Reactive Transport Modeling of Natural Attenuation in Stormwater Bioretention Cells and Under Land Application of Wastewater

Natural attenuation is a cost effective method to treat wastewater applied into soil. The natural attenuation process includes diffusion, dispersion, microbial activity, oxidation, mineral precipitation, sorption, and ion exchange to mitigate hydrocarbon, nutrient, metals, and solids. Vegetation also plays an important role in reducing water volume, and removing nutrients and solutes from the contaminated soil. We used a reactive transport model MIN3P-THM to simulate the natural attenuation on stormwater runoff, and oil and gas produced wastewater. In bioretention systems, the model results indicated that the bioretention systems were able to remove most of heavy metals, nitrate, and organic carbon through natural attenuation in the soil. Due to macropores and fast flow paths created by roots in vegetated cells, the water can carry ions flowing out of the system very quickly leading to a higher outflow rate and less removal efficiency than non-vegetated cells. The model also tested a range of possible design configurations to determine the optimal saturated zone thickness and outlet location for nitrate removal. In addition, different rainfall levels did influence the natural attenuation performance of bioretention cells under long time application. Due to less water and chemical input, climate patterns may lead to better removal of heavy metals. For land application of Oil and Gas Exploration and Production wastewater, five scenarios were developed to study the impact of chloride, salts, and organic matters on natural attenuation. Water and salinity stress were considered in the model to deal with high salinity wastewater in the root zone. For High-FDS and High-Cl treatments, long time application of high salinity wastewater did accumulate salts in the root zone and affect groundwater quality. Under the High-TOC treatment, TOC begins to build up in the root zone in concentrations up to 750 mg/L. More attention should be paid on long-term land application of high salinity wastewater; the application process may pollute groundwater and nearby rivers causing human health hazard. Plants would reduce water uptake to survive themselves when water and solute stress occurred under high salinity conditions

Overlay Token Ring Protocol for Vehicular Communication Networks

Vehicular communication has been an emerging topic among current wireless research. The vehicular communication can be classified to Inter-Vehicle Communication (IVC) and Road-to-Vehicle Communication (RVC). IVC and RVC support applications mainly on two aspects: safety applications aiming to reduce dangers on the road, and data applications aiming to provide information and entertainment to people on traveling. Vehicles nearby form Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs) without any fixed infrastructures. Due to the characteristics of vehicular networks such as quickly changing and unstable network topology, IVC has special requirements to the network protocols. Several MAC protocols have been appeared or improved based on previous work for IVC. But these protocols are designed either for QoS guaranteed data service or for reliable message broadcast. There is not a protocol including both application requirements and inexpensive to implement as well. MAC protocol for vehicular communication hasn’t been finalized. In this thesis, an overlay token ring protocol (OTRP) is proposed which can work on MAC layer with broadcast function and taking into the IVC features into consideration. In OTRP, vehicles are grouped to overlapped rings with a token passed in each ring as the sole right for transmission. The ring is dynamically updated in a distributed manner based on smart algorithm at each node. OTRP provides bounded delay by assigning maximum token holding time for each node. It also reduces collisions by decreasing the number of contention nodes by times of ring size. Fair and high throughput is obtained as well. Furthermore, it provides reliable and prompt broadcast of emergency messages by pre-emptively transmitting while applying the token as an acknowledgement. The time nodes reliably receive the message is within limit. Theoretical analysis is provided and simulation results are given to evaluate the performance of OTRP under saturated traffic conditions both in safety and data applications

Fusion of Model-free Reinforcement Learning with Microgrid Control: Review and Vision

Challenges and opportunities coexist in microgrids as a result of emerging large-scale distributed energy resources (DERs) and advanced control techniques. In this paper, a comprehensive review of microgrid control is presented with its fusion of model-free reinforcement learning (MFRL). A high-level research map of microgrid control is developed from six distinct perspectives, followed by bottom-level modularized control blocks illustrating the configurations of grid-following (GFL) and grid-forming (GFM) inverters. Then, mainstream MFRL algorithms are introduced with an explanation of how MFRL can be integrated into the existing control framework. Next, the application guideline of MFRL is summarized with a discussion of three fusing approaches, i.e., model identification and parameter tuning, supplementary signal generation, and controller substitution, with the existing control framework. Finally, the fundamental challenges associated with adopting MFRL in microgrid control and corresponding insights for addressing these concerns are fully discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, published on IEEE Transaction on Smart Grid 2022 Nov 15. See: https://ieeexplore-ieee-org.utk.idm.oclc.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=995140

Los sitios arqueológicos orientales y la composición de sus comunidades locales : el pensamiento práctico de los grandes yacimientos de Xi’an

