Growth of Scenedesmus obliquus in anaerobically digested swine wastewater from different cleaning processes for pollutants removal and biomass production.

Anaerobically digested swine wastewater (ASW) purification by microalgae provides a promising strategy for nutrients recovery, biomass production and CO2 capture. However, the characteristics of ASW from different cleaning processes vary greatly. At present, the cultivation of microalgae in ASW from different manure cleaning processes is rarely investigated and compared. That may bring uncertainty for microalgae growth using different ASW in large-scale application. Thus, the ASW from three cleaning processes were tested for cultivating microalgae, including manure dry collection (I), water flushing (II) and water submerging processes (III). The characteristics of ASW from three manure cleaning processes varied greatly such as nutrient and heavy metals levels. High concentration of ammonia and copper in ASW significantly inhibited microalgae growth. Fortunately, the supply of high CO2 (10%) effectively alleviated negative influences, ensuring microalgal growth at low dilution ratio. The characteristics of three ASW resulted in significant differences in microalgae growth and biomass components. The maximal biomass production in optimal diluted ASW-I, II and III reached 1.46 g L-1, 2.19 g L-1 and 2.47 g L-1, respectively. The removal of organic compounds, ammonia and phosphorus by optimal microalgae growth in diluted ASW-I, II and III was 50.6%/94.2%/64.7%, 63.7%/82.3%/57.6% and 83.2%/91.7%/59.7%, respectively. The culture in diluted ASW-I, II and III obtained the highest lipids production of 12.1 mg L-1·d-1, 16.5 mg L-1·d-1 and 19.4 mg L-1·d-1, respectively. The analysis of lipids compositions revealed that the proportion of saturated fatty acids accounted for 36.4%, 32.4% and 27.9 % in optimal diluted ASW-I, II and III, as ideal raw materials for biodiesel production.

Promoted Na Solubility and Modified Band Structure for Achieving Exceptional Average ZT by Extra Mn Doping in PbTe.

Na doping strategy provides an effective avenue to upgrade the thermoelectric performance of PbTe-based materials by optimizing electrical properties. However, the limited solubility of Na inherently restricts the efficiency of doping, resulting in a relatively low average ZT, which poses challenges for the development and application of subsequent devices. Herein, to address this issue, the introduced spontaneous Pb vacancies and additional Mn doping synergistically promote Na solubility with a further modified valence band structure. Furthermore, the induced massive point defects and multiscale microstructure greatly strengthen the scattering of phonons over a wide frequency range, leading to a remarkable ultralow lattice thermal conductivity of ∼0.42 W m-1 K-1. As a result, benefiting from the significantly enhanced Seebeck coefficient and superior thermal transports, a high peak ZT of ∼2.1 at 773 K and an excellent average ZT of ∼1.4 between 303 and 823 K are simultaneously achieved in Pb0.93Na0.04Mn0.02Te. This work proposes a simple and constructive method to obtain high-performance PbTe-based materials and is promising for the development of thermoelectric power generation devices.

Multifunctional GeMnTe2 Synergistically Optimizes Thermoelectric Properties of SnTe-In2Te3 Alloys.

SnTe-In2Te3 alloys ensure excellent electrical properties in the whole temperature region due to the resonant level. Nevertheless, temperature-sensitive resonance states and single phonon scattering restrict further improvement of thermoelectric performance. Consequently, it is anticipated that additional electrically independent scattering sources should be introduced to impede phonon transport. Here, the SnTe-In2Te3-GeMnTe2 alloy is prepared by further solidifying cubic GeMnTe2, which demonstrates multiple modulation effects. The highly redissolved Mn2+ promotes the valence band convergence, enhances the Seebeck coefficient at higher temperature, and balances the possible weakened resonance level effect at higher carrier concentrations, and a high average power factor (1.94 mW m-1 K-2) is realized over the entire temperature range. Additionally, compensatory vacancies, substitutions, and Ge/Mn precipitates are easily constructed with GeMnTe2 alloying, leading to a further reduction in lattice thermal conductivity, which reaches κl ∼ 0.6 W m-1 K-1 at 850 K. Ultimately, a high peak zT of ∼1.25 (850 K) and a zTave of 0.72 (300-850 K) are realized in (SnTe)2.91(In2Te3)0.03(Ge0.5Mn0.5Te)1.2, and the maximum thermoelectric conversion efficiency of ∼2.8% (ΔT ∼ 450 K) is achieved. The present results indicate multiple effects of GeMnTe2 in enhancing the thermoelectric performance of SnTe-In2Te3 alloys.

