Cloud-Model-Based Feature Engineering to Analyze the Energy-Water Nexus of a Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Plant

Wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs)are important and energy-intensive municipal infrastructures.High energy consumption and relatively low operating performance are major challenges from the perspective of carbon neutrality.However,water-energy nexus analysis and models for WWTPs have rarely been reported to date.In this study,a cloud-model-based energy consumption analysis(CMECA)of a WWTP was conducted to explore the relationship between influent and energy consumption by clustering its influent’s parameters.The principal component analysis(PCA)and K-means clustering were applied to classify the influent condition using water quality and volume data.The energy consumption of the WWTP is divided into five standard evaluation levels,and its cloud digital characteristics(CDCs)were extracted according to bilateral constraints and golden ratio methods.Our results showed that the energy consumption distribution gradually dispersed and deviated from the Gaussian distribution with decreased water concentration and quantity.The days with high energy efficiency were extracted via the clustering method from the influent category of excessive energy consumption,represented by a compact-type energy consumption distribution curve to identify the influent conditions that affect the steady distribution of energy consumption.The local WWTP has high energy consumption with 0.3613 kW·h·m^(-3)despite low influent concentration and volumes,across four consumption levels from low(I)to relatively high(IV),showing an unsatisfactory operation and management level.The average oxygenation capacity,internal reflux ratio,and external reflux ratio during high energy efficiency days recognized by further clustering were obtained(0.2924-0.3703 kg O_(2)·m^(-3),1.9576-2.4787,and 0.6603-0.8361,respectively),which could be used as a guide for the days with low energy efficiency.Consequently,this study offers a water-energy nexus analysis method to identify influent conditions with operational management anomalies and can be used as an empirical reference for the optimized operation of WWTPs.

Big Data Application Simulation Platform Design for Onboard Distributed Processing of LEO Mega-Constellation Networks

Due to the restricted satellite payloads in LEO mega-constellation networks(LMCNs),remote sensing image analysis,online learning and other big data services desirably need onboard distributed processing(OBDP).In existing technologies,the efficiency of big data applications(BDAs)in distributed systems hinges on the stable-state and low-latency links between worker nodes.However,LMCNs with high-dynamic nodes and long-distance links can not provide the above conditions,which makes the performance of OBDP hard to be intuitively measured.To bridge this gap,a multidimensional simulation platform is indispensable that can simulate the network environment of LMCNs and put BDAs in it for performance testing.Using STK's APIs and parallel computing framework,we achieve real-time simulation for thousands of satellite nodes,which are mapped as application nodes through software defined network(SDN)and container technologies.We elaborate the architecture and mechanism of the simulation platform,and take the Starlink and Hadoop as realistic examples for simulations.The results indicate that LMCNs have dynamic end-to-end latency which fluctuates periodically with the constellation movement.Compared to ground data center networks(GDCNs),LMCNs deteriorate the computing and storage job throughput,which can be alleviated by the utilization of erasure codes and data flow scheduling of worker nodes.

Mechanical Properties and Thermal Shock Resistance of SrAl_(2)Si_(2)O_(8) Reinforced BN Ceramic Composites

