Food waste based biochars for ammonia nitrogen removal from aqueous solutions

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd Biochar derived from waste has been increasingly considered as a potential green adsorbent due to its significant ability and affordable production costs. This study prepared and evaluated 7 types of food waste-based biochars (FWBBs) (including meat and bone, starchy staples, leafy stemmed vegetables, nut husks, fruit pericarp, bean dreg and tea leaves). The impacts of raw materials, pyrolysis temperatures (300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 °C), and residence time (2 h and 4 h) on the removal of ammonia nitrogen at different ammonia nitrogen concentrations (5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 150 mg/L) were investigated. The batch equilibrium and kinetic experiments confirmed that a FWBB dosage of 3 g/L at 25 °C could remove up to 92.67% ammonia nitrogen. The Langmuir isotherm model had the best fit to equilibrium experimental data with a maximum adsorption capacity of 7.174 mg/g at 25 °C. The pseudo-second order kinetic model well describes the ammonia nitrogen adsorption

The Superconductivity, Intragrain Penetration Depth and Meissner Effect of RuSr2(Gd,Ce)2Cu2O10+delta

The hole concentration (p)(delta), the transition temperature Tc, the intragrain penetration depth lambda, and the Meissner effect were measured for annealed RuSr2(Gd,Ce)2Cu2O10+delta samples. The intragrain superconducting transition temperature Tc} varied from 17 to 40 K while the p changed by only 0.03 holes/CuO2. The intragrain superfluid-density 1/lambda^2 and the diamagnetic drop of the field-cooled magnetization across Tc (the Meissner effect), however, increased more than 10 times. All of these findings are in disagreement with both the Tc vs. p and the Tc vs. 1/lambda^2 correlations proposed for homogeneous cuprates, but are in line with a possible phase-separation and the granularity associated with it.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B (May 2, 2002

Structural study on hole-doped superconductors Pr1-xSrxFeAsO

The structural details in Pr1-xSrxFeAsO (1111) superconducting system are analyzed using data obtained from synchrotron X-ray diffraction and the structural parameters are carefully studied as the system is moving from non-superconducting to hole-doped superconducting with the Sr concentration. Superconductivity emerges when the Sr doping amount reaches 0.221. The linear increase of the lattice constants proves that Sr is successfully introduced into the system and its concentration can accurately be determined by the electron density analyses. The evolution of structural parameters with Sr concentration in Pr1-xSrxFeAsO and their comparison to other similar structural parameters of the related Fe-based superconductors suggest that the interlayer space between the conducting As-Fe-As layer and the insulating Pr-O-Pr layer is important for improving Tc in the hole-doped (1111) superconductors, which seems to be different from electron-doped systems.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Chemical composition and droplet size distribution of cloud at the summit of Mount Tai, China

The chemical composition of 39 cloud samples and droplet size distributions in 24 cloud events were investigated at the summit of Mt. Tai from July to October 2014. Inorganic ions, organic acids, metals, HCHO, H2O2, sulfur( IV), organic carbon, and elemental carbon as well as pH and electrical conductivity were analyzed. The acidity of the cloud water significantly decreased from a reported value of pH 3.86 during 2007-2008 (Guo et al., 2012) to pH 5.87 in the present study. The concentrations of nitrate and ammonium were both increased since 2007-2008, but the overcompensation of ammonium led to an increase in the mean pH value. The microphysical properties showed that cloud droplets were smaller than 26.0 μm and most were in the range of 6.0-9.0 μm at Mt. Tai. The maximum droplet number concentration (Nd) was associated with a droplet size of 7.0 μm. High liquid water content (LWC) values could facilitate the formation of larger cloud droplets and broadened the droplet size distribution. Cloud droplets exhibited a strong interaction with atmospheric aerosols. Higher PM2.5 levels resulted in higher concentrations of water-soluble ions and smaller sizes with increased numbers of cloud droplets. The lower pH values were likely to occur at higher PM2.5 concentrations. Clouds were an important sink for soluble materials in the atmosphere. The dilution effect of cloud water should be considered when estimating concentrations of soluble components in the cloud phase

Chemical composition and droplet size distribution of cloud at the summit of Mount Tai, China