Band engineering enhances thermoelectric performance of Ag-doped Sn0.98Se.

Ag doping can effectively increase the carrier concentration ofp-type SnSe polycrystalline, thereby enhancing the thermoelectric (TE) performance. However, the key role of the transport valence band in Ag-doped SnSe remains unclear. Particularly, understanding the influence of evaluating the optimal balance between band convergence and carrier mobility on weighted mobility is a primary consideration in designing high-performance TE materials. Here, we strongly confirm through theoretical and experimental evidence that Ag-doped Sn0.98Se can promote the evolution of valence bands and achieve band convergence and density of states distortion. The significantly increased carrier concentration and effective mass result in a dramatic increase in weighted mobility, which favors the achievement of superior power factors. Furthermore, the Debye model reveals the reasons for the evolution of lattice thermal conductivity. Eventually, a superior average power factor and averagezTvalue are obtained in the Ag-doped samples in both directions over the entire test temperature range. This strategy of improving TE performance through band engineering provides an effective way to advance TEs.

Growth of Scenedesmus obliquus on anaerobic soybean wastewater using different wasted organics for high biomass production and nutrients recycling.

The microalgae culture in mixing sewage with different characteristics may significantly improve biomass production and nutrients recycling efficiency. In this study, three waste organic wastewater including molasses, alcohol and glycerol wastewater were mixed with anaerobic soybean wastewater as mediums for microalgae culture. The optimal mixture of molasses, alcohol and glycerol wastewater was at an initial carbon-nitrogen ratio of 7:1, 5:1 and 10:1, improving biomass production by 60.4%, 31.3% and 68.7%, respectively. The removal efficiencies of organics, ammonia nitrogen and phosphorus at optimal mixture were 54.8-62.4%, 79.5-99.1% and 49.3-61.5%, and the removal rates increased by 340-630%, 27.5-66.3% and 36.3-70.2% compared to the blank culture. In addition, the culture in mixed wastewater increased lipids contrast by 0.7-1.3 times, while achieving higher saturation in fatty acids. The results suggested that microalgae culture using mixed wastewater was a strategy for high biomass production and nutrients recycling efficiency.

High-Power Factor Enabled by Efficient Manipulation Interaxial Angle for Enhancing Thermoelectrics of GeTe-Cu2Te Alloys.

The emerged strategy of manipulating the rhombohedral crystal structure provides another new degree of freedom for optimizing the thermoelectric properties of GeTe-based compounds. However, the concept is difficult to be effectively measured and often depends on heavy doping that scatters carriers severely. Herein, we synergistically manipulate lattice distortion and vacancy concentration to promote the excellent electrical transport of GeTe-Cu2Te alloys and quantify the interaxial angle-dependent density of state effective mass. Distinct from the conventional electronic coupling effect, about 2% substitution of Zr4+ significantly increases the interaxial angle, thereby enhancing the band convergence effect and improving the Seebeck coefficient. In addition, Ge-compensation attenuates the mobility deterioration, leading to improved power factor over the whole temperature range, especially exceeding ∼22 µW cm-1 K-2 at 300 K. Furthermore, the Debye-Callaway model elucidates low lattice thermal conductivity due to strong phonon scattering from Zr/Ge substitutional defects. As a result, the highest figure of merit zT of ∼1.6 (at 650 K) and average zTave of ∼0.9 (300-750 K) are obtained in (Ge1.01Zr0.02Te)0.985(Cu2Te)0.015. This work demonstrates the effective band modulation of Zr on GeTe-based materials, indicating that the modification of the interaxial angle is a deep pathway to improve thermoelectrics.

