor predictive value for individuals. In the present study, we applied a machine learning method that combined support vector machine (SVM) with recursive feature elimination (RFE) to discriminate SZ patients from normal controls (NCs) using their structural MRI data.

[A Maternal Health Care System Based on Mobile Health Care].

Wearable devices are used in the new design of the maternal health care system to detect electrocardiogram and oxygen saturation signal while smart terminals are used to achieve assessments and input maternal clinical information. All the results combined with biochemical analysis from hospital are uploaded to cloud server by mobile Internet. Machine learning algorithms are used for data mining of all information of subjects.

Key issues to consider when using alum sludge as substrate in constructed wetland.

Globally, alum sludge is an easily, locally and largely available by-product from water treatment plants where aluminium sulphate is used as the coagulant for raw water purification. Owing to the high content of Al ions (29.7±13.

Enhancement and Mitigation Mechanisms of Protein Fouling of Ultrafiltration Membranes under Different Ionic Strengths.

To determine further the enhancement and mitigation mechanisms of protein fouling, filtration experiments were carried out with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes and bovine serum albumin (BSA) over a range of ionic strengths. The interaction forces, the adsorption behavior of BSA on the membrane surface, and the structure of the BSA adsorbed layers at corresponding ionic strengths were investigated. Results indicate that when the ionic strength increased from 0 to 1 mM, there was a decrease in the PVDF-BSA and BSA-BSA electrostatic repulsion forces, resulting in a higher deposition rate of BSA onto the membrane surface, and the formation of a denser BSA layer; consequently, membrane fouling was enhanced.

Identifying polyvinylidene fluoride ultrafiltration membrane fouling behavior of different effluent organic matter fractions using colloidal probes.

The interaction forces between effluent organic matter (EfOM) fractions and membrane were measured by atomic force microscopy in conjunction with self-made membrane material colloidal probes. The inter-EfOM-fraction and intra-EfOM-fraction interactions were investigated using corresponding EfOM-fraction-coated colloidal probe. We combined this analysis with corresponding fouling experiments to identify the EfOM fractions responsible for polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) ultrafiltration membrane fouling.

Fouling behavior of typical organic foulants in polyvinylidene fluoride ultrafiltration membranes: characterization from microforces.

To further unravel the organic fouling behavior of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes, the adhesion forces of membrane-foulant and foulant-foulant were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) in conjunction with self-made PVDF colloidal probe and foulant-coated colloidal probe, respectively. Fouling experiments with bovine serum albumin, sodium alginate, humic acid, and secondary wastewater effluent organic matter (EfOM) were carried out with PVDF UF membrane. Results showed a positive correlation between the membrane-foulant adhesion force and the flux decline rate and extent in the initial filtration stage, whereas the foulant-foulant interaction force was closely related to the pseudostable flux and the cake layer structure in the later filtration stage.

Effects of the substrate depth on purification performance of a hybrid constructed wetland treating domestic sewage.

The depth of substrate in constructed wetlands (CWs) has a significant effect on the construction investment and the purification performance of CWs. In this study, a pilot scale CW system was operated in a domestic sewage treatment plant in Xi'an, China. The experimental systems included three-series CWs systems with substrate depths of 0.

Macroscale and microscale analysis of Anammox in anaerobic rotating biological contactor.

Inoculated with conventional anaerobic activated sludge, the Anammox process was successfully developed in an anaerobic rotating biological contactor (AnRBC) fed with a low ratio of C/N synthetic wastewater. Operated in a single point feed mode, the AnRBC removed 92.1% (n = 126) of the influent N at the highest surface load of 12 g/(m2 x day).

Autotrophic nitrogen removal discovered in suspended nitritation system.

A lab-scale sequencing batch reactor was operated in batch mode to treat ammonium-rich synthetic wastewater, and minor N loss (about 9%) was observed without seeding anaerobic ammonium oxidation bacteria (AnAOB). Around 4 wk after the dissolved oxygen concentration was decreased (from 0.9+/-0.

[Experiment of simultaneous denitrifying phosphorus accumulation].

Denitrifying phosphorus accumulation (DNPA) and the factors affecting it were studied in a SBR with synthetic wastewater. The results showed that the sludge acclimatized under anaerobic/aerobic operation with good phosphorus removal ability, showed DNPA soon when fed nitrate instead of aeration following the anaerobic stage. Anaerobic stage was a vital premise to DNPA.

The largest Lyapunov exponent of chaotic dynamical system in scale space and its application.

The largest Lyapunov exponent is an important invariant of detecting and characterizing chaos produced from a dynamical system. We have found analytically that the largest Lyapunov exponent of the small-scale wavelet transform modulus of a dynamical system is the same as the system's largest Lyapunov exponent, both discrete map and continuous chaotic attractor with one or two positive Lyapunov exponents. This property has been used to estimate the largest Lyapunov exponent of chaotic time series with several kinds of strong additive noise.