Hexagonal boron nitride(h-BN)ceramics have become exceptional materials for heat-resistant components in hypersonic vehicles,owing to their superior thermal stability and excellent dielectric properties.However,their densification during sintering still poses challenges for researchers,and their mechanical properties are rather unsatisfactory.In this study,SrAl_(2)Si_(2)O_(8)(SAS),with low melting point and high strength,was introduced into the h-BN ceramics to facilitate the sintering and reinforce the strength and toughness.Then,BN-SAS ceramic composites were fabricated via hot press sintering using h-BN,SrCO_(3),Al_(2)O_(3),and SiO_(2) as raw materials,and effects of sintering pressure on their microstructure,mechanical property,and thermal property were investigated.The thermal shock resistance of BN-SAS ceramic composites was evaluated.Results show that phases of as-preparedBN-SAS ceramic composites are h-BN and h-SrAl_(2)Si_(2)O_(8).With the increase of sintering pressure,the composites’densities increase,and the mechanical properties shew a rising trend followed by a slight decline.At a sintering pressure of 20 MPa,their bending strength and fracture toughness are(138±4)MPa and(1.84±0.05)MPa·m^(1/2),respectively.Composites sintered at 10 MPa exhibit a low coefficient of thermal expansion,with an average of 2.96×10^(-6) K^(-1) in the temperature range from 200 to 1200℃.The BN-SAS ceramic composites prepared at 20 MPa display higher thermal conductivity from 12.42 to 28.42 W·m^(-1)·K^(-1) within the temperature range from room temperature to 1000℃.Notably,BN-SAS composites exhibit remarkable thermal shock resistance,with residual bending strength peaking and subsequently declining sharply under a thermal shock temperature difference ranging from 600 to 1400℃.The maximum residual bending strength is recorded at a temperature difference of 800℃,with a residual strength retention rate of 101%.As the thermal shock temperature difference increase,the degree of oxidation on the ceramic surface and cracks due to thermal stress are also increased gradually.

Energy Harvesting in the Wake of An Inverted C-Shaped Bluff Body

This paper proposes a novel wake-induced vibration(WIV)-based energy harvesting system consisting of two bluff bodies.An inverted C-shaped bluff body is stationary installed at the upstream position to generate an interference wake street,and a cylinder bluff body equipped with a transducer is elastically suspended at the downstream position to harness WIV energy.The hydrodynamics and energy harvesting(EH)performance of the proposed system are investigated via experimental studies.The reduced velocity(U*)ranging from 2 to 14(the corresponding Reynolds number ranging from 15100 to 106200)is considered in the present study.It is found that the wake generated by the inverted C-shaped bluff body significantly affects the EH performance.Enlarging the opening angle(α)of the C-shaped bluff body increases the vibration amplitude of the downstream cylinder,thereby increasing the harvested power.When the spacing(L)between two bluff bodies is two times the cylinder diameter(D),the wake-induced vibration(WIV)mode is observed,while the combined WIV and wake galloping(WG)mode occurs whenαis 150°,and L equals 3D or 4D.The average drag coefficient becomes negative when L is 2D,3D,or 4D.By carefully configuring a C-shaped bluff body,the wake generated by it can bring an augmenting effect on the vibration of the downstream EH cylinder.For example,the RMS power output of the proposed EH system reaches a maximum of 0.31 W at U*=8 and L=4D,which is 300%greater than that of its traditional counterpart.Furthermore,after a number of case stud-ies,it is identified that the proposed EH system can achieve the best performance whenαis 150°and L=2D.

“Half of the Node Records Are Forged?”: The Problemof Node Records Forgery in Ethereum Network

Ethereum, currently the most widely utilized smart contracts platform, anchors the security of myriad smartcontracts upon its own robustness. Its foundational peer-to-peer network facilitates a dependable node connectionmechanism, whereas an efficient data-sharing protocol constitutes as the bedrock of Blockchain network security.In this paper, we propose NodeHunter, an Ethereum network detector implemented through the application ofsimulation technology, which is capable of aggregating all node records within the network and the interconnectednessbetween them. Utilizing this connection information, NodeHunter can procure more comprehensive insightsfor network status analysis compared to preceding detection methodologies. Throughout a three-month period ofunbroken surveillance of the Ethereum network, we obtained an excess of two million node records along with overone hundred million node acquaintances. Analysis of the gathered data revealed that an alarming 49% or more ofthese node records were maliciously forged.

