Degradation of Synthetic Dyeing Wastewater by Underwater Electrical Discharge Processes

Electrical discharge treatments of synthetic dyeing wastewater were carried out with two different systems： underwater pulsed electrical discharge （UPED） and underwater dielectric barrier discharge （UDBD）. Reactive Blue 4 （RB4） and Acid Red 4 （AR4） were used as model contaminants for the synthetic wastewater. The performance of the aforementioned systems was compared with respect to the chromaticity removal and the energy requirement. The results showed that the present electrical discharge systems were very effective for degradation of the dyes. The dependences of the dye degradation rate on treatment time, initial dye concentration, electrical energy, and the type of working gas including air, 02, and N2 were examined. The change in the initial dye concentration did not largely affect the degradation of either RB4 or AR4. The energy delivered to the UPED system was only partially utilized for generating reactive species capable of degrading the dyes, leading to higher energy requirement than the UDBD system. Among the working gases, the best performance was observed with O2. As the degradation proceeded, the concentration of total dissolved solids and the solution conductivity kept increasing while pH showed a decreasing trend, revealing that the dyes were effectively mineralized.

Electrical triggering of earthquakes:results of laboratory experiments at spring-block models

Recently published results of field and laboratory experiments on the seismic/acoustic response to injection of direct current （DC） pulses into the Earth crust or stressed rock samples raised a question on a possibility of electrical earthquake triggering. A physical mechanism of the considered phenomenon is not clear yet in view of the very low current density （10-7-10-s A/m^2） generated by the pulsed power systems at the epicenter depth （5-10 km） of local earthquakes occurred just after the current injection. The paper describes results of laboratory ＂earthquake＂ triggering by DC pulses under conditions of a spring-block model simulated the seismogenic fault. It is experimentally shown that the electric triggering of the laboratory ＂earthquake＂ （sharp slip of a movable block of the spring-block system） is possible only within a range of subcritical state of the system, when the shear stress between the movable and fixed blocks obtains 0.98-0.99 of its critical value. The threshold of electric triggering action is about 20 A/m^2 that is 7-8 orders of magnitude higher than estimated electric current density for Bishkek test site （Northern Tien Shan, Kirghizia） where the seismic response to the man-made electric action was observed. In this connection, the electric triggering phenomena may be explained by contraction of electric current in the narrow conductive areas of the faults and the corresponding increase in current density or by involving the secondary triggering mechanisms like electromagnetic stimulation of conductive fluid migration into the fault area resulted in decrease in the fault strength properties.

Pulsed electrical stimulation protects neurons in the dorsal root and anterior horn of the spinal cord after peripheral nerve injury

Most studies on peripheral nerve injury have focused on repair at the site of injury, but very few have examined the effects of repair strategies on the more proximal neuronal cell bodies. In this study, an approximately 10-mm-long nerve segment from the ischial tuberosity in the rat was transected and its proximal and distal ends were inverted and sutured. The spinal cord was subjected to pulsed electrical stimulation at T10 and L3, at a current of 6.5 m A and a stimulation frequency of 15 Hz, 15 minutes per session, twice a day for 56 days. After pulsed electrical stimulation, the number of neurons in the dorsal root ganglion and anterior horn was increased in rats with sciatic nerve injury. The number of myelinated nerve fibers was increased in the sciatic nerve. The ultrastructure of neurons in the dorsal root ganglion and spinal cord was noticeably improved. Conduction velocity of the sciatic nerve was also increased. These results show that pulsed electrical stimulation protects sensory neurons in the dorsal root ganglia as well as motor neurons in the anterior horn of the spinal cord after peripheral nerve injury, and that it promotes the regeneration of peripheral nerve fibers.

Methods and Results of Assessment of the Pulse Electrical Disturbances Influence on. Digital Devices Functioning

Two methods of calculating the parameters and characterizing the degree of pulse electrical disturbances influence on digital devices functioning, both analytical and numerical, are considered here. The analytical method permits one to assess the error occurrence probability in transmitting the data packets considering the dependence on the signal pulses energies-to-pulse disturbances energies ratio and the disturbances repetition frequency-to-data transmission rate ratio and also the dependence on the bits quantity in the packet. The numerical method allows one to assess the specific effect of the repetitive pulse disturbance influence on the digital devices functioning （the number of errors in transmitted data packets, transmission rate, etc.） depending on such factors as the repetition frequency, the disturbance waveform and duration, the mode of data coding, etc..

