Effect of Volume Loading Rate and C/N on Ship Domestic Sewage Treatment by Two Membrane Bioreactors

Design of ship sewage treatment systems that not only satisfy the use of small space on board but also meets International Maritime Organisation (IMO) latest emission standards is still a challenging problem for ship industry. This study provides a comparative disquisition between two different MBR reactors i.e, air-lift multilevel circulation membrane reactor (AMCMBR) and anaerobic/anoxic/aerobic membrane reactor (AOA-MBR) for domestic sewage treatment. The influence of pollutants volume loading rate (VLR) and C/N on effluent chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) and TN for marine domestic sewage was analyzed. The results revealed that AMCMBR showed better removal efficiencies for COD and TN than AOA-MBR. The volume of AMCMBR was only half of the AOA-MBR. In addition, high average value of mixed liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS)/mixed liquid suspended solids (MLSS) (i.e. 0.75) of AMCMBR indicated high biomass and good pollutants removal achieved by this reactor. An interesting phenomenon was found in the study regarding Urease activity for the two reactors. Urease activity for AMCMBR in different working conditions all exceeded AOA-MBR and there exist no clear difference of NR activities between AMCMBR and AOA-MBR except for low C/N ratio (i.e. 6 and 4). This phenomenon proved that AMCMBR has a greater performance for treating ship domestic wastewater

Processing Efficiency, Simulation and Enzyme Activities Analysis of an Air-Lift Multilevel Circulation Membrane Bioreactor (AMCMBR) on Marine Domestic Sewage Treatment

The implementation of latest International Maritime Organization emission standard raised stringent requirements for marine domestic sewage discharge. In this study, an air-lift multilevel circulation membrane reactor (AMCMBR) was operated to analyze effects of various ecological factors on effluent of marine domestic sewage. Back-propagation (BP)-Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was used to simulate effect of each ecological factor on reactor performance. The activities of four enzymes were investigated to reveal microbial activities in reactor. Experimental results indicates that the Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT), Mixed Liquid Suspended Solids (MLSS) and pH value cannot be less than 4 h, 3000 mg/L and 6, respectively to meet the IMO emission standard for effluent COD. A small value of mean square error (0.00147) indicated that BP-ANN can well describe the relationship between operation parameters (influent COD, HRT, MLSS, and pH) and effluent COD. The order of relative importance was pH ≈ MLSS > HRT > influent COD. Polyphenol oxidase and urease can serve as indicating factors for reactor performance, whereas dehydrogenase and nitrate reductase showed less susceptible towards varied influent COD and MLSS

Investigation of atmospheric effects on retrieval of sun-induced fluorescence using hyperspectral imagery

Significant research progress has recently been made in estimating fluorescence in the oxygen absorption bands, however, quantitative retrieval of fluorescence data is still affected by factors such as atmospheric effects. In this paper, top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance is generated by the MODTRAN 4 and SCOPE models. Based on simulated data, sensitivity analysis is conducted to assess the sensitivities of four indicators—depth_absorption_band, depth_nofs-depth_withfs, radiance and Fs/radiance—to atmospheric parameters (sun zenith angle (SZA), sensor height, elevation, visibility (VIS) and water content) in the oxygen absorption bands. The results indicate that the SZA and sensor height are the most sensitive parameters and that variations in these two parameters result in large variations calculated as the variation value/the base value in the oxygen absorption depth in the O2-A and O2-B bands (111.4% and 77.1% in the O2-A band; and 27.5% and 32.6% in the O2-B band, respectively). A comparison of fluorescence retrieval using three methods (Damm method, Braun method and DOAS) and SCOPE Fs indicates that the Damm method yields good results and that atmospheric correction can improve the accuracy of fluorescence retrieval. Damm method is the improved 3FLD method but considering atmospheric effects. Finally, hyperspectral airborne images combined with other parameters (SZA, VIS and water content) are exploited to estimate fluorescence using the Damm method and 3FLD method. The retrieval fluorescence is compared with the field measured fluorescence, yielding good results (R2 = 0.91 for Damm vs. SCOPE SIF; R2 = 0.65 for 3FLD vs. SCOPE SIF). Five types of vegetation, including ailanthus, elm, mountain peach, willow and Chinese ash, exhibit consistent associations between the retrieved fluorescence and field measured fluorescence

Systematic Orbital Geometry-Dependent Variations in Satellite Solar-Induced Fluorescence (SIF) Retrievals

While solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) shows promise as a remotely-sensed measurement directly related to photosynthesis, interpretation and validation of satellite-based SIF retrievals remains a challenge. SIF is influenced by the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically-active radiation at the canopy level that depends upon illumination geometry as well as the escape of SIF through the canopy that depends upon the viewing geometry. Several approaches to estimate the effects of sun-sensor geometry on satellite-based SIF have been proposed, and some have been implemented, most relying upon satellite reflectance measurements and/or other ancillary data sets. These approaches, designed to ultimately estimate intrinsic or physiological components of SIF related to photosynthesis, have not generally been applied globally to satellite measurements. Here, we examine in detail how SIF and related reflectance-based indices from wide swath polar orbiting satellites in low Earth orbit vary systematically due to the host satellite orbital characteristics. We compare SIF and reflectance-based parameters from the Global Ozone Mapping Experiment 2 (GOME-2) on the MetOp-B platform and from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) on the Sentinel 5 Precursor satellite with a focus on high northern latitudes in summer where observations at similar geometries and local times occur. We show that GOME-2 and TROPOMI SIF observations agree nearly to within estimated uncertainties when they are compared at similar observing geometries. We show that the cross-track dependence of SIF normalized by PAR and related reflectance-based indices are highly correlated for dense canopies, but diverge substantially as the vegetation within a field-of-view becomes more sparse. This has implications for approaches that utilize reflectance measurements to help account for SIF geometrical dependences in satellite measurements. To further help interpret the GOME-2 and TROPOMI SIF observations, we simulated cross-track dependences of PAR normalized SIF and reflectance-based indices with the one dimensional Soil-Canopy Observation Photosynthesis and Energy fluxes (SCOPE) canopy radiative transfer model at sun–satellite geometries that occur across the wide swaths of these instruments and examine the geometrical dependencies of the various components (e.g., fraction of absorbed PAR, SIF yield, and escape of SIF from the canopy) of the observed SIF signal. The simulations show that most of the cross-track variations in SIF result from the escape of SIF through the scattering canopy and not the illumination

Immunological Responses to Transgene-Modified Neural Stem Cells After Transplantation

Neural stem cell (NSC) therapy is a promising therapeutic strategy for stroke. Researchers have frequently carried out genetic modification or gene editing of stem cells to improve survival or therapeutic function. However, NSC transplantation carries the risk of immune rejection, and genetic modification or gene-editing might further increase this risk. For instance, recent studies have reported on manipulating the stem cell genome and transplantation via the insertion of an exogenous gene derived from magnetotactic bacteria. However, whether transgene-modified stem cells are capable of inducing immunological reactions has not been explored. Although NSCs rarely express the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), they can still cause some immunological issues. To investigate whether transgene-modified NSCs aggravate immunological responses, we detected the changes in peripheral immune organs and intracerebral astrocytes, glial cells, and MHC-I and MHC-II molecules after the injection of GFP-labeled or mms6-GFP-labeled NSCs in a rat model. Xenogeneic human embryonic kidney (HEK-293T) cells were grafted as a positive control group. Our results indicated that xenogeneic cell transplantation resulted in a strong peripheral splenic response, increased astrocytes, enhanced microglial responses, and upregulation of MHC-I and MHC-II expression on the third day of transplantation. But they decreased obviously except Iba-1 positive cells and MHC-II expression. When injection of both mms6-GFP-labeled NSCs and GFP-labeled NSCs also induced similar responses as HEK-293T cells on the third days, but MHC-I and MHC-II expression decreased 3 weeks after transplantation. In addition, mms6 transgene-modified NSCs did not produce peripheral splenic response responses as well as astrocytes, microglial cells, MHC-I and MHC-II positive cells responses when compared with non-modified NSCs. The present study provides preliminary evidence that transgenic modification does not aggravate immunological responses in NSC transplantation

Systematic Orbital Geometry-Dependent Variations in Satellite Solar-Induced Fluorescence (SIF) Retrievals

While solar-induced fluorescence (SIF) shows promise as a remotely-sensed measurement directly related to photosynthesis, interpretation and validation of satellite-based SIF retrievals remains a challenge. SIF is influenced by the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically-active radiation at the canopy level that depends upon illumination geometry as well as the escape of SIF through the canopy that depends upon the viewing geometry. Several approaches to estimate the effects of sun-sensor geometry on satellite-based SIF have been proposed, and some have been implemented, most relying upon satellite reflectance measurements and/or other ancillary data sets. These approaches, designed to ultimately estimate intrinsic or physiological components of SIF related to photosynthesis, have not generally been applied globally to satellite measurements. Here, we examine in detail how SIF and related reflectance-based indices from wide swath polar orbiting satellites in low Earth orbit vary systematically due to the host satellite orbital characteristics. We compare SIF and reflectance-based parameters from the Global Ozone Mapping Experiment 2 (GOME-2) on the MetOp-B platform and from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) on the Sentinel 5 Precursor satellite with a focus on high northern latitudes in summer where observations at similar geometries and local times occur. We show that GOME-2 and TROPOMI SIF observations agree nearly to within estimated uncertainties when they are compared at similar observing geometries. We show that the cross-track dependence of SIF normalized by PAR and related reflectance-based indices are highly correlated for dense canopies, but diverge substantially as the vegetation within a field-of-view becomes more sparse. This has implications for approaches that utilize reflectance measurements to help account for SIF geometrical dependences in satellite measurements. To further help interpret the GOME-2 and TROPOMI SIF observations, we simulated cross-track dependences of PAR normalized SIF and reflectance-based indices with the one dimensional Soil-Canopy Observation Photosynthesis and Energy fluxes (SCOPE) canopy radiative transfer model at sun–satellite geometries that occur across the wide swaths of these instruments and examine the geometrical dependencies of the various components (e.g., fraction of absorbed PAR, SIF yield, and escape of SIF from the canopy) of the observed SIF signal. The simulations show that most of the cross-track variations in SIF result from the escape of SIF through the scattering canopy and not the illumination

