Emerging contaminants in water environments: progress, evolution, and prospects.

This article employs bibliometric tools like VOSviewer, Bibliometrix, and CiteSpace for a comprehensive visual analysis of 1,612 documents on Emerging Contaminants in Waters from the Web of Science database. The objective is to elucidate the historical development, research hotspots, and trends in international studies of this field, offering valuable insights and guidance for future research directions. The analysis reveals a consistent increase in publications from 2003 to 2023, with the United States, China, and Spain being the most prolific contributors. A detailed examination of keyword co-occurrence and cluster analysis shows a predominant focus on themes such as pollutant detection, risk assessment, and biogeochemical cycling. Furthermore, the study underscores the significance of forming interdisciplinary networks among authors and institutions, highlighting its critical role in enhancing the quality and innovation of scientific research. The findings of this study not only chart the progression and focal points of research in this domain but also underscore the pivotal role of international collaboration, serving as an indispensable reference for shaping future research trajectories and fostering global cooperation.

High-speed and high-precision measurement of biaxial in-plane displacements: tens of nanometers principle error suppression in microprobe sensors.

When the microprobe sensor is faced with the demand of high-speed biaxial displacement measurement, due to the characteristics of phase generated carrier (PGC) technology, accompanying optical intensity modulation (AOIM) and unfavorable phase modulation depth (PMD) will bring about the tens of nanometer cyclic nonlinear errors, further hindering high-speed and high-precision measurement. Herein, a light source intensity stabilization system based on semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) feedback control is achieved to eliminate the error caused by AOIM in the presence of high-frequency and large-amplitude laser modulation. Based on this, the reasons for large nonlinear errors in biaxial measurements and the inability to ensure the stability of the accuracy of multiple measurement axes are methodically examined, and an effective nonlinear error elimination methodology based on the normalized amplitude correction of active temperature scanning is proposed. The continuity and linearity of the temperature scanning are also discussed. The performed experiments show that the above approach is capable of reducing the displacement demodulation error from the nanometer scale to the sub-nanometer scale. Further, the nonlinear error is reduced to within 0.1 nm for both measurement axes and the performance becomes consistent. The dual-axis measurement resolution of the microprobe sensor reaches 0.4 nm and the measurement speed is better than 1.2 m/s with the standard deviation of lower than 0.5 nm.

A Two-Dimensional Precision Level for Real-Time Measurement Based on Zoom Fast Fourier Transform.

This paper proposes a two-dimensional precision level for real-time measurement using a zoom fast Fourier transform (zoom FFT)-based decoupling algorithm that was developed and integrated in an FPGA. This algorithm solves the contradiction between obtaining high resolution and obtaining high measurement speed, and achieves both high angle-resolution measurement and real-time measurement. The proposed level adopts a silicone-oil surface as the angle-sensitive interface and combines the principle of homodyne interference. By analyzing the frequency of the interference fringes, the angle variation can be determined. The zoom-FFT-based decoupling algorithm improves the system's frequency resolution of the interference fringes, thereby significantly enhancing the angle resolution. Furthermore, this algorithm improves the efficiency of angle decoupling, while the angle decoupling process can also be transplanted to the board to realize real-time measurement of the level. Finally, a prototype based on the level principle was tested to validate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The principle analysis and test results showed that the angle resolution of the prototype improved from 9 arcsec to about 0.1 arcsec using this angle-solution method. At the same time, the measurement repeatability of the prototype was approximately ±0.2 arcsec. In comparison with a commercial autocollimator, the angle measurement accuracy reached ±0.6 arcsec.

Accurate and Comprehensive Spectrum Characterization for Cavity-Enhanced Electro-Optic Comb Generators.