Evaluation of genetic response of mesenchymal stem cells to nanosecond pulsed electric fields by whole transcriptome sequencing

BACKGROUND Mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs)modulated by various exogenous signals have been applied extensively in regenerative medicine research.Notably,nanosecond pulsed electric fields(nsPEFs),characterized by short duration and high strength,significantly influence cell phenotypes and regulate MSCs differentiation via multiple pathways.Consequently,we used transcriptomics to study changes in messenger RNA(mRNA),long noncoding RNA(lncRNA),microRNA(miRNA),and circular RNA expression during nsPEFs application.AIM To explore gene expression profiles and potential transcriptional regulatory mechanisms in MSCs pretreated with nsPEFs.METHODS The impact of nsPEFs on the MSCs transcriptome was investigated through whole transcriptome sequencing.MSCs were pretreated with 5-pulse nsPEFs(100 ns at 10 kV/cm,1 Hz),followed by total RNA isolation.Each transcript was normalized by fragments per kilobase per million.Fold change and difference significance were applied to screen the differentially expressed genes(DEGs).Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses were performed to elucidate gene functions,complemented by quantitative polymerase chain reaction verification.RESULTS In total,263 DEGs were discovered,with 92 upregulated and 171 downregulated.DEGs were predominantly enriched in epithelial cell proliferation,osteoblast differentiation,mesenchymal cell differentiation,nuclear division,and wound healing.Regarding cellular components,DEGs are primarily involved in condensed chromosome,chromosomal region,actin cytoskeleton,and kinetochore.From aspect of molecular functions,DEGs are mainly involved in glycosaminoglycan binding,integrin binding,nuclear steroid receptor activity,cytoskeletal motor activity,and steroid binding.Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction confirmed targeted transcript regulation.CONCLUSION Our systematic investigation of the wide-ranging transcriptional pattern modulated by nsPEFs revealed the differential expression of 263 mRNAs,2 miRNAs,and 65 lncRNAs.Our study demonstrates that nsPEFs may affect stem cells through several signaling pathways,which are involved in vesicular transport,calcium ion transport,cytoskeleton,and cell differentiation.

Application of a Pulsed Electric Field to Modify the Free Energy of the Active Site of an Azoreductase

The Gibbs free energy is strongly related to the stability and catalytic function of an enzyme through the energetic changes that occur in the chemical reactions the enzyme catalyzes. In this in silico study, a pulsed electric field was applied to an azoreductase, and its effect on the Gibbs free energy of molecular docking with two dyes was measured. We propose that certain stimuli from a pulsed electric field favor the structural stability of the enzyme by promoting an arrangement in the active site, potentially leading to an enhancement of enzymatic activity overall.

Effect of electrodes and thermal insulators on grain refinement by electric current pulse

The application of electric current pulse（ECP） to a solidification process refers to the immersion of electrodes into the liquid metal and the employment of thermal insulators on the upper surface of metal.In order to ascertain the effects of these two factors on the structure refinement by the ECP technique,three groups of experiments were performed with different types of electrodes or various thermal insulators.By the comparison between solidification structures under different conditions,it is followed that the electrode and the thermal insulator have an obvious influence on the grain refinement under an applied ECP,and further analysis demonstrates that the thermal conditions of the liquid surface play a vital role in the modification of solidification structure.Also,the results support the viewpoint that most of the equiaxed grains originate from the liquid surface subjected to an ECP.

Migration behavior of solidification nuclei in pure Al melt under effect of electric current pulse

A mathematical model considering free nuclei was developed to reveal the migration behavior of the free nuclei. Numerical simulation results show that most of the nuclei on the top surface of the melt move downwards and distribute randomly inside the Al melt, which induces more nucleation sites resulting in grain refinement. At the same time, the effect of nuclei size on the nuclei distribution and refinement employing electric current pulse （ECP） was also investigated. The smaller nuclei migrate a short distance with the Al melt at lower speed. But for the larger nuclei, the migration downwards with higher speed benefits the refinement of interior grains of the melt. The research results help to better understand the refinement process and provide a more reasonable explanation of the grain refinement mechanism using ECP.

Effects of electric pulse modification on liquid structure of Al-5%Cu alloy

The electric pulse modification （EP, EPM） of liquid metal is a novel method for grain refinement. The structure of EP-modified Al-5%Cu melt was characterized by high-temperature X-ray diffractometry. The results show that the Cu-containing Al clusters remarkably increase in the EP-modified melt, furthermore, these clusters in that case tend to contract due to the decrease of relevant atomic radius and the co-ordination number. This kind of liquid-phase structure leads to a more homogeneous Cu-rich phase distribution in the final solidification structure. Differential scanning calorimetry （DSC） tests indicate that the solidification super-cooling degree of the EP-modified liquid phase is 2.36 times that of the unmodified. These facts suggest that the atom cluster changes in EP-modified Al-5%Cu melt would disagree with that by EPM model previously proposed in liquid pure metal.

