Study on pickling technology to control fouling of ceramic membrane treating secondary treated effluent.

The application of membrane technology in the field of water treatment was increasingly widespread, but membrane fouling still restricted its development, and the membrane needed to be chemically cleaned. This research focused on the high-efficiency pickling technology of ceramic membrane, and developed the cleaning technology of ceramic membrane in cooperation with surfactant. In the experiment, the municipal secondary effluent was used as the raw water, and the single-step, mixed and step-by-step cleaning effects of three strong acids, three weak acids and surfactants on ceramic membranes and polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes were investigated. For ceramic membrane, the optimal cleaning combination was H2SO4 first and then DTAC, and the flux recovery rate could reach 96.94%; for PVDF membrane, the optimal cleaning combination was HNO3 first and then H2SO4, and the flux recovery rate could reach 93.72%. In addition, the surface of initial, polluted, and cleaned membranes were analyzed by scanning electron microscope and contact angle, and the fouling mechanism of the ceramic membrane was analyzed. The results showed that through physical cleaning and chemical cleaning, most of the pollutants on the membrane surface and pores were removed. The cleaning method can effectively control the membrane pollution.

Eye Tracking Research on the Influence of Spatial Frequency and Inversion Effect on Facial Expression Processing in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Facial expression processing mainly depends on whether the facial features related to expressions can be fully acquired, and whether the appropriate processing strategies can be adopted according to different conditions. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulty accurately recognizing facial expressions and responding appropriately, which is regarded as an important cause of their social disorders. This study used eye tracking technology to explore the internal processing mechanism of facial expressions in children with ASD under the influence of spatial frequency and inversion effects for improving their social disorders. The facial expression recognition rate and eye tracking characteristics of children with ASD and typical developing (TD) children on the facial area of interest were recorded and analyzed. The multi-factor mixed experiment results showed that the facial expression recognition rate of children with ASD under various conditions was significantly lower than that of TD children. TD children had more visual attention to the eyes area. However, children with ASD preferred the features of the mouth area, and lacked visual attention and processing of the eyes area. When the face was inverted, TD children had the inversion effect under all three spatial frequency conditions, which was manifested as a significant decrease in expression recognition rate. However, children with ASD only had the inversion effect under the LSF condition, indicating that they mainly used a featural processing method and had the capacity of configural processing under the LSF condition. The eye tracking results showed that when the face was inverted or facial feature information was weakened, both children with ASD and TD children would adjust their facial expression processing strategies accordingly, to increase the visual attention and information processing of their preferred areas. The fixation counts and fixation duration of TD children on the eyes area increased significantly, while the fixation duration of children with ASD on the mouth area increased significantly. The results of this study provided theoretical and practical support for facial expression intervention in children with ASD.

Deciphering faces: quantifiable visual cues to weight.

Body weight plays a crucial role in mate choice, as weight is related to both attractiveness and health. People are quite accurate at judging weight in faces, but the cues used to make these judgments have not been defined. This study consisted of two parts. First, we wanted to identify quantifiable facial cues that are related to body weight, as defined by body mass index (BMI). Second, we wanted to test whether people use these cues to judge weight. In study 1, we recruited two groups of Caucasian and two groups of African participants, determined their BMI and measured their 2-D facial images for: width-to-height ratio, perimeter-to-area ratio, and cheek-to-jaw-width ratio. All three measures were significantly related to BMI in males, while the width-to-height and cheek-to-jaw-width ratios were significantly related to BMI in females. In study 2, these images were rated for perceived weight by Caucasian observers. We showed that these observers use all three cues to judge weight in African and Caucasian faces of both sexes. These three facial cues, width-to-height ratio, perimeter-to-area ratio, and cheek-to-jaw-width ratio, are therefore not only related to actual weight but provide a basis for perceptual attributes as well.