Evaluation mechanism of sustainable development level for the cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt under the dual-carbon policy.

Low carbon sustainable development (LCSD) has become an inevitable choice, for which China has put forward a "dual-carbon" policy. The purpose of this study is to capture the interaction between the environment and the economy in the context of this goal, thus evaluating LCSD level from a systematic perspective. This paper proposes a super slack based measurement (SBM) model with a non-equal weight structure to assess the LCSD level. Firstly, a maximum influence minimum redundancy (MIMR) index selection algorithm is designed to establish input and output index systems, which avoids redundancy indexes. Secondly, the objective function of the original super SBM employs an equal weight structure, which leads results inadequately reflect the research preferences. Therefore, the weights of indexes are introduced to form an improved super SBM. Finally, 40 cities along the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) are selected for empirical analysis. Results show that (1) the LCSD level of YRBE decreases from downstream to upstream to midstream; (2) Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Sichuan provinces have higher LCSD levels, while Hunan and Jiangxi provinces have lower levels; and (3) up to 2021, there are 32 effective cities and 8 ineffective cities. The research implies that balancing the economy-environment relationship is crucial for higher efficiency. The LCSD evaluation method not only reflects the coordination level between the economy and the environment, but also integrates the research preference into the results, providing decision support for the government to formulate carbon reduction policies and allocate resources.

Hospital response to a new case-based payment system in China: the patient selection effect.

Providers have intended and unintended responses to payment reforms, such as China's new case-based payment system, i.e. Diagnosis-Intervention Packet (DIP) under global budget, that classified patients based on the combination of principal diagnosis and procedures. Our study explores the impact of DIP payment reform on hospital selection of patients undergoing total hip/knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA) or with arteriosclerotic heart disease (AHD) from July 2017 to June 2021 in a large city. We used a difference-in-differences approach to compare the changes in patient age, severity reflected by the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), and a measure of treatment intensity [relative weight (RW)] in hospitals that were and were not subject to DIP incentives before and after the DIP payment reform in July 2019. Compared with non-DIP pilot hospitals, trends in patient age after the DIP reform were similar for DIP and non-DIP hospitals for both conditions, while differences in patient severity grew because severity in DIP hospitals increased more for THA/TKA (P = 0.036) or dropped in non-DIP hospitals for AHD (P = 0.011) following DIP reform. Treatment intensity (measured via RWs) for AHD patients in DIP hospitals increased 5.5% (P = 0.015) more than in non-DIP hospitals after payment reform, but treatment intensity trends were similar for THA/TKA patients in DIP and non-DIP hospitals. When the DIP payment reform in China was introduced just prior to the pandemic, hospitals subject to this reform responded by admitting sicker patients and providing more treatment intensity to their AHD patients. Policymakers need to balance between cost containment and the unintended consequences of prospective payment systems, and the DIP payment could also be a new alternative payment system for other countries.

An experimental evaluation of a stopping rule aimed at maximizing cost-quality trade-offs in surveys.

Surveys face difficult choices in managing cost-error trade-offs. Stopping rules for surveys have been proposed as a method for managing these trade-offs. A stopping rule will limit effort on a select subset of cases to reduce costs with minimal harm to quality. Previously proposed stopping rules have focused on quality with an implicit assumption that all cases have the same cost. This assumption is unlikely to be true, particularly when some cases will require more effort and, therefore, more costs than others. We propose a new rule that looks at both predicted costs and quality. This rule is tested experimentally against another rule that focuses on stopping cases that are expected to be difficult to recruit. The experiment was conducted on the 2020 data collection of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). We test both Bayesian and non-Bayesian (maximum-likelihood or ML) versions of the rule. The Bayesian version of the prediction models uses historical data to establish prior information. The Bayesian version led to higher-quality data for roughly the same cost, while the ML version led to small reductions in quality with larger reductions in cost compared to the control rule.

Large-scale and cost-efficient agrivoltaics system by spectral separation.