Xi’an was chosen as capital city by 13 Chinese dynasties and regimes means a crucial area for Chinese history and the oriental civilization. Massive earthen and wooden structure archeological sites were preserved, underneath characterized which with large areas, significant value and hardly decipherable. In recent years, along with the urbanization and social and economic development, Xi’an has faced more pressure and challenge of cultural heritage conservation, and has explored several experiments to settle down these conflicts. In this situation, IICC-X was kept his eyes on the discussions and research of measures and methods for the protection and management of the large monuments and sites in Xi’an. This paper examines four different physical types of archeological sites in Xi’an, which are large cross-district archeological site of Chang’an city of Han Dynasty, large district archeological site of Daming Palace in Chang’an City of Tang Dynasty, discontinuous lineal archeological site of City Wall of Sui and Tang Dynasty and single archeological site of West Market of Chang’an City of Tang Dynasty. Through analyzing the current protection and management pressure, archaeological results and conservation project and the composition of local community, the author would like point out the relation between the oriental archeological sites and its local communities. Through case study, it comes clear that the promotion of conservation of archeological sites could increase identifiability of the site, which will encourage awareness of heritage for local residents, and provide the local communities’ cultural function, and brings up the cultural identity and cultural belonging of the region. Meanwhile, the consciousness and responsibility for cultural heritage conservation by local communities would be a positive and fundamental power to drive and supervise theconservation. As a conclusion, the oriental earthen and wooden archeological sites experienced thousand years of history and under grounded, which are hardly to decipherable. Hence, the residents from the sites local communities are very week to link their cultural identification and cultural belonging to the cultural heritage. The cultural heritage conservation and interpretation project should become a positive way to improve the relationship between the oriental archaeological sites and their local communities. But when the conservation works were carrying out, the local community must be faced a process of adjustment due to physical changing of the sites, and this changing will be a positive to the forming of the cultural identification of the local community if it is in a appropriate way.Xian fue elegida como ciudad capital por 13 dinastías y regímenes chinos y significa un área crucial para la historia de China y la civilización oriental. Fueron preservados sitios arqueológicos de enormes estructura de madera y tierra, caracterizados con grandes espacios por debajo, y con un valor significativo apenas descifrado. En los últimos años, junto con la urbanización y el desarrollo social y económico, Xian se ha enfrentado a más presión y a desafíos de la conservación del patrimonio cultural y ha explorado varias soluciones a estos conflictos. En esta situación, IICC-X se prestó atención a las discusiones y la investigación de medidas y métodos para la protección y el manejo de los grandes monumentos y sitios de Xian. Este documento examina cuatro lugares físicos diferentes de sitios arqueológicos en Xi ‘ an, que son el sitio arqueológico de la ciudad de Chang’an de la dinastía de Han; el sitio arqueológico de Daming Palace en la ciudad de Chang’an de la dinastía Tang; sitio arqueológico lineal discontinuo de Pared de ciudad de Sui y la dinastía Tang y el sitio arqueológico único del mercado oeste de la ciudad de Chang’an de la dinastía Tang. A través del análisis de la protección actual y el esfuerzo de gestión, los resultados arqueológicos y el proyecto de conservación junto con la composición de la comunidad local, el autor desea señalar la relación entre los sitios arqueológicos orientales y sus comunidades locales. A través del estudio de caso, resulta claro que la promoción de la conservación de sitios arqueológicos podría aumentar la identificabilidad del sitio, fomentando la conciencia de patrimonio para los residentes locales y proporcionando una función cultural con las comunidades locales, y la identidad cultural y pertenencia cultural de la región. Mientras tanto, la conciencia y la responsabilidad para la conservación del patrimonio cultural de las comunidades locales sería un poder positivo y fundamental para conducir y supervisar la conservación. Como conclusión, los sitios arqueológicos de tierra y madera orientales han vivido miles años de historia bajo tierra, y apenas han sido descifrados. Por lo tanto, los residentes de las comunidades locales de los sitios difícilmente pueden vincular su identificación y pertenencia cultural con ése patrimonio cultural. El proyecto de conservación e interpretación del patrimonio cultural debe convertirse en una forma positiva para mejorar la relación entre los yacimientos orientales y sus comunidades locales. Pero cuando estaban realizando las obras de conservación, la comunidad local debe enfrentar un proceso de ajuste debido al cambio físico de los sitios y este cambio será positivo para la formación de la identificación cultural de la comunidad local si se trata de una manera apropiada.Depto. de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y ArqueologíaFac. de Geografía e HistoriaTRUEMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)pu

Identification of potential biomarkers for idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension using single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing analysis

Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) is a rare and severe cardiopulmonary disease with a challenging prognosis, and its underlying pathogenesis remains elusive. A comprehensive understanding of IPAH is crucial to unveil potential diagnostic markers and therapeutic targets. In this study, we investigated cellular heterogeneity and molecular pathology in IPAH using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis. Our scRNA-seq results revealed significant alterations in three crucial signaling pathways in IPAH: the hypoxia pathway, TGF β pathway, and ROS pathway, primarily attributed to changes in gene expression within arterial endothelial cells. Moreover, through bulk RNA sequencing analysis, we identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) enriched in GO and KEGG pathways, implicated in regulating cell adhesion and oxidative phosphorylation in IPAH lungs. Similarly, DEGs-enriched pathways in IPAH arterial endothelial cells were also identified. By integrating DEGs from three IPAH datasets and applying protein-protein interaction (PPI) analysis, we identified 12 candidate biomarkers. Subsequent validation in two additional PAH datasets led us to highlight five potential biomarkers (CTNNB1, MAPK3, ITGB1, HSP90AA1, and DDX5) with promising diagnostic significance for IPAH. Furthermore, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) confirmed significant differences in the expression of these five genes in pulmonary arterial endothelial cells from PAH mice. In conclusion, our findings shed light on the pivotal role of arterial endothelial cells in the development of IPAH. Furthermore, the integration of single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing datasets allowed us to pinpoint novel candidate biomarkers for the diagnosis of IPAH. This work opens up new avenues for research and potential therapeutic interventions in IPAH management

