•Recent advances in artificial intelligence for predicting fouling are presented.•Working principles of AI technologies for membrane fouling prediction are discussed.•Comparisons of the inputs, ...outputs, and accuracy of AI approaches are conducted.•Future research efforts are highlighted for AI technologies in predicting membrane fouling.
Membrane fouling is one of major obstacles in the application of membrane technologies. Accurately predicting or simulating membrane fouling behaviours is of great significance to elucidate the fouling mechanisms and develop effective measures to control fouling. Although mechanistic/mathematical models have been widely used for predicting membrane fouling, they still suffer from low accuracy and poor sensitivity. To overcome the limitations of conventional mathematical models, artificial intelligence (AI)-based techniques have been proposed as powerful approaches to predict membrane filtration performance and fouling behaviour. This work aims to present a state-of-the-art review on the advances in AI algorithms (e.g., artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, genetic programming, support vector machines and search algorithms) for prediction of membrane fouling. The working principles of different AI techniques and their applications for prediction of membrane fouling in different membrane-based processes are discussed in detail. Furthermore, comparisons of the inputs, outputs, and accuracy of different AI approaches for membrane fouling prediction have been conducted based on the literature database. Future research efforts are further highlighted for AI-based techniques aiming for a more accurate prediction of membrane fouling and the optimization of the operation in membrane-based processes.
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The emergence of a convolutional neural network (CNN) has greatly promoted the development of hyperspectral image (HSI) classification technology. However, the acquisition of HSI is difficult. The ...lack of training samples is the primary cause of low classification performance. The traditional CNN-based methods mainly use the 2-D CNN for feature extraction, which makes the interband correlations of HSIs underutilized. The 3-D CNN extracts the joint spectral-spatial information representation, but it depends on a more complex model. Also, too deep or too shallow network cannot extract the image features well. To tackle these issues, we propose an HSI classification method based on the 2D-3D CNN and multibranch feature fusion. We first combine 2-D CNN and 3-D CNN to extract image features. Then, by means of the multibranch neural network, three kinds of features from shallow to deep are extracted and fused in the spectral dimension. Finally, the fused features are passed into several fully connected layers and a softmax layer to obtain the classification results. In addition, our network model utilizes the state-of-the-art activation function Mish to further improve the classification performance. Our experimental results, conducted on four widely used HSI datasets, indicate that the proposed method achieves better performance than the existing alternatives.
How the membrane support affects the performance of thin-film composite (TFC) membranes has long been under debate. Our present study experimentally establishes that the support pore number density ...(number per unit area) as well as its surface porosity play pivotal roles in affecting the characteristics and permselectivity of TFC membranes. The structure of hollow fiber supports was finely tuned and characterized via a series of techniques, which provided a link to the physicochemical properties of the interfacially polymerized polyamide films. During the spinning process, decreasing the content of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone in the bore fluid drastically reduced the pore size and surface porosity of the support. The resultant TFC membranes showed a lower water permeability (tested under 1 bar using 500 ppm NaCl). Adding lithium chloride to the polymer dope also led to a support with smaller pores and lower porosity, but increased surface pore number density. The resulting TFC membranes had a substantially higher water permeability and slightly higher salt rejection. In both arrays of membranes, all membranes shared similar thickness of polyamide leaf but a more crumpled film was found on a less porous support, suggesting that the surface porosity of the support affected the effective surface area of films. However, the TFC membrane with a higher effective surface area did not necessarily possess a higher permeability. Rather, a TFC membrane having a support with a higher surface porosity or a higher pore number density exhibited a higher water permeability, demonstrating that the lateral transport path of water through films had a significant impact on the water permeability of TFC membranes. Interestingly, in both cases, the selectivity of the TFC membranes was maintained when the water permeability increased. This study clarifies longstanding misunderstandings concerning the effects of the support on TFC membrane performance and provides insight into fabricating highly permeable and selective TFC membranes.
•A base film embedded in the polyamide layer determines performance of TFC membranes.•Enlarging surface porosity of supports could enhance permeability of TFC membranes.•Increasing pore density of supports could enhance permeability of TFC membranes.•Supports affect lateral diffusion of water through films and thereby permeability.•Rejection was maintained while the permeability of TFC was drastically enhanced.
Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies of digestive system with aggressive phenotypes. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play a pivotal function in cancer initiation and development. ...Nevertheless, the function and mechanism of circRNAs in gastric cancer (GC) is not fully understood. We found circ-ERBB2 was strikingly increased in GC tissues and cells. Noticeably, circ-ERBB2 upregulation in tumorous tissues was linked to patients’ tumor size, depth of invasion, and overall survival. A series of gain and loss-of-function assays indicated its oncogenic role in GC cells, including cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion. We further predicted and identified circ-ERBB2 sponged miR-503 and miR-637 by bioinformatics analysis and luciferase reporter system. CACUL1 and MMP-19 were then predicted and confirmed as the target of miR-503 and miR-637, respectively. Furthermore, rescue assays indicated that circ-ERBB2 promoted tumor growth and invasion via miR-503/CACUL1 and miR-637/MMP-19 pathways, respectively. In summary, these findings demonstrated that circ-ERBB2 functions as an oncogene in GC and might be useful in developing promising therapies for this fatal malignancy.