Agrivoltaics (AV) offers a promising solution to address both food and energy crises. However, crop growth under photovoltaic (PV) conditions faces substantial challenges due to insufficient light transmission. We propose a large-scale and cost-effective spectral separated concentrated agricultural photovoltaic (SCAPV) system. The system utilizes concentrator modules, cell components, and dual-axis tracking systems to enhance power conversion efficiency (PCE), achieving a maximum PCE of 11.6%. After three years of successful operation, a 10 kWp power plant achieved an average annual electricity generation exceeding 107 MWh/ha. The results showed higher yields of various crops, including ginger and sweet potatoes, and significant improvements in soil moisture retention compared to open air. The improvements in PCE and microclimate validate the scalability of the SCAPV, which provides better plant conditions and cost-effectiveness, with an estimated cost reduction of 18.8% compared to conventional PV power plant. This study provides valuable insights and directions for improvement in AV.

In vitro and in vivo assessment of a bilayered degradable rapamycin-eluting stent for ureteral stricture caused by holmium: YAG laser lithotripsy.

Ureteral stricture caused by holmium: YAG laser lithotripsy is one of the most challenging issues for urologists. Currently, evidence for rapamycin application in reducing ureterostenosis is not sufficient. This study aimed to assess the inhibition of ureteral stricture of rapamycin-eluting stents in vitro and in vivo. A bilayered drug-eluting ureteral stent consisted of drug blending with poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PU/drug stent), which was over-layered by polycaprolactone (PCL) by ultrasonic atomizing spraying. Stent morphology was observed by scanning electron microscope. A kidney-ureter-bladder model was established to simulate the stents-releasing condition, and high-performance liquid chromatography was used to measure the drug release rate. The inhibitory proliferation was detected by CCK-8. The bladder of rats was injured through electro tome, and stents were implanted for 7, 14, and 28 days. The effects of drug-eluting stents was investigated by hematoxylin-eosin staining, immunofluorescence staining, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot. The bilayered stents could block the burst loss of the drug and maintained a sustained delivery period because of the 5.3 µm thickness of the PCL layer. The relative growth rates of cells plotted inhibitory effect on the proliferation of human urethral scar fibroblast cells. For in vivo results of 28 days, the bilayered stent maintained structural integrity and induced less deposition of crystals, thinner and less lamina propria connective tissues were formed, and α-SMA and TGF-ß1 were downregulated. Bilayered rapamycin-eluting stent is significantly effective in alleviating fibrosis in in vitro and in vivo models. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: The occurrence of ureteral stricture resulting from holmium: YAG laser lithotripsy presents a significant challenge for urologists. Traditional double J stents have not been proven to offer a shorter indwelling time or improved inhibition of tissue blocking. While drug-eluting stents containing rapamycin, paclitaxel, and other substances have been extensively used in treating artery stenosis, there is insufficient evidence supporting their application in reducing ureterostenosis. Consequently, a biodegradable polymer ureteric scaffold incorporating rapamycin was fabricated in this study, employing ultrasonic atomization spraying technology to optimize the bilayers composed of 75/25 poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and polycaprolactone (PCL). The efficacy of the scaffold was subsequently confirmed through in vitro and in vivo experiments.

An Intelligent Cost-Reference Particle Filter with Resampling of Multi-Population Cooperation.

Although the cost-reference particle filter (CRPF) has a good advantage in solving the state estimation problem with unknown noise statistical characteristics, its estimation accuracy is still affected by the lack of particle diversity and sensitivity to the particles' initial value. In order to solve these problems of the CRPF, this paper proposed an intelligent cost-reference particle filter algorithm based on multi-population cooperation. A multi-population cooperative resampling strategy based on ring structure was designed. The particles were divided into multiple independent populations upon initialization, and each population generated particles with a different initial distribution. The particles in each population were divided into three different particle sets with high, medium and low weights by the golden section ratio according to the weight. The particle sets with high and medium weights were retained. Then, a cooperative strategy based on Gaussian mutation was designed to resample the low-weight particle set of each population. The high-weight particles of the previous population in the ring structure were randomly selected for Gaussian mutation to replace the low-weight particles in the current population. The low-weight particles of all populations were resampled in turn. The simulation results show that the intelligent CRPF based on multi-population cooperation proposed in this paper can reduce the sensitivity of the CRPF to the particles' initial value and improve the particle diversity in resampling. Compared with the general CRPF and intelligent CRPF with adaptive MH resampling (MH-CRPF), the RMSE and MAE of the proposed method are lower.

Reliability and Validity of the CLEFT-Q in a Chinese Context.