Macular Choroidal Thickness and Choriocapillaris Vessel Density Alterations in Type 2 Diabetics with High Myopia.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to investigate the change in macular choroidal thickness and choriocapillaris vessel density in type 2 diabetic (T2D) with high myopia. METHODS: This cross-sectional study recruited a total of 182 patients (182 eyes) in the Affiliated Hospital of Chengde Medical University between January 2018 and December 2021, including myopia + diabetes patients (40 eyes), T2D patients without myopia patients (47 eyes), myopia patients (45 eyes), and healthy volunteers (50 eyes). The choroidal thickness and choriocapillaris vessel density of macular were measured in all subjects by optical coherence tomography and optical coherence tomography angiography. RESULTS: The choroidal thicknesses in myopic, diabetes, myopia + diabetes groups were statistically significantly lower than those in control group (p < 0.001). Further pairwise comparisons showed that the choroidal thicknesses in myopia + diabetes group were statistically significantly lower than those in diabetes group (p < 0.001). The choriocapillaris vessel densities in diabetes, myopia + diabetes groups were statistically significantly lower than those in control group (p < 0.001). Interestingly, there were no significant differences in choriocapillaris vessel density between myopia group and control group (p > 0.05). Further pairwise comparisons showed that the choriocapillaris thicknesses in myopia + diabetes group were statistically significantly lower than those in myopia group (p < 0.001), while no statistically significant differences were found between diabetes group and myopia + diabetes group (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The choroidal thickness of the patients with high myopia and diabetes (without diabetic retinopathy [DR]) was significantly lower than that of normal people and diabetic patients, but the choriocapillaris vessel density was not significantly different from that of normal people, which may be one of the protective mechanisms of high myopia against DR.

Structure Optimization and Multi-frequency Phonon Scattering Boosting Thermoelectrics in Self-Doped CoSb3-Based Skutterudites.

The utilization of thermoelectric devices that directly convert waste heat to electricity is an effective approach to alleviate the global energy crisis. However, the low efficiency of thermoelectric materials has puzzled the widespread applications. The CoSb3-based skutterudites are favored by device integration due to the excellent thermal stability, while the development of pristine CoSb3 materials is limited by the ultra-high thermal conductivity and the poor Seebeck coefficient. In this work, we demonstrate that both structural improvement and strong phonon interaction are realized simultaneously in In-filled CoSb3 coordinated with excessive Sb. The extra Sb compensates the deficiency on the Sb4 ring, improving the Seebeck coefficient, and cooperates with In to further advance the carrier concentration. Therefore, the structure optimization and chemical potential regulation maximize the electrical properties. Thermally, the residual InSb nanoparticles and partial In/Sb-alloying, along with vibration of In in voids, jointly shorten the multi-frequency phonon relaxation time, leading to a dramatic decline in the lattice thermal conductivity. As a result, a maximum zTmax of ∼1.27 at 650 K and an average zTavg of ∼0.9 from 300 to 750 K was obtained in In1.4Co4Sb12 + 8%Sb, respectively. Our findings provide valuable guidance for the selection of CoSb3-based skutterudite dopants to achieve high-performance thermoelectric materials.

A self-supported sodium alginate composite hydrogel membrane and its performance in filtering heavy metal ions.

A novel self-supported polysaccharide based hydrogel membrane was prepared by adding cellulose nanofiber (CNF) and micron-sized biochar (BC) into sodium alginate (SA) hydrogel with in-situ free water evaporation ("cooking") process and ionic crosslinking, in which the polyethylene glycol (PEG) was used as a pore-forming agent. Herein, CNF can not only enhance the mechanical property of the matrix, but also assist the homogeneous dispersion of BC. As a result, the prepared membrane had a maximum tensile strength of up to 5.69 MPa, which was more than 2-3 times higher than the previously reported self-supported hydrogel membranes. The flux reached 61.5 Lm-2 h-1 under 0.35 MPa pressure, and the anti-fouling property was also excellent due to its hydrophilicity. In filtration tests, the rejection of Cr (III) and Cr (VI) of 50 mg/l could reach 96.8 % and 91.4 %, respectively. Moreover, the mechanism behind the exceptional high rejection for both cationic and anionic heavy metal was delineated.