•Circ-ERBB2 is upregulated in GC tissues and cells.•Circ-ERBB2 expression is associated with GC patients’ unfavorable prognosis.•Circ-ERBB2 promotes GC cell progression.•Circ-ERBB2 sponges miR-503 and miR-637 and to increase CACUL1 and MMP-19 expression.•Circ-ERBB2 facilitates cell growth via miR-503/CACUL1 signaling and promotes cell invasion through miR-637/MMP-19 axis.
Forward osmosis (FO) is an increasingly important technology that has been deemed promising for addressing the global issue of water scarcity. Rapid progress over the past decade has been marked by ...significant innovations in the membrane development and process design. The key idea is to develop next-generation membranes through advanced membrane fabrication methods as well as hybrid systems where the FO process can really value-add. As such, this article provides an overview of the various FO membrane designs, in particular, the thin-film composite, surface-modified, and mixed matrix and biomimetic membranes. The pros and cons of each type of membranes are discussed together with the strategies used to optimize membrane properties such as structural parameter (S), water permeability (A) and salt permeability (B) to achieve enhanced FO performances. Furthermore, we also discuss the roles of FO in the various hybrid systems and evaluate the potential of these hybrid systems for desalination. Lastly, we provide our perspectives, especially in the area of membrane fabrications and FO hybrid systems, to shed light on the future research directions for harnessing the true potential of FO for desalination.
•We present a critical review of the current state of FO membrane fabrication and FO based desalination processes.•We evaluate different membrane fabrication methods for fabricating high performance FO membranes.•We analyze the key parameters of FO membranes in desalination applications.•The pros and cons of each FO based hybrid systems for desalination are highlighted.
Plasmon is the quantum of the collective oscillation of electrons. How plasmon loses its energy (or damping) plays a pivotal role in plasmonic science and technology. Graphene plasmon is of ...particular interest, partly because of its potentially low damping rate. However, to date, damping pathways have not been clearly unravelled experimentally. Here, we demonstrate mid-infrared (4-15 µm) plasmons in graphene nanostructures with dimensions as small as 50 nm (with a mode area of ∼1 × 10-3 µm2 ). We also reveal damping channels via graphene intrinsic optical phonons and scattering from the edges. Plasmon lifetimes of 20 fs or less are observed when damping via the emission of graphene optical phonons is allowed. Furthermore, surface polar phonons in the SiO2 substrate under graphene nanostructures lead to a significantly modified plasmon dispersion and damping, in contrast to the case of a nonpolar diamond-like-carbon substrate. Our study paves the way for applications of graphene in plasmonic waveguides, modulators and detectors from sub-terahertz to mid-infrared regimes.
Large-area graphene growth is required for the development and production of electronic devices. Recently, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of hydrocarbons has shown some promise in growing large-area ...graphene or few-layer graphene films on metal substrates such as Ni and Cu. It has been proposed that CVD growth of graphene on Ni occurs by a C segregation or precipitation process whereas graphene on Cu grows by a surface adsorption process. Here we used carbon isotope labeling in conjunction with Raman spectroscopic mapping to track carbon during the growth process. The data clearly show that at high temperatures sequentially introduced isotopic carbon diffuses into the Ni first, mixes, and then segregates and precipitates at the surface of Ni forming graphene and/or graphite with a uniform mixture of 12C and 13C as determined by the peak position of the Raman G-band peak. On the other hand, graphene growth on Cu is clearly by surface adsorption where the spatial distribution of 12C and 13C follows the precursor time sequence and the linear growth rate ranges from about 1 to as high as 6 μm/min depending upon Cu grain orientation. This data is critical in guiding the graphene growth process as we try to achieve the highest quality graphene for electronic devices.
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and aggressive malignant tumor found in the central nervous system. Currently, standard treatments in the clinic include maximal safe surgical ...resection, radiation, and chemotherapy and are mostly limited by low therapeutic efficiency correlated with poor prognosis. Immunotherapy, which predominantly focuses on peptide vaccines, dendritic cell vaccines, chimeric antigen receptor T cells, checkpoint inhibitor therapy, and oncolytic virotherapy, have achieved some promising results in both preclinical and clinical trials. The future of immune therapy for GBM requires an integrated effort with rational combinations of vaccine therapy, cell therapy, and radio- and chemotherapy as well as molecule therapy targeting the tumor microenvironment.
There is intense interest in graphene in fields such as physics, chemistry, and materials science, among others. Interest in graphene's exceptional physical properties, chemical tunability, and ...potential for applications has generated thousands of publications and an accelerating pace of research, making review of such research timely. Here is an overview of the synthesis, properties, and applications of graphene and related materials (primarily, graphite oxide and its colloidal suspensions and materials made from them), from a materials science perspective.
The synthesis, properties, and applications of graphene and graphene oxide‐based materials are reviewed in this article. Graphene can be synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (e.g., on Cu, Figure a) and graphene oxide is a precursor for other graphene‐based materials (e.g., “paper”, Figure b). Graphene shows exceptional physical properties (e.g., high thermal conductivity, as measured by using the device in Figure c) and may be used in future high‐performance electronic devices (e.g., single electron transistor, Figure d), among other possible applications.
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