OBJECTIVE: To develop an appropriate Chinese version of the CLEFT-Q through translation and cultural adaptation and to evaluate its reliability and validity. DESIGN: The English CLEFT-Q was translated into Chinese following the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research guidelines, including cognitive debriefing interviews, and its reliability and validity were assessed. PARTICIPANTS: Patients (N = 246) were mostly in active orthodontic treatment, had a mean age of 14.7 ± 4.4 years, 29% were female, and were born with isolated cleft lip ± alveolus (12%), cleft palate (1%), or cleft lip and palate (87%). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The Chinese CLEFT-Q, including 13 subscales covering Appearance, Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL), and Facial Function. Criterion validity instruments included the Negative Physical Self, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and Scale of Positive and Negative Experience. RESULTS: The wording of 67 items was adapted in the final translation. The internal consistency of the Chinese version of the CLEFT-Q was high based on Cronbach's alphas of 0.85 to 0.98 and split-half reliability of 0.85 to 0.92. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses yielded three factors, which demonstrated construct validity by broadly matching the structure of the original CLEFT-Q. The Appearance and HRQOL dimensions had weak to moderate correlations (r = -0.35 to 0.67) with the corresponding instruments for criterion validity. CONCLUSIONS: The Chinese version of the CLEFT-Q is a patient-reported outcome measure that can reflect the quality of life of Chinese patients with cleft lip and/or palate with good reliability and validity.

Nighttime light perspective in urban resilience assessment and spatiotemporal impact of COVID-19 from January to June 2022 in mainland China.

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has resulted in large threats and damage to society and the economy. In this study, we evaluate and verify the comprehensive resilience and spatiotemporal impact of the COVID-19 epidemic from January to June 2022 in mainland China based on multisource data. First, we adopt a combination of the mandatory determination method and the coefficient of variation method to determine the weight of the urban resilience assessment index. Furthermore, Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin were selected to verify the feasibility and accuracy of the resilience assessment results based on the nighttime light data. Finally, the epidemic situation was dynamically monitored and verified with population migration data. The results show that urban comprehensive resilience of mainland China is shown in the distribution pattern of higher resilience in the middle east and south and lower resilience in the northwest and northeast. Moreover, the average light intensity index is inversely proportional to the number of newly confirmed and treated cases of COVID-19 in the local area. This study provides a scientific reference to improve the comprehensive resilience of cities to achieve the goals of sustainable development (SDGs 11): make cities and human settlements resilient and sustainable.

Variations in the impact of the new case-based payment reform on medical costs, length of stay, and quality across different hospitals in China: an interrupted time series analysis.

BACKGROUND: In 2018, an innovative case-based payment scheme called Diagnosis-Intervention Packet (DIP) was piloted in a large developed city in southern China. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the new payment method on total medical expenditure per case, length of stay (LOS), and in-hospital mortality rate across different hospitals. METHODS: We used the de-identified patient-level discharge data of hospitalized patients from 2016 to 2019 in our study city. The interrupted time series model was used to examine the impact of the DIP payment reform on inflation-adjusted total expenditure per case, LOS, and in-hospital mortality rate across different hospitals, which were stratified into different hospital ownerships (public and private) and hospital levels (tertiary, secondary, and primary). RESULTS: We included 2.08 million and 2.98 million discharge cases of insured patients before and after the DIP payment reform, respectively. The DIP payment reform resulted in a significant increase of the monthly trend of adjusted total expenditure per case in public (1.1%, P = 0.000), tertiary (0.6%, P = 0.000), secondary (0.4%, P = 0.047) and primary hospitals (0.9%, P = 0.039). The monthly trend of LOS increased significantly in public (0.022 days, P = 0.041) and primary (0.235 days, P = 0.032) hospitals. The monthly trend of in-hospital mortality rate decreased significantly in private (0.083 percentage points, P = 0.002) and secondary (0.037 percentage points, P = 0.002) hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that implementing the DIP payment reform yields inconsistent consequences across different hospitals. DIP reform encouraged public hospitals and high-level hospitals to treat patients with higher illness severities and requiring high treatment intensity, resulting in a significant increase in total expenditure per case. The inconsistencies between public and private hospitals may be attributed to their different baseline levels prior to the reform and their different responses to the incentives created by the reform.

Consistency assessment and visualization of recommendations on gastroesophageal reflux disease: a scoping review of clinical practice guidelines.

