Adsorption of thallium(I) on rutile nano-titanium dioxide and environmental implications

Rutile nano-titanium dioxide (RNTD) characterized by loose particles with diameter in 20–50 nm has a very large surface area for adsorption of Tl, a typical trace metal that has severe toxicity. The increasing application of RNTD and widespread discharge of Tl-bearing effluents from various industrial activities would increase the risk of their co-exposure in aquatic environments. The adsorption behavior of Tl(I) (a prevalent form of Tl in nature) on RNTD was studied as a function of solution pH, temperature, and ion strength. Adsorption isotherms, kinetics, and thermodynamics for Tl(I) were also investigated. The adsorption of Tl(I) on RNTD started at very low pH values and increased abruptly, then maintained at high level with increasing pH >9. Uptake of Tl(I) was very fast on RNTD in the first 15 min then slowed down. The adsorption of Tl(I) on RNTD was an exothermic process; and the adsorption isotherm of Tl(I) followed the Langmuir model, with the maximum adsorption amount of 51.2 mg/g at room temperature. The kinetics of Tl adsorption can be described by a pseudo-second-order equation. FT-IR spectroscopy revealed that -OH and -TiOO-H play an important role in the adsorption. All these results indicate that RNTD has a fast adsorption rate and excellent adsorption amount for Tl(I), which can thus alter the transport, bioavailability and fate of Tl(I) in aqueous environment

A new speed optimization algorithm with application in pickling and rolling line

In order to reduce equipment wear and operator pressure, as well as to improve the production efficiency of combined continuous pickling line and tandem cold rolling mill units, four sections’ speeds should be automatically optimized to control the three loopers’ abundance, which include the entry loopers’ entry speed, pickling speed, trimming speed, and tandem cold rolling mill entry speed. According to the optimal speed principle, a new optimization algorithm was proposed based on objective function. In this work, Nelder–Mead simplex method is applied to find the optimal solution by minimizing the objective function. In addition, the calculation of four initial speeds is specified, especially the initial tandem cold rolling mill entry speed. The proposed speed optimization algorithm was successfully applied to a 1450 mm continuous pickling line and tandem cold rolling mill. The acceleration and deceleration are smooth and steady when welding, trimming, or roll changing takes place in practice, the three loopers’ abundance are controlled in suitable range. Results show that the continuous pickling line unit could provide the material in maximum capacity to ensure that the tandem cold rolling mill unit’s production is efficient, and the rolling yield is greatly improved due to the decrease in the number of stops

Overriding Errors in a Speech and Gaze Multimodal Architecture

This work explores how to use the gaze and the speech command simultaneously to select an object on the screen. Multimodal systems have long been a key mean to reduce the recognition errors of individual components. But the multimodal system generates errors as well. This present study tries to classify the multimodal errors, analyze the reasons causing these errors, and propose the solutions for eliminating them. The goal of this study is to gain insight into multimodal integration errors, and to develop an error self-recoverable multimodal architecture so as to make the error-prone recognition technologies perform at a more stable and robust level within multimodal architecture

Large-Scale Cloning and Comparative Analysis of TaNAC Genes in Response to Stripe Rust and Powdery Mildew in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

The NAM, ATAF1/2, and CUC2 (NAC) transcription factors (TFs) constitute the largest plant-specific TF superfamily, and play important roles in various physiological processes, including stress responses. Stripe rust and powdery mildew are the most damaging of the fungal diseases that afflict wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). However, studies on Triticum aestivum NAC (TaNAC)s’ role in resistance to the two diseases are still limited, especially in an overall comparative analysis of TaNACs responding or not to fungal stress. In the present study, 186 TaNAC transcripts were obtained from the resistant hexaploid wheat line N9134 under fungal stress, and 180 new transcripts were submitted to GenBank. Statistical results show that 35.1% (54/154) of TaNAC genes responded to stripe rust and powdery mildew in the seedling stage. “Abnormal” coding transcripts of differentially expressed (DE)-TaNAC genes in wheat responding to fungal stress were found in a significantly higher proportion (24/117 vs. 8/69, p = 0.0098) than in non-DE-NACs. This hinted that the alternative splicing of TaNAC genes was active in transcriptional or post-transcriptional regulation during plant-pathogen interactions. Full-length NAC proteins were classified into nine groups via phylogenetic analysis. Multiple-sequence alignment revealed diversity in the C-terminal structural organization, but the differentially expressed gene (DEG)-encoding proteins enriched in Subgroups VI and VII were conserved, with WV[L/V]CR amino acid residues in Motif 7 following the NAM domain. Our data that showed TaNAC TFs responded to fungal disease, which was affected by expression levels and by the regulation of multifarious transcript variants. These data for TaNAC responses to stripe rust and/or powdery mildew and their numerous structural variants provide a good resource for NAC function–mechanism analysis in the context of biotic-stress tolerance in wheat

Multivariate Statistical Analysis of the Spatial Variability of Hydrochemical Evolution during Riverbank Infiltration