Recent advances in Ni-based catalysts for the electrochemical oxidation of ethanol

The electrochemical ethanol oxidation reaction(EOR) plays a crucial role in electrochemical hydrogen production and direct ethanol fuel cells, both vital for utilizing renewable energies. Ni-based catalysts are pivotal in enabling efficient EOR, leading to the formation of acetic acid/acetaldehyde or CO_(2). These can serve as alternative anodic oxidation reactions for oxygen evolution reaction(OER) in water electrolysis or the anodic reaction for direct ethanol fuel cells, respectively. This review explores recent advancements in EOR over Ni-based catalysts. It begins with an overview of EOR performance across various Ni-based catalysts, followed by an examination of the reaction chemistry, mechanism, and active sites.The review then delves into strategies for designing highly active Ni-based EOR catalysts. These strategies include promotion with transition metals, noble metals, nonmetals, and carbon materials, as well as creating amorphous structures, special morphologies, and single-atom catalysts. Additionally, it discusses the concept of self-supporting catalysts using three-dimensional porous substrates. Finally, the review highlights emerging methodologies that warrant further exploration, along with future directions for designing highly active and stable EOR catalysts.

Envisioning Water-Resilient Cities Through the Lens of Blue-Green-Grey Solutions

Cities are dynamic systems,and the urban water systems within them can be evolved to provide water services to both humans and the environment while also enhancing the broader urban environment.This is done by embracing innovation and technological advancement while focusing on increased service to the human population and the local and broader environment.In the contemporary era,characterized by the rise of low-carbon and intelligent technologies,the swift pace of socioeconomic expansion highlights the critical need to address issues of urban water security and environmental preservation.Amid escalating resource and environmental constraints,adopting holistic blue-green-grey strategies becomes imperative for the sustainable governance of urban water resources.An integrated approach is needed to navigate the intricate challenges of urban water dynamics while fostering enhanced ecological performance and resilience.

Selection of Negative Charged Acidic Polar Additives to Regulate Electric Double Layer for Stable Zinc Ion Battery

Zinc-ion batteries are promising for large-scale electrochemical energy storage systems,which still suffer from interfacial issues,e.g.,hydrogen evolution side reaction(HER),self-corrosion,and uncontrollable dendritic Zn electrodeposition.Although the regulation of electric double layer(EDL)has been verified for interfacial issues,the principle to select the additive as the regulator is still misted.Here,several typical amino acids with different characteristics were examined to reveal the interfacial behaviors in regulated EDL on the Zn anode.Negative charged acidic polarity(NCAP)has been unveiled as the guideline for selecting additive to reconstruct EDL with an inner zincophilic H_(2)O-poor layer and to replace H_(2)O molecules of hydrated Zn^(2+)with NCAP glutamate.Taking the synergistic effects of EDL regulation,the uncontrollable interface is significantly stabilized from the suppressed HER and anti-self-corrosion with uniform electrodeposition.Consequently,by adding NCAP glutamate,a high average Coulombic efficiency of 99.83%of Zn metal is achieved in Zn|Cu asymmetrical cell for over 2000 cycles,and NH4V4O10|Zn full cell exhibits a high-capacity retention of 82.1%after 3000 cycles at 2 A g^(-1).Recapitulating,the NCAP principle posted here can quicken the design of trailblazing electrolyte additives for aqueous Zn-based electrochemical energy storage systems.

Fabrication of Gd_(2)O_(3)-doped CeO_(2)thin films through DC reactive sputtering and their application in solid oxide fuel cells

Physical vapor deposition(PVD)can be used to produce high-quality Gd_(2)O_(3)-doped CeO2(GDC)films.Among various PVD methods,reactive sputtering provides unique benefits,such as high deposition rates and easy upscaling for industrial applications.GDC thin films were successfully fabricated through reactive sputtering using a Gd_(0.2)Ce_(0.8)(at%)metallic target,and their application in solid oxide fuel cells,such as buffer layers between yttria-stabilized zirconia(YSZ)/La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O_(3−δ)and as sublayers in the steel/coating system,was evaluated.First,the direct current(DC)reactive-sputtering behavior of the GdCe metallic target was determined.Then,the GDC films were deposited on NiO-YSZ/YSZ half-cells to investigate the influence of oxygen flow rate on the quality of annealed GDC films.The results demonstrated that reactive sputtering can be used to prepare thin and dense GDC buffer layers without high-temperature sintering.Furthermore,the cells with a sputtered GDC buffer layer showed better electrochemical performance than those with a screen-printed GDC buffer layer.In addition,the insertion of a GDC sublayer between the SUS441 interconnects and the Mn-Co spinel coatings contributed to the reduction of the oxidation rate for SUS441 at operating temperatures,according to the area-specific resistance tests.