INTRODUCTION: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a highly prevalent gastrointestinal disorder that causes diverse esophageal and extraesophageal symptoms. Many clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have been issued around the world to provide practical evidence regarding GERD management. However, some of the recommendations discussed in various CPGs are inconsistent across individual documents. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to summarize the evidence from CPGs on GERD and assess the consistency of the recommendations. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this scoping review, we identified current CPGs on the clinical management of GERD, which were comprehensively searched for in electronic databases and on relevant scientific websites. The recommendations were extracted using the population­intervention­comparison framework and were subsequently categorized into tables. RESULTS: Ultimately, 24 CPGs were identified. They included 86 recommendations, which were classified into 5 categories: definition, epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, and complications. Among the identified recommendations, 68 were proposed in at least 2 CPGs, and they were assessed for the consistency of direction and strength. Overall, 32.4% of the recommendations (22/68) were consistent in direction and strength, whereas 60.3% (41/68) were consistent in direction but inconsistent in strength. Moreover, 7.4% (5/68) were inconsistent in direction. These referred to the relationship between GERD and tobacco consumption, Helicobacter pylori infection, diagnostic utility of the 2­week proton pump inhibitor test, cessation of special food, and antireflux surgery for GERD with extraesophageal symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Most CPG recommendations regarding GERD were consistent in direction, except for 5 discrepancies, for which further well­designed, large­scale research is required to explain the inconsistency.

Impact of Diagnosis-Related Groups on Inpatient Quality of Health Care: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The aim of this meta-analysis was to comprehensively evaluate the effectiveness of Diagnosis-related group (DRG) based payment on inpatient quality of care. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Web of Science from their inception to December 30, 2022. Included studies reported associations between DRGs-based payment and length of stay (LOS), re-admission within 30 days and mortality. Two reviewers screened the studies independently, extracted data of interest and assessed the risk of bias of eligible studies. Stata 13.0 was used in the meta-analysis. A total of 29 studies with 36 214 219 enrolled patients were analyzed. Meta-analysis showed that DRG-based payment was effective in LOS decrease (pooled effect: SMD = -0.25, 95% CI = -0.37 to -0.12, Z = 3.81, P < .001), but showed no significant overall effect in re-admission within 30 days (RR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.62-1.01, Z = 1.89, P = .058) and mortality (RR = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.72-1.15, Z = 0.82, P = .411). DRG-based payment demonstrated statistically significant superiority over cost-based payment in terms of LOS reduction. However, owing to limitations in the quantity and quality of the included studies, an adequately powered study is necessary to consolidate these findings.

How do inpatients' costs, length of stay, and quality of care vary across age groups after a new case-based payment reform in China? An interrupted time series analysis.

CONTEXT: A patient classification-based payment system called diagnosis-intervention packet (DIP) was piloted in a large city in southeast China in 2018. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates the impact of DIP payment reform on total costs, out-of-pocket (OOP) payments, length of stay (LOS), and quality of care in hospitalised patients of different age. METHODS: An interrupted time series model was employed to examine the monthly trend changes of outcome variables before and after the DIP reform in adult patients, who were stratified into a younger (18-64 years) and an older group (≥ 65 years), further stratified into young-old (65-79 years) and oldest-old (≥ 80 years) groups. RESULTS: The adjusted monthly trend of costs per case significantly increased in the older adults (0.5%, P = 0.002) and oldest-old group (0.6%, P = 0.015). The adjusted monthly trend of average LOS decreased in the younger and young-old groups (monthly slope change: -0.058 days, P = 0.035; -0.025 days, P = 0.024, respectively), and increased in the oldest-old group (monthly slope change: 0.107 days, P = 0.030) significantly. The changes of adjusted monthly trends of in-hospital mortality rate were not significant in all age groups. CONCLUSION: Implementation of the DIP payment reform associated with increase in total costs per case in the older and oldest-old groups, and reduction in LOS in the younger and young-old groups without deteriorating quality of care.

Study on the effect of acupunture treatment on autonomic nerve dysfunction in convalescent period of stroke based on heart rate variability assessment technique.

