Heavy metal contamination in water and soil has gradually become a concern with the development of industry in recent years and may pose a serious threat to human health if left untreated. Biochar is ...commonly used as an adsorbent/immobilizer of heavy metals from water and substrates because of its wide—ranging raw materials, low production cost, and good adsorption performance. Based on the adsorption mechanism of biochar, this paper analyzes different modification methods of biochar, aiming to provide an effective material for the treatment of heavy metals from water and sediment and provide a certain reference for its application to practical projects.
The occurrence of palaeowildfires in terrestrial ecosystems coincides with the colonization of plants, rendering it one of the most significant geological events and holding paramount importance for ...comprehending paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental changes. This study provides strong evidence of persistent palaeowildfire occurrences in the Jiuxi Basin, Northwestern China, during the Aptian to Albian period, considering the abundant, continuous, sedimentary charcoal fossils from the uppermost Chijinbao, Xiagou, and Zhonggou Formations of the Hanxia Section. Micromorphological studies based on the scanning electron microscopy indicate that substantial portion of the charcoal fossils originated from conifers. The fusinite reflectance values of the charcoal fossils range from 1.32% to 4.32%, indicating that the palaeowildfire temperatures may have been 330 °C to 700 °C, and can be divided into three stages, evolving from ground fires to surface fires and crown fires, and finally developing to ground fires. Furthermore, high atmospheric oxygen and seasonally dry climate promoted the frequent palaeowildfire environment in the Jiuxi Basin during the late Early Cretaceous. However, the persistent and repeated wildfires may have effected the palaeoecosystem of the Jiuxi Basin during the late Early Cretaceous, which is evidenced by the decline of coniferous trees and the increase of the early herbaceous angiosperms.
•Charcoal fossils from the Lower Cretaceous of Jiuxi Basin prove long-term wildfires.•The micro-structures of the charcoal fossils suggest a diverse coniferous origin.•The Ro values are 1.32% to 4.32%, and the fire temperatures are 330 °C to 700 °C.•Wildfires effected the ecosystem of Jiuxi Basin during the late Early Cretaceous.
In this study, we studied the influence of the dosage of modified bamboo charcoal (KAM-500-400-3) on the fixation effect of single Cu(II)-contaminated and mixed Cu(II)–Cd(II)-contaminated sediment. ...The results showed that it could effectively fix the heavy metals in both sediment types. In the single Cu(II)-contaminated sediment, when the amount of added KAM500-400-3 was greater than or equal to 5%, the Cu(II) content in the overlying and pore water was substantially reduced, and the form of heavy metal Cu(II) in the sediment changed from the acid-extractable state to a relatively stable, reducible, oxidizable, and residual state, its bioavailability markedly reduced, and the toxic leaching amount of heavy metal TCLP in the sediment also gradually reduced. In the sediment polluted by Cu(II)–Cd(II), the Cu(II) and Cd(II) could not be detected in the overlying or pore water when the addition amount was greater than or equal to 2.5%. The contents of Cu(II) and Cd(II) in the acid-extractable state considerably decreased and they transformed into other forms with low bioavailability, in which the content of Cd(II) in the oxidizable state was so low that it was lower than the detection limit. The TCLP toxicity of the leached amount of Cd(II) also gradually decreased. This showed that adding KAM500-400-3 to sediment helps with inhibiting the release of heavy metals from contaminated sediment into water bodies, so KAM500-400-3 is a material that can effectively adsorb and fix heavy metals Cu(II) and Cd(II) in sediment.
Battery thermal management for high-power applications such as electrical/hybrid vehicles is crucial. Modeling is an indispensable tool to help engineers design better battery cooling systems. An ...accurate battery thermal model using a Foster network is proposed. The parameters in the Foster network, including capacitance and resistance, are extracted from computational fluid dynamics (CFD) results. The Foster network model is then shown to provide equivalent results as those from CFD under transient heat dissipation inputs. The model can be readily coupled with a battery electrical circuit model to form a complete battery system circuit model capable of predicting accurate battery temperature and the impact of temperature on battery electrical transient performance.
Many biomass wastes or their modified forms have been investigated as heavy metal adsorbents. However, less emphasis has been placed on post-adsorbent management or possible further utilization. In ...this study, biochar (BC) derived from modified bamboo adsorbent after the adsorption of Cu from an aqueous solution was used for the in situ remediation of lake sediment contaminated with Cd and Cu. The results indicated that the Cu concentration was extremely low (≤0.015 mg/L), while Cd was not detected in the overlying water or the interstitial water after the 90-day BC treatment. The pH value (7.5–8.1) slightly increased, and the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) leachability of the Cu and Cd in the sediment decreased overall. Cu and Cd were preferentially transformed into more stable species. The findings highlighted the potential possibility of BC derived from post-adsorbent being used for sediment remediation. However, the BC addition produced significant effects on the sediment microbial activity and community structure. In general, with an increase in BC, the urease activity increased, while the alkaline phosphatase and invertase activity decreased, which could be attributed to the BC itself. In addition, significant changes in both bacterial and fungal genera were observed. Hence, a cautious approach should be taken in the practical application of BC.
Sneathia amnii is a conditional pathogen of the female genital tract that is involved in bacterial vaginosis and poor reproductive and perinatal outcomes. Few studies have reported subcutaneous cysts ...following invasive infection caused by S amnii.
Here we report the case of a 27-year-old woman who presented with Bartholin's gland cyst due to S amnii infection, and was successfully treated with surgical neostomy and antibiotic agents. The isolate was gram-negative, bacillary, anaerobic, and was identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the 16 S rRNA.