Localization and Evaluation of Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES) Model for Predicting the Emissions of Private Cars:a Case Study of Shenzhen City,China

Motor Vehicle emission simulator(MOVES)model was localized by changing the base emission rates in MySQL database of the model,and using the actual measured data for private cars in Shenzhen City,China.The performances of localized MOVES model and non-localized MOVES model were evaluated by comparing the predicted emission factors to the measured ones.The results showed that by localization of the base emission rates,the prediction accuracy of the localized MOVES model for hydrocarbon(HC)and nitrogen oxides(NO x)was significantly improved.The accuracy of the localized MOVES model simulations in the Opmode increased by 86%,88%and 71%for HC,76%,42%and 72%for NO x on arterial roads,expressways and highways.For carbon monoxide(CO),however,the simulation performance based on the average velocity mode on expressways and highways became poor after localization,with the decrease of 28%and 8%respectively.Overall,by the localization of the base emission rates,the relative errors of the simulated emission factors of HC,CO and NO x of private cars were less than 37%.

Facile construction of a multilayered interface for a durable lithium‐rich cathode

Layered lithium-rich manganese-based oxide(LRMO)has the limitation of inevitable evolution of lattice oxygen release and layered structure transformation.Herein,a multilayer reconstruction strategy is applied to LRMO via facile pyrolysis of potassium Prussian blue.The multilayer interface is visually observed using an atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscope and a high-resolution transmission electron microscope.Combined with the electrochemical characterization,the redox of lattice oxygen is suppressed during the initial charging.In situ X-ray diffraction and the high-resolution transmission electron microscope demonstrate that the suppressed evolution of lattice oxygen eliminates the variation in the unit cell parameters during initial(de)lithiation,which further prevents lattice distortion during long cycling.As a result,the initial Coulombic efficiency of the modified LRMO is up to 87.31%,and the rate capacity and long-term cycle stability also improved considerably.In this work,a facile surface reconstruction strategy is used to suppress vigorous anionic redox,which is expected to stimulate material design in high-performance lithium ion batteries.

Experimental study of a neutralizer-free gridded ion thruster using radio-frequency self-bias effect

An experimental study on the quasi-neutral beam extracted by a neutralizer-free gridded ion thruster prototype was presented.The prototype was designed using an inductively coupled plasma source terminated by a double-grid accelerator.The beam characteristics were compared when the accelerator was radio-frequency(RF)biased and direct-current(DC)biased.An RF power supply was applied to the screen grid via a blocking capacitor for the RF acceleration,and a DC power supply was directly connected to the screen grid for the DC acceleration.Argon was used as the propellant gas.Furthermore,the characteristics of the plasma beam,such as the floating potential,the spatial distribution of ion flux,and the ion energy distribution function(IEDF)were measured by a four-grid retarding field energy analyzer.The floating potential results showed that the beam space charge is compensated in the case of RF acceleration without a neutralizer,which is similar to the case of classical DC acceleration with a neutralizer.The ion flux of RF acceleration is 1.17 times higher than that of DC acceleration under the same DC component voltage between the double-grid.Moreover,there are significant differences in the beam IEDFs for RF and DC acceleration.The IEDF of RF acceleration has a widened and multipeaked profile,and the main peak moves toward the high-energy region with increasing the DC self-bias voltage.In addition,by comparing the IEDFs with RF acceleration frequencies of3.9 and 7.8 MHz,it is found that the IEDF has a more centered main peak and a narrower energy spread at a higher frequency.