Stroke patients with autonomic dysfunction are more likely to develop cardiac problems, which have been linked to lower functional outcomes and increased mortality. In this study, heart rate variability (HRV) detection paired with the Clinical Feature Scale will be utilized to elucidate the immediate impact of manual acupuncture on autonomic dysfunction of varying severity in the convalescence stroke phase. This is a randomized, single-blind, controlled clinical trial approach. At a ratio of 1:1, 60 appropriate patients will be randomly randomized into either the experimental or control group. On the basis of symptomatic treatment drugs, the experimental group will additionally undertake acupuncture therapy 3 times a week for 4 weeks, for a total of 12 times. Primary outcomes include 24-hour HRV and 60-minute HRV detection at week 4 compared with baseline. The secondary outcome is the score of clinical feature scale at week 4 compared with the baseline. Adverse events and safety indices will be recorded throughout the experiment. The SPSS V.25.0 statistical program was applied for analysis, and measurement data were expressed as mean ±â€…SD.

The impact of subscribing to directors' and officers' liability insurance on corporate financialization: Evidence from China.

As an important corporate governance mechanism, directors' and officers' liability insurance is theoretically associated with corporate financialization because it directly affects incentive constraints and risk preference of enterprise managers. However, whether there is a causal relationship in fact has not been sufficiently empirically investigated. Using a sample of Chinese non-financial listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen A-shares from 2008 to 2020, this paper empirically analyzes how corporate subscription to directors' and officers' liability (D&O) insurance affects corporate financialization and examines the mediating role played by risk-taking, financing constraints, and audit quality. The study finds that corporate subscription to D&O insurance increases corporate financialization. In terms of the influential mechanism, subscription to D&O insurance promotes financialization by increasing risk-taking, alleviating financing constraints, and improving audit quality. In addition, the results in the heterogeneity analysis suggest that the promotion of financialization by subscribing to D&O insurance is more significant in state-owned enterprises, growth and decline stage enterprises, and non-dual-employment enterprises.

Spatial Evolutionary Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Urban Industrial Carbon Emission in China.

Climate warming caused by carbon emissions is a hot topic in the international community. Research on urban industrial carbon emissions in China is of great significance for promoting the low-carbon transformation and spatial layout optimization of Chinese industry. Based on ArcGIS spatial analysis, Markov matrix and other methods, this paper calculates and analyzes the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of industrial carbon emissions in 282 cities in China from 2003 to 2016. Based on the spatial Dubin model, the influencing factors of urban industrial carbon emissions in China and different regions are systematically analyzed. The study shows that (1) China's urban industrial carbon emissions generally show a trend of first growth and then slow decline. The trend of urban industrial carbon emissions in the western, central, northeastern and eastern regions of China is basically consistent with the overall national trend; (2) In 2003, China's urban industrial carbon emissions were dominated by low carbon emissions. In 2016, China's urban industrial carbon emissions were dominated by high carbon emissions, and the spatial trend is gradually decreasing from the eastern region to the central region to the northeast region to the western region; (3) In 2003, the evolution pattern of China's urban industrial carbon emissions was "low carbon-horizontal expansion" dominated by positive growth, and in 2016, it was "low carbon-vertical expansion" dominated by scale growth; (4) China's urban industrial carbon emissions have spatial viscosity, and the spatial viscosity decreases with the increase of industrial carbon emissions. (5) In 2004, the relationship between urban industrial carbon emissions and gross industrial output value in China is mainly weak decoupling. In 2016, various types of decoupling regions are more diversified and dispersed, and strong decoupling cities are mainly formed from weak decoupling cities in southwest China and eastern coastal areas; (6) From a national perspective, indicators that are significantly positively correlated with industrial carbon emissions are urban industrial structure, industrial agglomeration level, industrial enterprise scale and urban economic development level, in descending order. Indicators that are significantly negatively correlated with urban industrial carbon emissions are industrial structure and industrial ownership structure, in descending order. Due to the different stages of industrial development and industrial structure in different regions, the influencing factors are also different.

Cost-effectiveness of interventions for the prevention and control of COVID-19: Systematic review of 85 modelling studies.

Background: We aimed to quantitatively summarise the health economic evaluation evidence of prevention and control programs addressing COVID-19 globally. Methods: We did a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the economic and health benefit of interventions for COVID-19. We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library of economic evaluation from December 31, 2019, to March 22, 2022, to identify relevant literature. Meta-analyses were done using random-effects models to estimate pooled incremental net benefit (INB). Heterogeneity was assessed using I2 statistics and publication bias was assessed by Egger's test. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42021267475. Results: Of 16 860 studies identified, 85 articles were included in the systematic review, and 25 articles (10 studies about non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs), five studies about vaccinations and 10 studies about treatments) were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled INB of NPIs, vaccinations, and treatments were $1378.10 (95% CI = $1079.62, $1676.59), $254.80 (95% CI = $169.84, $339.77) and $4115.11 (95% CI = $1631.09, $6599.14), respectively. Sensitivity analyses showed similar findings. Conclusions: NPIs, vaccinations, and treatments are all cost-effective in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. However, evidence was mostly from high-income and middle-income countries. Further studies from lower-income countries are needed.

