A Review of Filtration Performance of Protective Masks.

Masks are essential and effective small protective devices used to protect the general public against infections such as COVID-19. However, available systematic reviews and summaries on the filtration performance of masks are lacking. Therefore, in order to investigate the filtration performance of masks, filtration mechanisms, mask characteristics, and the relationships between influencing factors and protective performance were first analyzed through mask evaluations. The summary of filtration mechanisms and mask characteristics provides readers with a clear and easy-to-understand theoretical cognition. Then, a detailed analysis of influencing factors and the relationships between the influencing factors and filtration performance is presented in. The influence of the aerosol size and type on filtration performance is nonlinear and nonconstant, and filtration efficiency decreases with an increase in the gas flow rate; moreover, fitness plays a decisive role in the protective effects of masks. It is recommended that the public should wear surgical masks to prevent COVID-19 infection in low-risk and non-densely populated areas. Future research should focus on fitness tests, and the formulation of standards should also be accelerated. This paper provides a systematic review that will be helpful for the design of masks and public health in the future.

A Thermoelectric-Heat-Pump Employed Active Control Strategy for the Dynamic Cooling Ability Distribution of Liquid Cooling System for the Space Station's Main Power-Cell-Arrays.

A proper operating temperature range and an acceptable temperature uniformity are extremely essential for the efficient and safe operation of the Li-ion battery array, which is an important power source of space stations. The single-phase fluid loop is one of the effective approaches for the thermal management of the battery. Due to the limitation that once the structure of the cold plate (CP) is determined, it is difficult to adjust the cooling ability of different locations of the CP dynamically, this may lead to a large temperature difference of the battery array that is attached to the different locations of the CP. This paper presents a micro-channel CP integrated with a thermoelectric heat pump (THP) in order to achieve the dynamic adjustment of the cooling ability of different locations of the CP. The THP functions to balance the heat transfer within the CP, which transports the heat of the high-temperature region to the low-temperature region by regulating the THP current, where a better temperature uniformity of the CP can be achieved. A lumped-parameter model for the proposed system is established to examine the effects of the thermal load and electric current on the dynamic thermal characteristics. In addition, three different thermal control algorithms (basic PID, fuzzy-PID, and BP-PID) are explored to examine the CP's temperature uniformity performance by adapting the electric current of the THP. The results demonstrate that the temperature difference of the focused CP can be declined by 1.8 K with the assistance of the THP. The proposed fuzzy-PID controller and BP-PID controller present much better performances than that provided by the basic PID controller in terms of overshoot, response time, and steady state error. Such an innovative arrangement will enhance the CP's dynamic cooling ability distribution effectively, and thus improve the temperature uniformity and operating reliability of the Li-ion space battery array further.

1-Deoxynojirimycin from Bacillus subtilis improves antioxidant and antibacterial activities of juvenile Yoshitomi tilapia

Background: Juvenile Yoshitomi tilapia is often infected by pathogens and results in low-level survival rate. Bacillus subtilis, as a probiotic, may have beneficial effects on Y. tilapia with compound 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ), which has antibacterial activities. The effects of dietary probiotic supplementation on Y. tilapias were evaluated. Results: Juvenile Y. tilapia was fed with B. subtilis for 56 d. Y. tilapia was infected by Aeromonas hydrophila and survival rate was compared. Dietary B. subtilis increased weight gain rate, specific growth, food conversion ratios and food intake rate of Y. tilapia. The diet improved the cumulative survival rate (CSR) of juvenile Y. tilapia when the concentration of B. subtilis was more than 2.05 × 1010 cfu/kg and CSR reached a maximum rate when the concentration of bacillus was 4.23 × 1010 (P b 0.05). Meanwhile, B. subtilis improved total antioxidant capacity (TAC), spleen index, the activities of serum lysozyme, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) (P b 0.05). In contrast, B. subtilis reduced serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), malondialdehyde (MDA) and C3 complement (P b 0.05). DNJ was isolated from secondary metabolisms and proved to increase the levels of SOD, CAT and reduce the levels of AST, ALT and MDA at cell levels. After A. hydrophila infection, DNJ prevented the reduction in survival rate of Y. tilapia (P b 0.05). Conclusions: 1-Deoxynojirimycin from Bacillus subtilis can be used to improve the growth performance of juvenile Y. tilapia by affecting its antioxidant and antibacterial activities.

Adsorption removal of thiocyanate from aqueous solution by calcined hydrotalcite.

A hydrotalcite with Mg/Al molar ratio 2 was prepared by co-precipitation method and was characterized by XRD, TG/DTA, Zeta potential and BET surface area. The hydrotalcite was calcined at 500 degrees C, with the dehydration from interlayer, the dehydroxilation from the brucite-like layer and the decomposition of carbonate successively, transformed into the mixed oxide type. The removal of thiocyanate from aqueous solution by using the original hydrotalcite and calcined hydrotalcite (HTC-500) was investigated. The results showed that the thiocyanate adsorption capacity of calcined hydrotalcite was much higher than that of the original form. Calcined hydrotalcite was particularly effective at removing thiocyanate, and that the effective range of pH for the thiocyanate removal are between 5.5-10.0. The experimental data of thiocyanate removal fit nicely with Langmuir isotherm, and the saturated adsorption uptake was 96.2 mg SCN-/g HTC-500. The adsorption of thiocyanate by calcined hydrotalcite follows first-order kinetics. And the intercalation to the structure recovery for calcined hydrotalcite. But the presence of additional anions could affect the adsorption behavior of thiocyanate.