Cavity-enhanced electro-optic comb generators (CEEOCGs) can provide optical frequency combs with excellent stability and configurability. The existing methods for CEEOCGs spectrum characterization, however, are based on approximations and have suffered from either iterative calculations or limited applicable conditions. In this paper, we show a spectrum characterization method by accumulating the optical electrical field with respect to the count of the round-trip propagation inside of CEEOCGs. The identity transformation and complete analysis of the intracavity phase delay were conducted to eliminate approximations and be applicable to arbitrary conditions, respectively. The calculation efficiency was improved by the noniterative matrix operations. Setting the maximum propagation count as 1000, the spectrum of the center ±300 comb modes can be characterized with merely the truncation error of floating-point numbers within 1.2 s. More importantly, the effects of all CEEOCG parameters were comprehensively characterized for the first time. Accordingly, not only the exact working condition of CEEOCG can be identified for further optimization, but also the power of each comb mode can be predicted accurately and efficiently for applications in optical communications and waveform synthesis.

Embedded micro-probe fiber optic interferometer with low nonlinearity against light intensity disturbance.

A novel low-nonlinearity Michelson microprobe fiber interferometer against light intensity disturbance for high-precision embedded displacement measurements is introduced. To analyze the influence of light intensity disturbance on the microprobe and measurement accuracy of the integrated fiber interferometer, an equivalent model of micro-probe sensing with the tilted target is established. The proposed PGC demodulation and nonlinearity correction method with simple principle helps avoid DC component varying with light intensity. The experiments show that residual displacement errors of the micro-probe fiber interferometer are reduced from 4.36 nm to 0.46 nm, thus allowing embedded displacement detection with sub-nanometer accuracy under low frequency light intensity disturbance.

Phase modulation depth setting technique of a phase-generated-carrier under AOIM in fiber-optic interferometer with laser frequency modulation.

The phase modulation depth (PMD) in phase-generated-carrier demodulation is determined by the laser frequency modulation amplitude and working distance of a fiber-optic interferometer and must be set at a certain value. Active setting of the amplitude is unsuitable, especially for high-speed modulation, owing to variations in the laser source tuning coefficients. Existing calculation schemes for passive setting cannot work both owing to carrier phase delay (CPD) and the accompanied optical-intensity modulation (AOIM). Herein, a modified phase modulation depth calculation and setting technique is proposed. Double photoelectric detection and signal division are optimized to eliminate AOIM using a fiber delay chain and phase-locked amplifier module. Fast Fourier-transform and look-up table methods are used to calculate phase modulation depth without adding the carrier, which is unaffected by CPD. A fiber-optic Michelson interferometer is constructed to verify the feasibility of the proposed method. The experimental results show that AOIM can be eliminated; moreover, PMD can be calculated and set precisely. The displacement deviation is less than 1.03 nm. The resolution of measurement is considerably lesser than 1 nm and nanoscale accuracy is achieved in displacement measurement.

Analysis of a highly efficient phase-locking stabilization method for electro-optic comb generation.

We theoretically show that a slightly modified Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) stabilization scheme can lead to the optimum time-domain characteristics for electro-optic comb generators (EOCG). The ideal locking point is located by analyzing the EOCG output pulse width. By summing up the electrical field reflected by the EOCG front mirror, a model of the phase-locking error signal is derived with the Jacobi-Anger identical transformation. The simulation and experiment show that the zero-locking point of the error signal of the modified scheme coincides well with the ideal locking point in contrast with the direct application of the PDH scheme. Finally, a power efficiency of up to 2.9% is achieved with this EOCG stabilization scheme. A relative instability of better than 2.6×10-8 is demonstrated by a dual comb interferometer with fixed paths. The Allan deviations of the comb mode frequencies are smaller than 2.8×10-9 and 1.1×10-10 for average times of 1 and 100 s, respectively.

Correction of nonlinear errors from PGC carrier phase delay and AOIM in fiber-optic interferometers for nanoscale displacement measurement.

