Removal of Microcystis aeruginosa using cationic starch modified soils

A cheap and biodegradable modifier, cationic starch (CS), was used to turn local soils into effective flocculants for Microcystis aeruginosa (M. aeruginosa) removal. The isoelectric point of soil particles was remarkably increased from pH 0.5 to 11.8 after modification with CS, which made CS modified soil particles positively charged and obtain algal flocculation ability. At the soil concentration of 100 mg/L, when the CS modifier was 10 mg/L, 86% of M. aeruginosa cells were removed within 30 min. Lower or higher CS dosage led to limited algal removal. About 71% and 45% of M. aeruginosa cells were removed within 30 min when CS was 5 mg/L and 80 mg/L, respectively. This is because only part of algal cells combined with CS modified soil particles through charge neutralization at low dosage, while flocs formed at high CS dosage were positively charged which prevents further aggregation among the flocs. The floc stability was quantified by a floc breakage index under applied shear force. Algal flocs formed at acid and alkaline conditions were more prone to be broken than those at the neutral condition. The cost and biodegradability concerns may be largely reduced through the use of CS modified local soils. For field applications, other practical issues (e.g., re-suspension) should be further studied by jointly using other method

Full-Stack Automated Reporting System for Supply Chain Metrics

An automated reporting mechanism was designed and implemented in order to increase the visibility of material flow performance within Tesla’s raw material supply chain system. In order to effectively evaluate the logistics efficiency, a framework of metrics was proposed to standardize the performance scoring. Concurrently, a full-stack data pipeline was built to efficiently support the business decision-making. Data was consolidated from distributed database using complex SQL queries, centralized database was staged on SQL server to promote the data acquisition efficiency by 3600%( from 360seconds to 10 seconds), and an interactive dashboard was built to allow users accessing the data without any knowledge about the database

Treatment of Hyperoxia-Induced Lung Injury with Lung Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Mice

Objective. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a common chronic lung disease in preterm neonates and has no effective treatment. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of neonatal mouse lung resident mesenchymal stem cells (L-MSCs) on the hyperoxia-induced lung injury. Methods. L-MSCs were separated and identified according to the MSC criterions. Hyperoxia-Induced Lung Injury (HILI) of neonatal KM mice was induced with hyperoxia (FiO2 = 60%) and investigated with pathological methods. Neonatal KM mice were divided into 3 groups (hyperoxia + L-MSC group, hyperoxia + PBS group, and air control group). Mice in the hyperoxia + L-MSC group were treated with L-MSCs at 3, 7, and 14 days after birth. After hyperoxia exposure for 21 days, the lung pathology, Radial Alveolar Count (RAC), CD31 expression, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression were investigated. Results. After hyperoxia exposure, the body weight, RAC, CD31 expression, and VEGF expression in the hyperoxia + L-MSC group were significantly better than those in the hyperoxia + PBS group but inferior to those in the air control group significantly. These indicate L-MSCs are partially protective on the lung injury of mice with hyperoxia-induced BPD. Conclusion. L-MSCs are helpful for the prevention and treatment of BPD, and endogenous L-MSCs may play a role in the postinjury repair of the lung