Nobel-Prize-winning papers are significantly more highly-cited but not more disruptive than non-prize-winning counterparts

Using citation data of 557 Nobel prize winning papers and the same number of their non-prize winning counterparts in the same journal issues, we examined if the prize-winning papers have higher academic disruption than their counterparts. The results show that overall, the former group is significantly more highly-cited but not more disruptive than the latter. Moreover, the results are not consistent with existing knowledge that the numbers of authors and references negatively correlate with the disruption of papers

Enhancing Water Resistance and Mechanical Properties of Cemented Soil with Graphene Oxide.

Although cemented soil as a subgrade fill material can meet certain performance requirements, it is susceptible to capillary erosion caused by groundwater. In order to eliminate the hazards caused by capillary water rise and to summarize the relevant laws of water transport properties, graphene oxide (GO) was used to improve cemented soil. This paper conducted capillary water absorption tests, unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests, softening coefficient tests, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) tests on cemented soil using various contents of GO. The results showed that the capillary water absorption capacity and capillary water absorption rate exhibited a decreasing and then increasing trend with increasing GO content, while the UCS demonstrated an increasing and then decreasing trend. The improvement effect is most obvious when the content is 0.09%. At this content, the capillary absorption and capillary water absorption rate were reduced by 25.8% and 33.9%, respectively, and the UCS at 7d, 14d, and 28d was increased by 70.32%, 57.94%, and 61.97%, respectively. SEM testing results demonstrated that GO reduces the apparent void ratio of cemented soil by stimulating cement hydration and promoting ion exchange, thereby optimizing the microstructure and improving water resistance and mechanical properties. This research serves as a foundation for further investigating water migration and the appropriate treatment of GO-modified cemented soil subgrade

Direct Cr (VI) bio-reduction with organics as electron donor by anaerobic sludge

Industrial activities produce lots of Cr (VI)-containing wastewater. This study presented a detailed work on direct Cr (VI) bio-reduction (i.e. Cr (VI) is reduced with organics as electron donor directly) by anaerobic sludge through both batch and long-term experiments. Effects of pH and initial Cr (VI) concentrations on direct Cr (VI) bio-reduction activity were evaluated. The highest direct Cr (VI) bio-reduction rate was achieved at pH 8.0 at 104\ua0mg Cr (VI)/g MLVSS/d (MLVSS: mixed liquor volatile suspended solids), corresponding to the highest protein release (124\ua0mg/g MLVSS) and cell viability (71%). In contrast, the direct Cr (VI) bio-reduction rates were 46, 70 and 82\ua0mg Cr (VI)/g MLVSS/d, respectively, at pH 6.0, 7.0 and 9.0. Also, the direct Cr (VI) bio-reduction activity decreased by 74% when initial Cr (VI) concentration increased from 10\ua0mg/L to 50\ua0mg/L. The contribution of chemical adsorption to Cr (VI) removal was found to be negligible, whereas biosorption played a role in Cr (VI) removal although its role was insignificant. Indirect Cr (VI) bio-reduction (i.e. Cr (VI) is chemically reduced by sulfide produced from biological sulfate reduction) rate (990\ua0mg Cr (VI)/g MLVSS/d) was faster than that (210\ua0mg Cr (VI)/g MLVSS/d) of direct Cr (VI) bio-reduction, indicating that indirect Cr (VI) bio-reduction would dominate the Cr (VI) bio-reduction pathway if both Cr (VI) and sulfate were present. The direct Cr (VI) bio-reduction was then successfully demonstrated in an up-flow anaerobic sludge bed (UASB) reactor, where the Cr (VI) was completely removed with a Cr (VI) removal rate of 1.0\ua0mg Cr (VI)/L/h. 454 pyrosequencing results revealed that direct Cr (VI) bio-reduction related genera were Desulfovibrio, Ochrobactrum and Anaerovorax