Bioinspired 3D-Printed Snakeskins Enable Effective Serpentine Locomotion of a Soft Robotic Snake.

We present a multi-material three-dimensional-printed snakeskin with orthotropic friction anisotropy, which permits undulatory slithering of a soft snake robot on rough surfaces. Such a snakeskin is composed of a soft skin base and embedded rigid scales attached to the robot's ventral surface. The bioinspired designs of scale shapes and arrangements lead effectively to various types of anisotropic friction, and provide means of switching robot's locomotion direction to be either the same as or opposite to the propagation direction of the traveling-wave undulation. Furthermore, steering of locomotion can be achieved by applying additional pressure bias in one air path to break symmetry of body deformation. We also successfully demonstrate the snake robot's mobility on various outdoor rough substrates, including concrete surfaces and a grass lawn, as well as pipes of different dimensions and materials, for potential field applications.

A Malicious Code Detection Method Based on FF-MICNN in the Internet of Things.

It is critical to detect malicious code for the security of the Internet of Things (IoT). Therefore, this work proposes a malicious code detection algorithm based on the novel feature fusion-malware image convolutional neural network (FF-MICNN). This method combines a feature fusion algorithm with deep learning. First, the malicious code is transformed into grayscale image features by image technology, after which the opcode sequence features of the malicious code are extracted by the n-gram technique, and the global and local features are fused by feature fusion technology. The fused features are input into FF-MICNN for training, and an appropriate classifier is selected for detection. The results of experiments show that the proposed algorithm exhibits improvements in its detection speed, the comprehensiveness of features, and accuracy as compared with other algorithms. The accuracy rate of the proposed algorithm is also 0.2% better than that of a detection algorithm based on a single feature.

Anaerobic digestates grown oleaginous microalgae for pollutants removal and lipids production.

Anaerobic digestates were potential mediums for cultivating oleaginous microalgae, but their various components brought uncertainties for aglal growth and lipids production. In this study, three microalgae strains were tested to grow on four typical anaerobic digestates. The results showed that anaerobic food wastewater was an optimal medium for C. pyrenoidosa and S. obliquus culture (N. oleoabundanst cannot survive), achieving the highest biomass (2.15-2.32 g L-1) and lipids production (20.6-32.5 mg L-1·d-1). In contrast, three microalgae strains could grow suboptimally in anaerobic municipal (0.79-0.95 g L-1) and toilet (0.92-1.40 g L-1) wastewater, but showed poor performances in anaerobic swine wastewater. The growth of microalgae removed 40.9-63.4% of TOC, 83.7-96.3% of NH4+-N and 70.3-89.4% of TP in the three ADs. In addition, it was unfortunately found that the lipids content and saturation degree in fatty acids significantly decreased in ADs with sufficient nutrients. It suggests that some measures should be taken to balance biomass, lipids production and quality for cultivating microalgae in anaerobic digestates.

The Protective Effects of KAT5 Inhibition on Ocular Inflammation by Mediating the PI3K/AKT Pathway in a Murine Model of Allergic Conjunctivitis.