Numerical study of the radio-frequency biased accelerating system in ion thrusters

A 2D-3V implicit immersed-finite-element particle-in-cell(IFE-PIC)model is introduced to investigate the radio-frequency(RF)self-bias accelerating system applied in the RF ion thruster.A set of holes in a two-grid system with slit apertures is simulated in Cartesian coordinates.The characteristics of the plasma plume,such as the ion density,the neutralization rate and the ion and electron current density were investigated for different RF voltage amplitudes(600-1200V)and frequencies(6-30 MHz).Furthermore,the performance of the thruster was also carefully studied.The simulation results show that a well-focused plasma beam can be formed when the voltage amplitude is larger than 900 V and the frequency exceeds the reciprocal of ion transit time(≥12 MHz)in our simulation cases.The performance of the system can be evidently improved by increasing the voltage amplitude and the frequency,and the losses of the particle and thrust are reduced correspondingly.The bulk region of the plasma beam downstream shows good quasi-neutrality,and the ions are dominant in the peripheral region when a well-focused state is achieved.The high ion density beamlet in the periphery of the ion beam is closer to the axis when the voltage amplitude is increasing,while it is expanded radially when increasing the frequency.Backstream electrons have been observed upstream,and this mainly occurs in the phase in which the electron cannot escape.

The Phenomenon of Near-home Office and the Supported Space:Evidence from Shenzhen’s Employees

At present,working near home has gradually become prominent.This paper uses a fieldwork approach to investigate the characteristics and motivations of near-home office,and introduce and evaluates the support of near-home office space in Shenzhen.Commonly,the near-home office workers have three behavioral characteristics;Activating in the community;Working flexibly;and Blending life with work.With the development of the office concept and mobile information technology,more people choose and prefer near-home office,especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.The near-home office space provides working environment and services;however,the near-home office space needs to be improved.This study indicates that near-home office may play an important role in the future,therefore more studies are required in the future focusing on this aspect.

Observation of Medical Anthropology on Covid-19 Variants Epidemic Prevention Based on the Community-Level Governance Experience of Shenzhen in 2022

In recent years,the thinking and research on the prevention and control of Covid-19 Variants Epidemic is not only the technical operation level discussion in the public health and disease prevention academic circles,there is also growing academic interest in comparative research on public health governance and different paradigms.Based on the experience of Shenzhen's epidemic prevention and control team at the community governance level in 2022,based on the observational perspective of medical anthropology,and through comparison with Hong Kong's anti-epidemic experience,this paper deeply analyzes the function and impact of traditional medical methods in epidemic prevention and control.Then the authors cite the paradigm of‘systems medicine’and research results in recent years,closely link the research topic with community governance in methodological sense,so as to promote public health and epidemic prevention research that aim at the combination of technology and humanities.

A review of soldering by localized heating

In recent years,the rapid development of the new energy industry has driven continuous upgrading of high-density and high-power devices.In the packaging and assembly process,the problem of differentiation of the thermal needs of different modules has become increasingly prominent,especially for small-size solder joints with high heat dissipation in high-power devices.Localized soldering is con-sidered a suitable choice to selectively heat the desired target while not affecting other heat-sensitive chips.This paper reviews several local-ized soldering processes,focusing on the size of solder joints,soldering materials,and current state of the technique.Each localized solder-ing process was discovered to have unique characteristics.The requirements for small-size solder joints are met by laser soldering,microres-istance soldering,and self-propagating soldering;however,laser soldering has difficulty meeting the requirements for large heat dissipation,microresistance soldering requires the application of pressure to joints,and self-propagating soldering requires ignition materials.However,for small-size solder junctions,selective wave soldering,microwave soldering,and ultrasonic soldering are not appropriate.Because the magnetic field can be focused on a tiny area and the output energy of induction heating is large,induction soldering can be employed as a significant trend in future research.

