Acetate favors more phosphorus accumulation into aerobic granular sludge than propionate during the treatment of synthetic fermentation liquor

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is an efficient biotechnology widely applied for energy and resource recovery from organic waste and wastewater treatment. The effluent from AD or fermentation liquor containing organic substances like volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and mineral nutrients (such as N and P), however, will trigger serious environmental issues if not properly dealt with. In this study two identical sequencing batch reactors (SBRs), namely Ra and Rp were used to cultivate aerobic granules for P recovery from synthetic fermentation liquor, respectively using acetate and propionate as additional carbon source. Larger and more stable granules were achieved in Ra with higher P removal capability (9.4 mg P/g-VSS·d) and higher anaerobic P release (6.9 mg P/g-VSS·h). In addition to much higher P content (78 mg P/g-SS), bioavailable P in Ra-granules increased to 45 mg P/g-SS, approximately 2-times those of seed sludge and Rp-granules. Microbial community analysis indicated that more GAOs were accumulated in Rp-granules

The relationship between resilience and quality of life in advanced cancer survivors: multiple mediating effects of social support and spirituality

BackgroundWhile previous studies have revealed a positive association between resilience and quality of life in advanced cancer survivors, the mechanisms of the relationship is still unclear. This study aimed to explore the relationships between resilience, social support, spirituality, and quality of life and determine the multiple mediation effects of social support and spirituality on the relationship between resilience and quality of life.MethodsWith 286 advanced cancer survivors, a cross-sectional, correlational survey was adopted using convenience sampling. Resilience, social support, spirituality, and quality of life were evaluated by self-report questionnaires. The PROCESS macro for SPSS was used to test the multiple mediation model.ResultsThe scores for resilience, social support, spirituality and quality of life were positively correlated with one another. Resilience was found to be directly impact quality of life. Meanwhile, the relationship between resilience and quality of life was mediated by social support (effect = 0.067, 95% CI [0.019, 0.120]) and by spirituality (effect = 0.221, 95% CI [0.134, 0.332]), respectively, and by these two serially (effect = 0.036, 95% CI [0.015, 0.067]).ConclusionSocial support and spirituality played multiple mediating roles in the relationship between resilience and quality of life. Interventions aimed at increasing resilience, and then boosting social support and spirituality may be beneficial for promoting quality of life of advanced cancer survivors

Structure and Property Investigation of Composite ZnO/SnO2 Nanocrystalline Particles after High-Pressure Treatment

Composite ZnO/SnO2 nanocrystalline particles (ZnO/SnO2) were synthesized by sol-gel method and with treatment of high pressure at 6 GPa. The crystallinity and the particle size of the prepared samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy. The results indicated that all the samples had the good crystallinity, and the particle size of ZnO and ZnO/SnO2 decreased after high-pressure treatment. The infrared (IR) spectra showed that the distance of crystal lattice was shortened after high-pressure treatment, and the size distribution became more uneven after SnO2 doping. With the high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), we got some morphology information and evidence to support the IR and XRD analysis results. The results of ultraviolet-visible absorption (UV-Vis) spectra showed that ZnO/SnO2 might improve the photocatalytic property of the samples after high-pressure treatment

Accelerated Model Predictive Control for Electric Vehicle Integrated Microgrid Energy Management: A Hybrid Robust and Stochastic Approach

A microgrid with an advanced energy management approach is a feasible solution for accommodating the development of distributed generators (DGs) and electric vehicles (EVs). At the primary stage of development, the total number of EVs in a microgrid is fairly small but increases promptly. Thus, it makes most prediction models for EV charging demand difficult to apply at present. To overcome the inadaptability, a novel robust approach is proposed to handle EV charging demand predictions along with demand-side management (DSM) on the condition of satisfying each EV user’s demand. Variables with stochastic forecast models join the objective function in the form of probability-constrained scenarios. This paper proposes a scenario-based model predictive control (MPC) approach combining both robust and stochastic models to minimize the total operational cost for energy management. To overcome the concern about the convergence time increasing from the combination of scenarios, the Benders decomposition (BD) technique is further adopted to improve computational efficiency. Simulation results on a combined heat and power microgrid indicate that the proposed scenario-based MPC approach achieves a better economic performance than a traditional deterministic MPC (DMPC) approach, while ensuring EV charging demands, as well as minimizing the trade-off between optimal solutions and computing times

Improved placental vascular repair in a rat preeclampsia model by implantation of endothelial progenitor cells treated with platelet microparticles

Objective: To detect the role of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) treated with platelet microparticles (PMPs) in preeclampsia. Methods: EPCs treated with/without PMPs were labeled and injected to PE rats. The differentiation of EPCs, the change of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), blood pressure and proteinuria were measured. The blood pressure and proteinuria increased in each of PE groups, and were improved by EPCs which was strengthened by PMPs. Transplantation of EPCs increased placental angiogenesis. The trend of change of NO was the same as blood pressure. Conclusion: Transplantation of EPCs treated with PMPs improved blood pressure and proteinuria more effectively

ANN-Based Instantaneous Simulation of Particle Trajectories in Microfluidics

Microfluidics has shown great potential in cell analysis, where the flowing path in the microfluidic device is important for the final study results. However, the design process is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Therefore, we proposed an ANN method with three dense layers to analyze particle trajectories at the critical intersections and then put them together with the particle trajectories in straight channels. The results showed that the ANN prediction results are highly consistent with COMSOL simulation results, indicating the applicability of the proposed ANN method. In addition, this method not only shortened the simulation time but also lowered the computational expense, providing a useful tool for researchers who want to receive instant simulation results of particle trajectories

Improved placental vascular repair in a rat preeclampsia model by implantation of endothelial progenitor cells treated with platelet microparticles

Objective: To detect the role of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) treated with platelet microparticles (PMPs) in preeclampsia. Methods: EPCs treated with/without PMPs were labeled and injected to PE rats. The differentiation of EPCs, the change of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), blood pressure and proteinuria were measured. The blood pressure and proteinuria increased in each of PE groups, and were improved by EPCs which was strengthened by PMPs. Transplantation of EPCs increased placental angiogenesis. The trend of change of NO was the same as blood pressure. Conclusion: Transplantation of EPCs treated with PMPs improved blood pressure and proteinuria more effectively