S amni is an important but underappreciated pathogen that needs further investigation. This report describes the microbial and pathogenic characteristics of S amnii and is expected to provide a valuable reference in obstetric and gynecologic clinical practice.
With the development of industry in recent years, heavy metal contamination in water and substrate, which may pose a serious threat to human health if left untreated, has attracted increasing ...attention. Biochar is commonly used as an adsorbent/immobilizer for heavy metals in water and substrates because of its wide range of raw materials, low production cost, and good adsorption performance. In this paper, we selected abundant Moso bamboo as the raw material to make biochar (bamboo charcoal), modified bamboo charcoal using different methods to find the modified product with the best adsorption effect, assessed the adsorption performance of modified bamboo charcoal on Cu(II) and Cd(II) in solution, and investigated the effects of the solution concentration, adsorption time, pH, and temperature on the adsorption effect of KAM500-400-3 on Cu(II) and Cd(II). The effect of the solution concentration, adsorption time, pH, and temperature on the adsorption effect of KAM500-400-3 on Cu(II) and Cd(II) was investigated, and the adsorption mechanism of KAM500-400-3 on heavy metals Cu(II) and Cd(II) was analyzed by fitting the adsorption kinetics, adsorption isotherms, and adsorption thermodynamics. The adsorption/fixation characteristics of modified bamboo charcoal on heavy metals Cu(II) and Cd(II) in water and substrate were investigated. This study aimed to identify an effective material for the treatment of heavy metals in water and substrates and provide a reference for their application in practical engineering.
This study focused on characterizing the volatile profiles and contributing compounds in pan-fried steaks from different Chinese yellow cattle breeds. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of six ...Chinese yellow cattle breeds (bohai, jiaxian, yiling, wenshan, xinjiang, and pingliang) were analyzed by GC-Q-Orbitrap spectrometry and electronic nose (E-nose). Multivariate statistical analysis was performed to identify the differences in VOCs profiles among breeds. The relationship between odor-active volatiles and sensory evaluation was analyzed by partial least square regression (PLSR) to identify contributing volatiles in pan-fried steaks of Chinese yellow cattle. The results showed that samples were divided into two groups, and 18 VOCs were selected as potential markers for the differentiation of the two groups by GC-Q-Orbitrap combined multivariate statistical analysis. YL and WS were in one group comprising mainly aliphatic compounds, while the rest were in the other group with more cyclic compounds. Steaks from different breeds were better differentiated by GC-Q-Orbitrap in combination with chemometrics than by E-nose. Six highly predictive compounds were selected, including 3-methyl-butanal, benzeneacetaldehyde, 2-ethyl-6-methyl-pyrazine, 2-acetylpyrrole, 2-acetylthiazole, and 2-acetyl-2-thiazoline. Sensory recombination difference and preference testing revealed that the addition of highly predictive compounds induced a perceptible difference to panelists. This study provides valuable data to characterize and discriminate the flavor profiles in pan-fried steaks of Chinese yellow cattle.
A numerical and optimization study has been well performed on both the circadian effect and color gamut of laser-based displays (LBDs) consisted of multiple-primary laser diodes (LDs) to realize the ...ultra-wide color gamut. The LBDs mainly consist of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) LDs (namely by 3-LD scheme), and also consist of red (R), yellow (Y), green (G), and blue (B) LDs (namely by 4-LD scheme). The Gaussian function is adopted to simulate the spectra of LDs due to their extremely narrow full-width at half maximum (FWHM < 2 nm). In order to evaluate the circadian effect of such LBDs, the circadian parameters, such as melanopic efficacy of luminous radiation (MELR), circadian action factor (CAF), and circadian stimulus (CS), are considered and employed in this investigation. The genetic algorithm (GA) is used to search for the optimal values of circadian parameters at a certain thresholds of color gamut. The Rec. 2020 standard is used to evaluate the color gamut, and 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, and 100% Rec. 2020 are five selected thresholds. The optimal results are across the correlated color temperatures (CCTs) from 2700 K to 6500 K. The circadian tunablity is deduced by the ratio of the maximum MELR at 6500 K CCT to the minimum MELR at 2700 K CCT. The circadian performances are compared with the light-emitting diode (LED)-based displays. It is believed that this work could provide a useful guidance for the circadian regulation of people by the multiple-primary laser-based displays.
This paper describes a promising photoelectrochemical electrode based on a flower‐like Cu2In2ZnS5 structure composed of nanosheets and its use as a photoelectrode for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water ...splitting for the first time. The detailed growth of Cu2In2ZnS5 was discussed. The morphology and microstructure were characterized in detail. PEC measurements showed that on the basis of the optimal hydrothermal time, flower‐like Cu2In2ZnS5 exhibited high photoelectrochemical activity, as the photocurrent density reached up to 2.00 mA cm−2. The remarkable PEC performance stems from crucial factors, including improved light absorption, an ideal band gap value, decoupling of the directions of light absorption and charge‐carrier collection, and large surface area. Our results indicate that the flower‐like Cu2In2ZnS5 structure composed of nanosheets has enormous potential in PEC water splitting.
Time to split up: A flower‐like Cu2In2ZnS5 structure composed of nanosheets is prepared and used as a photoelectrode for photoelectrochemical water splitting. Cu2In2ZnS5 reaches a photocurrent density up to 2.00 mA cm−2; this remarkable activity is a result of improved light absorption, an ideal band gap value, decoupling of the directions of light absorption and charge‐carrier collection, and a large surface area.