Length of Stay in the Neonatal ICU is Predictable using Heart Rate: An Opportunity for Optimizing Managed Care.

We explore the use of classification and regression models for predicting the length of stay (LoS) of neonatal patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), using heart rate (HR) time-series data of 7,758 patients from the MIMIC-IH database. We find that aggregated features of HR on the first full-day of in-patient stay after admission (i.e. the first day with a full 24-hour record for each patient) can be leveraged to classify LoS in excess of 10 days with 89% sensitivity and 59% specificity. As such, LoS as a continuous variable was also found to be statistically significantly correlated to aggregate HR data corresponding to the first full-day after admission.

Toward Enhancing Desalination and Heavy Metal Removal of TFC Nanofiltration Membranes: A Cost-Effective Interface Temperature-Regulated Interfacial Polymerization.

Polyamide (PA) chemistry-based nanofiltration (NF) membranes have an important role in the field of seawater desalination and wastewater reclamation. Achieving an ultrathin and defect-free active layer via precisely controlled interfacial polymerization (IP) is an effective routine to improve the separation efficiencies of NF membranes. Herein, the morphologies and chemical structures of the thin-film composite (TFC) NF membranes were accurately regulated by tailoring the interfacial reaction temperature during the IP process. This strategy was achieved by controlling the temperature (-15, 5, 20, 35, and 50°) of the oil-phase solutions. The structural compositions, morphological variations, and separation features of the fabricated NF membranes were studied in detail. In addition, the formation mechanisms of the NF membranes featuring different PAs were also proposed and discussed. The temperature-assisted IP (TAIP) method greatly changed the compositions of the resultant PA membranes. A very smooth and thin PA film was obtained for the NF membranes fabricated at a low interfacial temperature; thus, a high 19.2 L m-2 h-1 bar-1 of water permeance and 97.7% of Na2SO4 rejection were observed. With regard to the NF membranes obtained at a high interfacial temperature, a lower water permeance and higher salt rejection with fewer membrane defects were achieved. Impressively, the high interfacial temperature-assisted NF membranes exhibited uniform coffee-ring-like surface morphologies. The special surface-featured NF membrane showed superior separation for selected heavy metals. Rejections of 93.9%, 97.9%, and 87.7% for Cu2+, Mn2+, and Cd2+ were observed with the optimized membrane. Three cycles of fouling tests indicated that NF membranes fabricated at low temperatures exhibited excellent antifouling behavior, whereas a high interface temperature contributed to the formation of NF membranes with high fouling tendency. This study provides an economical, facile, and universal TAIP strategy for tailoring the performances of TFC PA membranes for environmental water treatment.

Re-utilization of Chinese medicinal herbal residue: waste wormwood rod-derived porous carbon as a low-cost adsorbent for methyl orange removal.

A cost-effective approach was applied to prepare porous carbon samples by the simple carbonization of wormwood rod followed by salt activator (NaCl) activation. The effect of preparation parameters on the characteristics of the wormwood rod-based porous carbons (WWRs) were studied. The properties of these samples were investigated by SEM, BET surface area, X-ray diffraction, FT-IR spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer. The prepared WWRs were applied as new adsorbent materials to remove methyl orange (MO). The experimental results indicated that WWR-800 activated at 800 °C possesses the best adsorption performance. Several factors that affected the adsorption property of the system such as the solution pH, dosing of adsorbent, initial dye concentration and ionic strength were examined. In addition, the thermodynamic parameters and kinetic parameters of MO with WWR-800 were studied. The results indicated that the adsorption of MO on WWR-800 was an endothermic process and non-spontaneous under standard conditions. The maximum equilibrium adsorption capacity of MO on WWR-800 was 454.55 mg/g. After five adsorption/desorption cycles, the adsorption capacity of MO on WWR-800 remained at 94%, which indicated that wormwood rod-based porous carbon possessed good reusability.