In fiber-optic interferometers with laser frequency modulation, carrier phase delay and accompanied optical intensity modulation (AOIM) in phase-generated-carrier (PGC) demodulation inevitably produce nonlinear errors that can seriously hamper displacement measurement accuracy. As for the existing improved PGC scheme, they are only capable to compensate for one of these effects. As the only method that is effective in eliminating the two effects simultaneously, typical ellipse fitting methods require target movements λlaser/4, and fail when the PGC carrier phase delay is proximate to certain values (e.g., nπ +π/4, nπ +π/2). Herein, a modified nonlinear-error correction method for errors due to PGC carrier phase delay and AOIM is proposed. Active laser-wavelength scanning by constant variation of the laser drive temperature is used to replace the target movement. A fiber-optic Michelson interferometer is constructed and experiments are performed to verify the feasibility of the proposed method. The experimental results show that after correction, the nonlinear error is reduced to less than 1nm, and nanoscale displacement measurement is achieved.

Ultrastable Offset-Locking Continuous Wave Laser to a Frequency Comb with a Compound Control Method for Precision Interferometry.

A simple and robust analog feedforward and digital feedback compound control system is presented to lock the frequency of a slave continuous wave (CW) laser to an optical frequency comb. The beat frequency between CW laser and the adjacent comb mode was fed to an acousto-optical frequency shifter (AOFS) to compensate the frequency dithering of the CW laser. A digital feedback loop was achieved to expand the operation bandwidth limitation of the AOFS by over an order of magnitude. The signal-to-noise ratio of the interference signal was optimized using a grating-based spectral filtering detection unit. The complete system achieved an ultrastable offset-locking of the slave CW laser to the frequency comb with a relative stability of ±3.62 × 10-14. The Allan deviations of the beat frequency were 8.01 × 10-16 and 2.19 × 10-16 for a gate time of 10 s and 1000 s, respectively. The findings of this study may further improve laser interferometry by providing a simple and robust method for ultrastable frequency control.

Design for A Highly Stable Laser Source Based on the Error Model of High-Speed High-Resolution Heterodyne Interferometers.

Heterodyne interferometers with two opposite Doppler shift interference signals have been proposed for high-resolution measurement with high measurement speed, which can be used in the background of high-speed high-resolution measurement. However, a measurement error model for high-speed high-resolution heterodyne interferometers (HSHR-HIs) has not yet been proposed. We established a HSHR-HI measurement error model, analyzed the influence of beat frequency stability with a simplified optical structure, and then designed an offset-locked dual-frequency laser source with a digital control system to reduce the impact of beat frequency drift. Experiments were used to verify the correction of the measurement error model and the validity of the laser source. The results show that the new laser source has a maximum beat frequency range of 45 MHz, which shows the improvements in the measuring speed and resolution.

Measuring Environmental and Economic Performance of Air Pollution Control for Province-Level Areas in China.

This paper proposes an improved three-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model to measure the environmental-economic efficiency (EEE) of air pollution control for 30 province-level areas of China during the period of 2012 to 2016. In this model, capital, labor, and total energy consumption are the three inputs, while gross domestic product (GDP) and waste gas emissions represent the desirable and undesirable outputs, respectively. This model allows the weights of economic growth and environmental protection to be adjusted as needed by policymakers; the model is adopted to evaluate the effects of government measures on environmental protection and economic growth. Ultimately, the effects from environmental factors and statistical noise are excluded from the EEEs of local governments and the managerial efficiencies are calculated. The results simultaneously reflect the local performance of air pollution control and economic development, which can be used to clarify the ranking of provinces nationwide.

Chinese National Air Protection Policy Development: A Policy Network Theory Analysis.

Given its wide involvement in and recognition by international organizations, China has signed many international agreements and negotiations. This study verified how and the extent to which changes in exogenous factors (e.g., international agreements and negotiations) affect Chinese governmental air protection policy development. Previous studies on policy network theory have demonstrated that exogenous factors affected the development of domestic policies significantly, while in this study little evidence was found to demonstrate the influence of exogenous factors on changes in Chinese policy. Rather, internal factors have played an important role in both its development and transformation. These findings differ from study results on wealthy countries and other developing districts. This study then explores the causes of substandard policy outcomes. To probe this further, policy network theory is applied to explain the gap between the guiding principle of central government's policies and local implementation in actual practice. By analyzing the strategies of policy actors and specific rules in current Chinese context, the associated limitations and obstacles in the process of policy-making and implementation can be explained from the aspect of bureaucratic system, energy market running mechanism and others. This paper recommends alterations in the current policy and structure based on these findings.