Implementing Project-Based Language Teaching to Develop EFL High School Students’ Key Competences

This case study explored the impacts of project-based language teaching (PBLT) on developing high school students’ key competences and the factors influencing the effect of PBLT on improving high school students’ key competences in English as a foreign language. Two English teachers and 75 tenth graders from one middle school in Qingdao, China, were chosen as research participants. An explanatory mixed methods research design was adopted, including self-developed tests, semi-structured interviews, and teacher reflections. The results revealed that PBLT has many positive impacts on developing high school students’ key competences in English as a foreign language, especially on six aspects, noticing and attentive (A-1) and extracting and summarizing (A-3) in the A level, describing and interpreting (B-1) and synthesizing and application (B-3) in the B level, and reasoning and arguing with evidence (C-1) and creating and imagining (C-2) in the C level. Meanwhile, five factors including teacher’s understanding of PBLT, teacher’s ability of designing and assessing the project, teacher’s roles, teacher’s instructions, and students’ interest and motivation were found to influence the effect of PBLT on improving high school students’ key competences in English as a foreign language. Moreover, the study provides important implications for language instructors on better understanding and effectively implementing PBLT in language teaching

An approximation algorithm for random generation of capacities

Capacities on a finite set are sets functions vanishing on the empty set and being monotonic w.r.t. inclusion. Since the set of capacities is an order polytope, the problem of randomly generating capacities amounts to generating all linear extensions of the Boolean lattice. This problem is known to be intractable even as soon as $n>5$, therefore approximate methods have been proposed, most notably one based on Markov chains. Although quite accurate, this method is time consuming. In this paper, we propose the 2-layer approximation method, which generates a subset of linear extensions, eliminating those with very low probability. We show that our method has similar performance compared to the Markov chain but is much less time consuming

Transcriptome Analysis of the Nematodes Caenorhabditis elegans and Litoditis marina in Different Food Environments

Diets regulate animal development, reproduction, and lifespan. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. We previously showed that a chemically defined CeMM diet attenuates the development and promotes the longevity of C. elegans, but whether it impacts other nematodes is unknown. Here, we studied the effects of the CeMM diet on the development and longevity of the marine nematode Litoditis marina, which belongs to the same family as C. elegans. We further investigated genome-wide transcriptional responses to the CeMM and OP50 diets for both nematodes, respectively. We observed that the CeMM diet attenuated L. marina development but did not extend its lifespan. Through KEEG enrichment analysis, we found that many of the FOXO DAF-16 signaling and lysosome and xenobiotic metabolism related genes were significantly increased in C. elegans on the CeMM diet, which might contribute to the lifespan extension of C. elegans. Notably, we found that the expression of lysosome and xenobiotic metabolism pathway genes was significantly down-regulated in L. marina on CeMM, which might explain why the CeMM diet could not promote the lifespan of L. marina compared to bacterial feeding. Additionally, the down-regulation of several RNA transcription and protein generation and related processes genes in C. elegans on CeMM might not only be involved in extending longevity, but also contribute to attenuating the development of C. elegans on the CeMM diet, while the down-regulation of unsaturated fatty acids synthesis genes in L. marina might contribute to slow down its growth while on CeMM. This study provided important insights into how different diets regulate development and lifespan, and further genetic analysis of the candidate gene(s) of development and longevity will facilitate exploring the molecular mechanisms underlying how diets regulate animal physiology and health in the context of variable nutritional environments

An improvement of Random Node Generator for the uniform generation of capacities

International audienceCapacity is an important tool in decision-making under risk and uncertainty and multi-criteria decision-making. When learning a capacity-based model, it is important to be able to generate uniformly a capacity. Due to the monotonicity constraints of a capacity, this task reveals to be very difficult. The classical Random Node Generator (RNG) algorithm is a fast-running speed capacity generator, however with poor performance. In this paper, we firstly present an exact algorithm for generating a n elements' general capacity, usable when n < 5. Then, we present an improvement of the classical RNG by studying the distribution of the value of each element of a capacity. Furthermore, we divide it into two cases, the first one is the case without any conditions, and the second one is the case when some elements have been generated. Experimental results show that the performance of this improved algorithm is much better than the classical RNG while keeping a very reasonable computation time