A Revelation about the Enterprise of Innovation and Development of Shenzhen City—Based on the Perspective of Informal Economy and Informality

Related to the academic topic on innovation and development of information-communication industries,a dualist distinction between formal and informal economy has drawn a lot of research interests in the academy circle in recent years.In this essay,we discussed the background of Shenzhen’s leapfrog development as a Chinese economic special zone thanks to several policy advantages and the endeavor of itself as a principal part in the framework of China’s market economy reform.Despite the problem of informal economy for citizen’s living,we mainly focused on the positive effect of Shenzhen’s informal economy as flexibility of capital-labor effective coordination.Based on the analysis of the evolution of Shenzhen’s city construction and industrial development,and the analysis on the four development stages that Shenzhen had witnessed,we expect more practical and theoretical summary of its experience for all the developing countries.

An experimental study on fire characteristics of urban complex underground space based on BIM

Compared with the space on the ground,if there is a fire in the urban complex underground space,the loss will be greatly harmful.In addition,the complex underground space is usually connected with other large space areas and densely populated.Once a fire occurs in the complex underground space,it will cause huge property losses and casualties.In order to reduce the risk of fire,it is necessary to deeply understand the development rules and characteristics of fire in the complex underground space of the city.This article has mainly carried on the following work:(I)A particularly complex model of the multi‐storey subway station was built.On this basis,three groups of comparative experiments were conducted to study the effects of fire power,fire location and smoke control system on fire development,and the conclusion that fire location is the most important factor for fire development was obtained;(II)In order to explore the entire space fire and the local space fire,CFD(Computational Fluid Dynamics)is used to build a large‐size fire model and a small‐size fire model respectively;(III)Multiple detector data as temperature slices were built,and it is expected to make full use of the simulation data to deduce the important index of fire location in the early stage of fire.All of the works in this paper will provide reference experimental data for the prevention and firefighting of a sudden fire in the complex underground space.

Exploration on 5E Teaching Principle-based Education for the Object-oriented Software Construction Course

Most current object-oriented programming courses offered by domestic colleges and universities generally focus on the object-oriented programming language itself,i.e.,the programming grammar of the language,but ignore the design pattern.However,design patterns are essential to software engineering because they can solve common problems in software design and improve code reuse,readability,extensibility,and reliability.Our Object-oriented Software Construction Course is creative since it aims at cultivating students’object-oriented thinking as well as basic abilities required to construct high-quality,object-oriented software.Specifically,we exploit the 5E teaching principle during the education of this course,and present the whole pipeline in the paper.We also provide one case of the factory pattern to further demonstrate the implementation of the 5E teaching principle in the course.The effect of the 5E teaching principle has also been demonstrated.

Multimodal Machine Learning Guides Low Carbon Aeration Strategies in Urban Wastewater Treatment

The potential for reducing greenhouse gas(GHG)emissions and energy consumption in wastewater treatment can be realized through intelligent control,with machine learning(ML)and multimodality emerging as a promising solution.Here,we introduce an ML technique based on multimodal strategies,focusing specifically on intelligent aeration control in wastewater treatment plants(WWTPs).The generalization of the multimodal strategy is demonstrated on eight ML models.The results demonstrate that this multimodal strategy significantly enhances model indicators for ML in environmental science and the efficiency of aeration control,exhibiting exceptional performance and interpretability.Integrating random forest with visual models achieves the highest accuracy in forecasting aeration quantity in multimodal models,with a mean absolute percentage error of 4.4%and a coefficient of determination of 0.948.Practical testing in a full-scale plant reveals that the multimodal model can reduce operation costs by 19.8%compared to traditional fuzzy control methods.The potential application of these strategies in critical water science domains is discussed.To foster accessibility and promote widespread adoption,the multimodal ML models are freely available on GitHub,thereby eliminating technical barriers and encouraging the application of artificial intelligence in urban wastewater treatment.