Modeling Lane-Changing Behavior in Freeway Off-Ramp Areas from the Shanghai Naturalistic Driving Study

The objective of this study is to investigate lane-changing characteristics in freeway off-ramp areas using Shanghai Naturalistic Driving Study (SH-NDS) data, considering a four-lane freeway stretch in various traffic conditions. In SH-NDS, the behavior of drivers is observed unobtrusively in a natural setting for a long period of time. We identified 433 lane-changing events with valid time series data from the whole dataset. Based on the logit model developed to analyze the choice of target lanes, a likelihood analysis of lane-changing behavior was graphed with respect to three traffic conditions: free flow, medium flow, and heavy flow. The results suggested that lane-changing behavior of exiting vehicles is the consequence of the balance between route plan (mandatory incentive) and expectation to improve driving condition (discretionary incentive). In higher traffic density, the latter seems to play a significant role. Furthermore, we found that lane-change from the slow lane to the fast lane would lead to higher speed variance value, which indicates a higher crash risk. The findings contribute to a better understanding on drivers’ natural driving behavior in freeway off-ramp areas and can provide important insight into road network design and safety management strategies

Enhancing Freeway Safety through Intervening in Traffic Flow Dynamics Based on Variable Speed Limit Control

New technologies and traffic data sources provide great potential to extend advanced strategies in freeway safety research. The High Definition Monitoring System (HDMS) data contribute comprehensive and precise individual vehicle information. This paper proposes an innovative Variable Speed Limit (VSL) based approach to manage crash risks by intervening in traffic flow dynamics on freeways using HDMS data. We first conducted an empirical analysis on real-time crash risk estimation using a binary logistic regression model. Then, intensive microscopic simulations based on AIMSUN were carried out to explore the effects of various intervention strategies with respect to a 3-lane freeway stretch in China. Different speed limits with distinct compliance rates under specified traffic conditions have been simulated. By taking into account the trade-off between safety benefits and delay in travel time, the speed limit strategies were optimized under various traffic conditions and the model with gradient feedback produces more satisfactory performance in controlling real-time crash risks. Last, the results were integrated into lane management strategies. This research can provide new ideas and methods to reveal the freeway crash risk evolution and active traffic management. Document type: Articl

Study on wound healing effect of low-carbon topical dressings with new green packaging

In order to verify the effect of the new green and low-carbon hydrogel dressing on promoting wound healing, this project applied a sodium alginate hydrogel dressing product containing Escherichia coli and taro toxin analgesic polypeptide (The specific ingredients of the dressing) to skin wounds in common rats. Effects of the hydrogel dressing on promoting skin wound healing was evaluated by observing the occurrence and frequency of behavioral changes in rats, observing wwhistological sections under a high-power microscope, changes in serum cytokine indicators, and Image J analysis of collagen fiber reconstruction ratios in tissue sections. Through comprehensive evaluation, it can be found that hydrogel dressing has analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-infection effects on rat wound surface, and acts on promoting wound healing, promoting the formation of new blood vessels in the damaged skin tissue area, promoting the growth of granulation tissue, and promoting the reconstruction of collagen fibers in wound tissue

ARGem: a new metagenomics pipeline for antibiotic resistance genes: metadata, analysis, and visualization

Antibiotic resistance is of crucial interest to both human and animal medicine. It has been recognized that increased environmental monitoring of antibiotic resistance is needed. Metagenomic DNA sequencing is becoming an attractive method to profile antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), including a special focus on pathogens. A number of computational pipelines are available and under development to support environmental ARG monitoring; the pipeline we present here is promising for general adoption for the purpose of harmonized global monitoring. Specifically, ARGem is a user-friendly pipeline that provides full-service analysis, from the initial DNA short reads to the final visualization of results. The capture of extensive metadata is also facilitated to support comparability across projects and broader monitoring goals. The ARGem pipeline offers efficient analysis of a modest number of samples along with affordable computational components, though the throughput could be increased through cloud resources, based on the user’s configuration. The pipeline components were carefully assessed and selected to satisfy tradeoffs, balancing efficiency and flexibility. It was essential to provide a step to perform short read assembly in a reasonable time frame to ensure accurate annotation of identified ARGs. Comprehensive ARG and mobile genetic element databases are included in ARGem for annotation support. ARGem further includes an expandable set of analysis tools that include statistical and network analysis and supports various useful visualization techniques, including Cytoscape visualization of co-occurrence and correlation networks. The performance and flexibility of the ARGem pipeline is demonstrated with analysis of aquatic metagenomes. The pipeline is freely available at https://github.com/xlxlxlx/ARGem