In vivo tailor-made protein corona of a prodrug-based nanoassembly fabricated by redox dual-sensitive paclitaxel prodrug for the superselective treatment of breast cancer.

Prodrug self-nanoassemblies have many advantages for anticancer drug delivery, including high drug loading rate, resistance to recrystallization, and on-demand drug release. However, few studies have focused on their protein corona, which is inevitably formed after entering the blood and determines their subsequent fates in vivo. To actively tune the protein corona of prodrug nanoassemblies, three maleimide-paclitaxel prodrugs were synthesized via different redox-sensitive linkers (ester bond, thioether bond and disulfide bond). After incubation with rat plasma, the surface maleimide groups effectively captured albumins, resulting in albumin-enriched protein corona. The recruited albumin corona enabled enhanced tumor accumulation and facilitated cellular uptake, ensuring the high-efficiency delivery of nanoassemblies to tumor cells. Surprisingly, we found that the traditionally reduction-sensitive disulfide bond could also be triggered by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Such a redox dual-responsive drug release property of the disulfide bond-containing prodrug nanoassemblies further increased the selectivity in cytotoxicity between normal and tumor cells. Moreover, the disulfide bond-containing prodrug nanoassemblies exhibited the highest antitumor efficacy in vivo compared to marketed Abraxane® and other prodrug nanoassemblies. Thus, the fabrication of the maleimide-decorated disulfide bond bridged prodrug nanoassembly, integrating a tunable protein corona and on-demand drug release, is a promising strategy for improved cancer chemotherapy.

A label-free fluorescence assay for hydrogen peroxide and glucose based on the bifunctional MIL-53(Fe) nanozyme.

A label-free nanozyme MIL-53(Fe) with the dual-function of catalyzing and emitting fluorescence was utilized for turn-on fluorescence detection of hydrogen peroxide and glucose. The proposed strategy provides a cost-effective, safe and sensitive method for the design and development of multiple enzyme cascade assays for various biomolecules.

Ultrastable offset-locked frequency-stabilized heterodyne laser source with water cooling.

An ultrastable frequency-stabilized He-Ne laser with a water-cooling structure has been developed for a high-speed and high-accuracy heterodyne interferometer. To achieve high frequency stability and reproducibility, a two-mode He-Ne laser was offset locked to an iodine-stabilized laser. An improved synchronous multi-cycle offset frequency-measurement method with a gate time of an integer multiple of the modulation period was employed to remove the frequency-modulation effect on the offset-frequency counter. A water-cooling structure based on the double-helix structure was established to provide a stable and low-temperature working environment. This structure can remarkably reduce the frequency instability arising from the environmental temperature variation and the thermal pollution released from the laser to the environment. The experimental results indicate that the frequency stability according to the Allen variance is better than 2.3×10-11 (τ=10 s) and the frequency reproducibility is better than 4.5×10-10.

Heterodyne multi-wavelength absolute interferometry based on a cavity-enhanced electro-optic frequency comb pair.

We present a heterodyne absolute distance interferometer with a macroscopic range, based on a promising optical source. The basis of the heterodyne measurement principle, a frequency comb pair with slightly different repetition rates and offset frequencies, is realized coherently by synchronized cavity-enhanced electro-optic frequency comb generators. The unknown distance is determined absolutely from the interferometric phases of distinct comb modes, by a parallel digital lock-in scheme. Comparison experiments with a reference HeNe incremental interferometer show an agreement well within 15 µm, for a range up to 10 m.