Purpose: We aimed to explore the effect of lysine acetyltransferase KAT5 on allergic conjunctivitis (AC). Methods: The effect of KAT5 on inflammatory response during AC progression was analyzed in the experimental allergic conjunctivitis (EAC) mouse model. Results: The clinical score, permeability, total IgE, ovalbumin (OVA)-specific IgE, and IgG1/IgG2a were induced in the EAC mice, in which the overexpression of KAT5 could further enhance but KAT5 inhibitor NU9056 reduce the phenotypes. The eosinophilic infiltration was induced in EAC mice, in which the overexpression of KAT5 was able to further promote but NU9056 attenuate the phenotype. The expression of Eotaxin and RANTES and the inflammatory factors were upregulated in EAC mice and KAT5 overexpression increased, but NU9056 decreased the expression in the model. Significantly, the CD11c+ dendritic cells and CD4+ T cells infiltration in the conjunctiva was enhanced in EAC mice, whereas KAT5 overexpression induced but NU9056 suppressed the effect in the model. Mechanically, the phosphorylation of PI3K and Akt and the levels of histone H3 lysine 27 acetylation (H3K27ac) were enhanced in EAC mice, whereas the overexpression of KAT5 promoted and NU9056 repressed the phenotype in the mice. The enrichment of KAT5 and H3K27ac on PI3K promoter was increased in EAC mice, and the overexpression of KAT5 further enhanced the enrichment in the mice. Significantly, we observed similar results in the KAT5 knockout mice as well. Moreover, PI3K/AKT signaling inhibitor LY294002 reversed KAT5 overexpression-mediated phenotypes and inflammatory response after induction AC in vivo. Conclusions: Therefore we concluded that KAT5 inhibition protected against ocular inflammation by mediating the PI3K/AKT pathway in EAC mouse model.

Enhancing Near-Room-Temperature GeTe Thermoelectrics through In/Pb Co-doping.

The traditional thermoelectric material GeTe has drawn much attention recently because of the reported high thermoelectric performance of the rhombohedral phase in low-temperature ranges, where the split L and Σ band can be reconverged to have a small energy offset and thus high density of state effective mass according to the rhombohedral angle. In addition, In doping in GeTe is also reported to enhance the density of effective mass and therefore increase the Seebeck coefficient because of the induced resonant levels. In this work, In and Pb are doped in GeTe, and In doping leads to an increase in the rhombohedral angle and thus enhanced density of state effective mass in addition to the resonant effect. However, the improved Seebeck coefficient result from In doping is compensated for by a sharp reduction of Hall mobility, leading to no significant enhancement of electronic performance in the rhombohedral phase. By further Pb/Ge doping in the matrix Ge0.95In0.05Te for the optimization of carrier concentration and reduction of lattice thermal conductivity (as low as 0.7 W/mK), a zT as high as ∼1.2 at 550 K and average zT of ∼0.75 between 300 and 550 K are realized in this work, demonstrating GeTe as a promising candidate for near-room-temperature application.

Growth of Chlorella pyrenoidosa on different septic tank effluents from rural areas for lipids production and pollutants removal.

Septic tank effluent from rural areas was an ideal medium for cultivating oleaginous microalgae. However, the characteristics of septic tank effluents varied greatly due to the different incoming wastewater, and bring uncertain risks for algal growth. In this study, an oleaginous microalgae was cultivated in septic effluents from different mixed wastewater. The results showed that the effluent from pure toilet wastewater was the best medium to achieve the highest biomass yield (1.68 g·L-1) and productivity (154.6 mg·L-1·d-1). In contrast, the discharge of kitchen or laundry wastewater reduced the biomass production by 50.5-79.1%. That caused much lower lipids production in effluents from mixed wastewater regardless of its high lipids content and saturation degree. The results suggest that the discharge of kitchen or laundry wastewater bring risks for biomass and lipids production, and should be separated from the toilet wastewater before entering into septic tank.

Measurement of suction pressure dynamics of sea lampreys, Petromyzon marinus.