Riverbank filtration (RBF) is increasingly being used as a relatively cheap and sustainable means to improve the quality of surface water. Due to the obvious differences in physical, chemical, and biological characteristics between river water and groundwater, there are strong and complex physical, chemical, and biogeochemical effects in the process of bank filtration. In this paper, multivariate statistical analysis was used to identify the spatial variation of hydrogeochemical groundwater in the process of bank filtration. Firstly, the evolution process of groundwater hydrochemistry during the filtration process was identified through factor analysis. According to the results, the evolution of groundwater hydrochemistry in this area is attributable to four main types of reactions: (1) Leaching; (2) Regional groundwater influence; (3) Aerobic respiration and denitrification; and (4) Mn (IV)/Fe (III)/SO42− reduction. According to the similarity of the geochemistry, the flow path could be divided into four different hydrochemical zones through cluster analysis, revealing the evolution law of groundwater hydrochemistry and its main influencing factors during riverbank infiltration. Large hydraulic gradient in The Zone Strongly Influenced by River Water (The first group) resulted in a weak effect of leaching on groundwater chemistry. Reoxygenation and microorganism respiration occurred in The Zone Moderately Influenced by River Water (The second group), The Zone Weakly Influenced by River Water (The third group), and The Zone Strongly Influenced by Regional Groundwater (The fourth group), resulting in fluctuations in Eh and pH values of groundwater. As a result, sulfate reduction and Mn (IV) and Fe (III) reduction alternated along the flow path. The Zone Strongly Influenced by Regional Groundwater (The fourth group) groundwater chemistry was mainly affected by regional groundwater

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Hydrocotyle vulgaris L. (Araliaceae)

Hydrocotyle vulgaris is a perennial wetland clonal plant in the Araliaceae family, which was introduced to China as an ornamental plant in the 1990s. Although H. vulgaris is now considered a potential invasiveness species in China, it also plays a significant role in the remediation of water pollution. Here, we reported its complete chloroplast genome and analyzed the basic characteristics. The chloroplast genome was 153,165 bp in length, including a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions of 25,072 bp separated by a large single-copy (LSC) region of 84,291 bp and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,730 bp. The H. vulgaris chloroplast genome contained 132 predicted genes, and its overall GC content was 37.60%. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that H. vulgaris was closely related to H. verticillata. The H. vulgaris chloroplast genome presented in this study will lay a foundation for further genetic and genomic studies of the genus Hydrocotyle

Alamandine via MrgD receptor attenuates pulmonary fibrosis via NOX4 and autophagy pathway

Alamandine (ALA) and its receptor MrgD were recently identified as components of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), which confer protection against cardio-fibrosis and renal-fibrosis. However, the effects of ALA on pulmonary fibrosis are unknown. This study was designed to serve two goals: (1) to evaluate ALA/MrgD axis ability in the prevention of Angiotensin Ⅱ (Ang Ⅱ)-induced pulmonary fibrosis in fibroblasts. (2) to determine the effect of ALA in bleomycin (BLM) treated C57B/6 mice. In vivo experiments revealed that the treatment of C57B/6 mice with ALA prevented BLM-induced fibrosis and these findings were similar to those reported for pirfenidone. The anti-fibrosis actions of ALA were mediated via alleviation of oxidative injury and autophagy induction. In addition, in vitro studies revealed that ALA treatment attenuated Ang Ⅱ-induced α-collagen I, CTGF and α-SMA production in fibroblast which was blocked by D-Pro7-Ang-(1-7), an MrgD antagonist. This led to alleviation of oxidative injury and induction of autophagy similar to that reported for rapamycin. This study demonstrated that ALA via MrgD receptor reduced pulmonary fibrosis through attenuation of oxidative injury and induction of autophagy.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

C/S and B/S mixed structure-based students ideological and political work management system construction

Nowadays, both single C/S, B/S cannot meet each department demands, for students ideological and political work management construction, it needs C/S, B/S mixed structure to jointly complete, the paper carries out advantages and disadvantages analysis and judgment on C/S, B/S single structure, on this basis, utilizes AHP model to analyze C/S, B/S mixed structure in ideological and political work management system, and gets that C/S, B/S mixed structure obtained recognition degree in students’ ideological and political work management is the highest, and analyzes from the ideological and political teachers’ operation ability, the students ability to use, ideological and political management system maintenance, and the degree of system coverage four aspects, and gets students ideological and political work management system’s system construction strength in C/S, B/S mixed structure

Preparation and Characterization of Carvacrol-Loaded Caseinate/Zein-Composite Nanoparticles Using the Anti-Solvent Precipitation Method

Extending shelf life and maintaining the high quality of food are arduous challenges. In this study, the self-assembly properties of zein were used to load carvacrol essential oil, and then sodium caseinate was selected as a stabilizer to fabricate carvacrol-loaded composite nanoparticles. The results showed that the composite nanoparticles had a high encapsulation efficiency for carvacrol (71.52–80.09%). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicated that the carvacrol-loaded composite nanoparticles were spherical and uniformly distributed, with particle sizes ranging from 80 to 220 nm. First and foremost, the carvacrol-loaded nanoparticles exhibited excellent water-redispersibility, storage-stability, and antioxidant properties, as well as antibacterial properties against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Benefiting from the antimicrobial and antioxidative abilities, the films with carvacrol-loaded composite nanoparticles effectively inhibited food spoilage and prolonged the shelf-life of cherry tomatoes and bananas. Therefore, carvacrol-loaded composite nanoparticles may have potential application prospects in the food industry