The chemical composition of 39 cloud samples and droplet size distributions in 24 cloud events were investigated at the summit of Mt. Tai from July to October 2014. Inorganic ions, organic acids, metals, HCHO, H2O2, sulfur(IV), organic carbon, and elemental carbon as well as pH and electrical conductivity were analyzed. The acidity of the cloud water significantly decreased from a reported value of pH 3.86 during 2007–2008 (Guo et al., 2012) to pH 5.87 in the present study. The concentrations of nitrate and ammonium were both increased since 2007–2008, but the overcompensation of ammonium led to an increase in the mean pH value. The microphysical properties showed that cloud droplets were smaller than 26.0 µm and most were in the range of 6.0–9.0 µm at Mt. Tai. The maximum droplet number concentration (Nd) was associated with a droplet size of 7.0 µm. High liquid water content (LWC) values could facilitate the formation of larger cloud droplets and broadened the droplet size distribution. Cloud droplets exhibited a strong interaction with atmospheric aerosols. Higher PM2. 5 levels resulted in higher concentrations of water-soluble ions and smaller sizes with increased numbers of cloud droplets. The lower pH values were likely to occur at higher PM2. 5 concentrations. Clouds were an important sink for soluble materials in the atmosphere. The dilution effect of cloud water should be considered when estimating concentrations of soluble components in the cloud phase

Crystalline structures and crystallization behaviors of poly(L-lactide) in poly(L-lactide)/graphene nanosheet composites

GNS existence in PLLA favors α′ crystal formation more than α crystal formation resulting in a shift of α′–α crystal formation transition toward high Tcs.</p

Adaptive ultra-short-term wind power prediction based on risk assessment

A risk assessment based adaptive ultra-short-term wind power prediction (USTWPP) method is proposed in this paper. In this method, features are first extracted from the historical data, and then each wind power time series (WPTS) is split into several subsets defined by their stationary patterns. A WPTS that does not match any of the stationary patterns is then included in a subset of non-stationary patterns. Each WPTS subset is then related to a USTWPP model that is specially selected and optimized offline based on the proposed risk assessment index. For online applications, the pattern of the last short WPTS is first recognized, and the relevant prediction model is then applied for USTWPP. Experimental results confirm the efficacy of the proposed method

Imaging Net Retrograde Axonal Transport In Vivo: A Physiological Biomarker

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to develop a novel method for monitoring the integrity of motor neurons in vivo by quantifying net retrograde axonal transport. METHODS: The method uses single photon emission computed tomography to quantify retrograde transport to spinal cord of tetanus toxin fragment C ((125) I-TTC) following intramuscular injection. We characterized the transport profiles in 3 transgenic mouse models carrying amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)-associated genes, aging mice, and SOD1(G93A) transgenic mice following CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. Lastly, we studied the effect of prior immunization of tetanus toxoid on the transport profile of TTC. RESULTS: This technique defines a quantitative profile of net retrograde axonal transport of TTC in living mice. The profile is distinctly abnormal in transgenic SOD1(G93A) mice as young as 65 days (presymptomatic) and worsens with disease progression. Moreover, this method detects a distinct therapeutic benefit of gene editing in transgenic SOD1(G93A) mice well before other clinical parameters (eg, grip strength) show improvement. Symptomatic transgenic PFN1(C71G/C71G) ALS mice display gross reductions in net retrograde axonal transport, which is also disturbed in asymptomatic mice harboring a human C9ORF72 transgene with an expanded GGGGCC repeat motif. In wild-type mice, net retrograde axonal transport declines with aging. Lastly, prior immunization with tetanus toxoid does not preclude use of this assay. INTERPRETATION: This assay of net retrograde axonal transport has broad potential clinical applications and should be particularly valuable as a physiological biomarker that permits early detection of benefit from potential therapies for motor neuron diseases

An Algorithm for Preferential Selection of Spectroscopic Targets in LEGUE

We describe a general target selection algorithm that is applicable to any survey in which the number of available candidates is much larger than the number of objects to be observed. This routine aims to achieve a balance between a smoothly-varying, well-understood selection function and the desire to preferentially select certain types of targets. Some target-selection examples are shown that illustrate different possibilities of emphasis functions. Although it is generally applicable, the algorithm was developed specifically for the LAMOST Experiment for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (LEGUE) survey that will be carried out using the Chinese Guo Shou Jing Telescope. In particular, this algorithm was designed for the portion of LEGUE targeting the Galactic halo, in which we attempt to balance a variety of science goals that require stars at fainter magnitudes than can be completely sampled by LAMOST. This algorithm has been implemented for the halo portion of the LAMOST pilot survey, which began in October 2011.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in RA