Species-specific monitoring activities represent fundamental tools for natural resource management and conservation but require techniques that target species-specific traits or markers. Sea lamprey, a destructive invasive species in the Laurentian Great Lakes and conservation target in North America and Europe, is among very few fishes that possess and use oral suction, yet suction has not been exploited for sea lamprey control or conservation. Knowledge of specific characteristics of sea lamprey suction (e.g., amplitude, duration, and pattern of suction events; hereafter 'suction dynamics') may be useful to develop devices that detect, record, and respond to the presence of sea lamprey at a given place and time. Previous observations were limited to adult sea lampreys in static water. In this study, pressure sensing panels were constructed and used to measure oral suction pressures and describe suction dynamics of juvenile and adult sea lampreys at multiple locations within the mouth and in static and flowing water. Suction dynamics were largely consistent with previous descriptions, but more variation was observed. For adult sea lampreys, suction pressures ranged from -0.6 kPa to -26 kPa with 20 s to 200 s between pumps at rest, and increased to -8 kPa to -70 kPa when lampreys were manually disengaged. An array of sensors indicated that suction pressure distribution was largely uniform across the mouths of both juvenile and adult lampreys; but some apparent variation was attributed to obstruction of sensing portal holes by teeth. Suction pressure did not differ between static and flowing water when water velocity was lower than 0.45 m/s. Such information may inform design of new systems to monitor behavior, distribution and abundance of lampreys.

Nutrients recycling and biomass production from Chlorella pyrenoidosa culture using anaerobic food processing wastewater in a pilot-scale tubular photobioreactor.

Microalgae cultivation in anaerobic food wastewater was a feasible way for high biomass production and nutrients recycling. In this study, Chlorella pyrenoidosa culture on anaerobic food wastewater was processed outdoors using a pilot-scale tubular photobioreactor. The microalgae showed rapid growth in different seasons, achieving high biomass production of 1.83-2.10 g L-1 and specific growth rate of 0.73-1.59 d-1. The biological contamination and dissolved oxygen were controlled at suitable levels for algal growth in the tubular photobioreactor. Lipids content in harvested biomass was 8.1-15.3% of dried weight, and the analysis in fatty acids revealed high quality with long carbon chain length and high saturation. Additionally, algal growth achieved effective pollutants purification from wastewater, removing 42.3-53.8% of CODCr, 82.6-88.7% of TN and 59.7-67.6% of TP. This study gave a successful application for scaled-up microalgae culture in anaerobic food processing wastewater for biodiesel production and wastewater purification.

Soft Humanoid Hands with Large Grasping Force Enabled by Flexible Hybrid Pneumatic Actuators.

Soft grippers and actuators have attracted increasing attention due to safer and more adaptable human-machine and environment-machine interactions than their rigid counterparts. In this study we present a novel soft humanoid hand that is capable of robustly grasping a variety of objects with different weights, sizes, shapes, textures, and stiffnesses. The soft hand fingers are made of flexible hybrid pneumatic actuators (FHPAs) designed based on a modular approach. A theoretical model is proposed to evaluate the bending deformation, grasping force, and loading capacity of the FHPAs, and the effects of various design parameters on the performance of the FHPA are investigated for optimizing the soft hands. This new FHPA achieves a balance of required flexibility and necessary stiffness, and the resulting soft humanoid hand has the merits of fast response, large grasping force, low cost, light weight, and ease of fabrication and repair, which shows promise for a variety of applications such as fruit picking, product packaging, and manipulation of fragile objects.

Removal of ofloxacin with biofuel production by oleaginous microalgae Scenedesmus obliquus.

Microalgae-based technology is an environmental-friendly and cost-effective method for biofuel production and pollutants removal. In this study, Scenedesmus obliquus (S. obliquus) was cultured with varying concentrations of ofloxacin (OFL) in BG11 medium. In the algae-antibiotics culture system, S. obliquus could effectively remove OFL with a concentration of 10 mg/L; however, the removal efficiency was restricted under higher doses (20-320 mg/L). Meanwhile, the lipid content significantly increased by 21.10-49.63%, which was caused by carbon being converted from carbohydrate to lipid. The greatest lipid productivity (7.53 mg/L/d) occurred at an OFL concentration of 10 mg/L, which was approximately 1.5-fold greater than the control. Moreover, S. obliquus cultured with OFL was able to improve the biodiesel quality due to an increase of saturated fatty acids and a decrease of unsaturated fatty acids. This study demonstrates that an algae-antibiotics system is a promising solution to simultaneously achieve antibiotics removal and biofuel production.