Memristive Artificial Synapses for Neuromorphic Computing

Neuromorphic computing simulates the operation of biological brain function for information processing and can potentially solve the bottleneck of the von Neumann architecture.This computing is realized based on memristive hardware neural networks in which synaptic devices that mimic biological synapses of the brain are the primary units.Mimicking synaptic functions with these devices is critical in neuromorphic systems.In the last decade,electrical and optical signals have been incorporated into the synaptic devices and promoted the simulation of various synaptic functions.In this review,these devices are discussed by categorizing them into electrically stimulated,optically stimulated,and photoelectric synergetic synaptic devices based on stimulation of electrical and optical signals.The working mechanisms of the devices are analyzed in detail.This is followed by a discussion of the progress in mimicking synaptic functions.In addition,existing application scenarios of various synaptic devices are outlined.Furthermore,the performances and future development of the synaptic devices that could be significant for building efficient neuromorphic systems are prospected.

Electrotransformation of Thermotoga maritima MS8

[Objective] The aim was to study on the electrotransformation of Thermotoga maritima MS8.[Method] Square waves,exponential waves and high voltage shock were used for the electrotransformation of T.maritima MS8,and the obtained transformants were detected by PCR.[Result] A single square electric pulse could be applied to cell sample in 0.2 cm ET cuvettes by using a Bio-Rad Gene Pulser set at 150 V,25 ms at room temperature,but the transformation efficiency was very low.[Conclusion] This research may improve the transformation efficiency of T.maritima MS8.

Heredity of Aluminum Melt Caused by Electric Pulse Modification (Ⅰ)

The heredity of aluminum melt under the action of pulse electric field was investigated by means of the remelt experiment. A new hereditary criterion under this condition was proposed; in the meantime, the differential transferability of genetic carrier in activated melt among filial generations was validated with the aid of DSC.

Effect of electric pulse treatment on solidification structure of an Al-15%Si alloy

The effect of electric pulse modifying on the solidification structure of an Al-15%Si alloy was investigated. The result shows that the primary silicon disappears sometimes and the eutectic phase is refined after the treatrnent of EP （electric pulse） though there are different modalities in different treating durations. DSC （differential scanning calorimetry） analysis indicates that the super-cooling texture decreases and the freezing range narrows evidently after the electric pulse treatment.

Recent progress in pulsed electric field ablation for liver cancer

The number of liver cancer patients is likely to continue to increase in the coming decades due to the aging of the population and changing risk factors.Traditional treatments cannot meet the needs of all patients.New treatment methods evolved from pulsed electric field ablation are expected to lead to breakthroughs in the treatment of liver cancer.This paper reviews the safety and efficacy of irreversible electroporation in clinical studies,the methods to detect and evaluate its ablation effect,the improvements in equipment and its antitumor effect,and animal and clinical trials on electrochemotherapy.We also summarize studies on the most novel nanosecond pulsed electric field ablation techniques in vitro and in vivo.These research results are certain to promote the progress of pulsed electric field in the treatment of liver cancer.

Influences of electric pulse on solidification structure of LM-29 Al-Si alloy

The metallographic structure of LM-29 aluminum-silicon alloy modified by electric pulse treatment has been investigated and compared with those untreated.The solidification structure of LM-29 alloy has been analyzed by means of M1AP3 Quantimet image processing and analysis system,and then the solidification process has been analyzed by means of differential scanning calorimetry(DSC).The results indicate that the primary silicon phase was refined remarkably by electric pulse while the tensile strength and elongation properties increased accordingly.Electric pulse treatment can also increase the binding power between silicon clusters and alloy melt matrix,as a result,the precipitation of primary silicon phase is suppressed to meet the demand of supercooling degree for nucleating,correspondingly.The electric pulse modification has great influence on the size of silicon atomic cluster as well as its distribution in the melt,subsequently,leads to the refinement of solidification structure.

Heredity of Aluminum Melt by Electric Pulse Modification (Ⅱ)

Heredity of high pure aluminum melts under different pulse electric field was investigated by means of repetitious remelt experiment. The results indicate that the genetic coefficient by measurement of grain size of cast structure has a close relation with pulse voltage. Moreover, the hereditary law accords with the function of In = 1＋ e^-an＋β. The stability of genetic carrier （cluster） comprises in the competition between repetitious cooling and heating impulse and the effect of electric pulse modification.

Casting structure of pure aluminum by electric pulse modification at different superheated temperatures

Electric pulse modification （EPM） is a novel technique that reduces grain size by altering the structure of a melt. It was investigated that the response of the casting structure of high pure aluminum to EPM in different superheated melts. The results indicate that the grain refining effect of a given pulse electric field holds an optimal temperature range, moreover, a lower or higher superheated temperature will both disadvantage the improvements of casting structure. It essentially lies in the cooperative action between the distorted absorption of clusters and the activated capability of atoms in the aluminum melt.

Effects of electric pulse on microstructure of Al-Si alloy in liquid and solid states

In order to investigate the change in liquid microstructure of Al-Si alloytreated by electric pulse (EP), X-ray diffraction tests with liquid Al-Si alloy and ZL109 alloytreated or not by EP were carried out. The results show that the number of Al-Si atomic clustersdecreases and that of Al-Al and Si-Si atomic clusters increases for the treated samples. The testswith ZL109 alloy indicate that a large amount of primary crystal Si appears in the solidifiedmicrostructure after treated by EP. It is found that EP can change the microstructure of liquidmetal by affecting the probability of electrons appearing in different atoms (Al and Si) in theliquid metal. The combining force of different atoms decreases relatively, and that of the sameatoms increases, which is the main reason of reducing the atomic cluster with different atoms(Al-Si) and increasing the atomic cluster with the same atoms (Al-Al, Si-Si). The increasing of theatomic cluster with the same atom cluster resulted in the increasing of Si activity and the higherpoint of eutectics in the phase diagram. It makes a lot of primary silicon appeared in ZL109 alloy.

Removal of phenol by activated alumina bed in pulsed high-voltage electric field

A new process for removing the pollutants in aqueous solution-activated alumina bed in pulsed high-voltage electric field was investigated for the removal of phenol under different conditions. The experimental results indicated the increase in removal rate with increasing applied voltage, increasing pH value of the solution, aeration, and adding Fe^2＋. The removal rate of phenol could reach 72.1% when air aeration flow rate was 1200 ml/min, and 88.2% when 0.05 mmol/L Fe^2＋ was added into the solution under the conditions of applied voltage 25 kV, initial phenol concentration of 5 mg/L, and initial pH value 5.5. The addition of sodium carbonate reduced the phenol removal rate. In the pulsed high-voltage electric field, local discharge occurred at the surface of activated alumina, which promoted phenol degradation in the thin water film. At the same time, the space-time distribution of gas-liquid phases was more uniform and the contact areas of the activated species generated from the discharge and the pollutant molecules were much wider due to the effect of the activated alumina bed. The synthetical effects of the pulsed high-voltage electric field and the activated alumina particles accelerated phenol degradation.

The latest research progress on minimally invasive treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma

Background:Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide.Due to the high prevalence of hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection in China,the incidence of HCC in China is high,and liver cirrhosis caused by chronic hepatitis also brings great challenges to treatment.This paper reviewed the latest research progress on minimally invasive treatments for HCC,including percutaneous thermal ablation and new nonthermal ablation techniques,and introduced the principles,advantages,and clinical applications of various therapeutic methods in detail.Data sources:The data of treatments for HCC were systematically collected from the Pub Med,Science Direct,American Chemical Society and Web of Science databases published in English,using“minimally invasive”and“hepatocellular carcinoma”or“liver cancer”as the keywords.Results:Percutaneous thermal ablation is still a first-line strategy for the minimally invasive treatment of HCC.The effect of microwave ablation(MWA)on downgrading treatment before liver transplantation is better than that of radiofrequency ablation(RFA),while RFA is more widely used in the clinical practice.High-intensity focused ultrasound(HIFU)is mainly used for the palliative treatment of advanced liver cancer.Electrochemotherapy(ECT)delivers chemotherapeutic drugs to the target cells while reducing the blood supply around HCC.Irreversible electroporation(IRE)uses a microsecond-pulsed electric field that induces apoptosis and necrosis and triggers a systemic immune response.The nanosecond pulsed electric field(ns PEF)has achieved a good response in the ablation of mice with HCC,but it has not been reported in China for the treatment of human HCC.Conclusions:A variety of minimally invasive treatments provide a sufficient survival advantage for HCC patients.Nonthermal ablation will lead to a new wave with its unique advantage of antitumor recurrence and metastasis.