Impact of clay particle reattachment on suffusion of sand-clay mixtures

The detached clay particles directly filtrated through the sand-clay mixture lead to suffusion;however,if the detached clay particles are subjected to reattachment,the degree of suffusion may be less significant.This study investigates the impact of clay particle reattachment on suffusion of sand-clay mixtures through laboratory soil-column experiments.The observed breakthrough curves(BTCs)of kaolinite,illite,and montmorillonite for 5 different column lengths(3 in,6 in,9 in,12 in,and 18 in;1 in=2.54 cm)indicated that a higher breakthrough concentration was observed as the column length(L)decreased for kaolinite and illite,whereas a reverse trend was observed for montmorillonite.In addition,the increase in the fraction of filtrated clay particles(Me)with an increase in L(Me=10.42%for L=3 in and Me=3.59%for L=18 in)for the sand-illite mixture indicated that the reattachment effect became more significant as the travel length of detached clay particles increased.The observed BTCs,retention profiles after injection,and fraction of filtrated clay presented herein suggest the need to incorporate the reattachment effect when assessing the suffusion of clay-containing soils.

Hydrochemistry and sediment characteristics of polar periglacial lacustrine environments on Fisher Island and Broknes Peninsula,East Antarctica

Fisher Island and Broknes Peninsula in the Larsemann Hills constitute part of a polar lowland periglacial environment between marine and glacial ecosystems. The landscape is characterized by gently rolling hills and broad valleys interspersed with lakes formed in glacially scoured basins. We analyzed the physieochemical parameters and the ionic constituents of water samples from 10 lakes in each of these two locations. Our results showed considerable differences between the two regions and demon- strated the influence of lithology and processes including weathering, evaporation, and atmospheric precipitation. All major cations and anions in the lake waters showed positive correlations indicating balanced ionic concentrations. Unconsolidated sediments were sparsely distributed and scattered over glacial deposits, valley fills, and occasional moraine ridges. The type and rate of sedi- mentation was mainly controlled by surface run-off and aeolian influx. The sediment samples from lake beds and the catchment area on Fisher Island were immature and poorly to very poorly sorted, consisting of gravelly sand with negligible silt and finer fractions. Sediments had a polymodal grain size distribution with the two major populations lying between -2 and 1 phi and be- tween 0 and 1.5 phi. The sediments were lithic arenite to arkosic in composition and the microtextures imprinted over quartz grains were dominated by mechanical textures resulting from several stages of glacial crushing and grinding. The presence of deep disso- lution cavities, cryptocrystalline precipitation, and euhedral crystal growth signified the effect of chemical activity after the deposition of grains in the lacustrine environment.

Antibacterial Activity of Silicate Bioceramics

Four kinds of pure silicate ceramic particles,CaSiO3,Ca3SiO5,bredigite and akermanite were prepared and their bactericidal effects were systematically investigated.The phase compositions of these silicate ceramics were characterized by XRD.The ionic concentration measurement revealed that the Calcium （Ca） ion concentration were relatively higher in Ca3SiO5 and bredigite,and much lower in CaSiO3 and akermanite.Accordingly,the pH values of the four silicate ceramics extracts showed a positive correlation with the particle concentrations.Meanwhile,by decreasing the particle size,higher Ca ion concentrations can be achieved,leading to the increase of aqueous pH value as well.In summary,all of the four silicate ceramics tested in our study showed antibacterial effect in a dose-dependent manner.Generally,the order of their antibacterial activity against E.coli from strong to weak is Ca3SiO5,bredigite,CaSiO3 and akermanite.

Investigation of the solubility and dispersion degree of calf skin collagen in ionic liquids

The dissolution of collagen in ionic liquids(ILs)was highly dependent on the polarity of ILs,which was influenced by their sorts and concentrations.Herein,the solubility and dispersion degree of collagen in two sorts of ILs,namely 1-ethyl-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate([EMIM][BF4])with low polarity and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate([EMIM][Ac])with high polarity in a concentration range from 10% to 70% at 10℃ were investigated.When 150 mg of collagen was added to 30 mg of ILs,the minimum soluble collagen concentration was 0.02 mg/mL in 70%[EMIM][BF4]with lowest polarity and the maximum was 3.57 mg/mL in 70%[EMIM][Ac]with highest polarity,which indicates that soluble collagen and insoluble collagen fibers were both present.For insoluble collagens,differential scanning calorimetry showed that the thermal-stability was weakened when increasing the ILs concentration and polarity,and the fiber arrangement was looser with a more uniform lyophilized structure,observed by atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.For soluble collagens,electrophoresis patterns and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that no polypeptide chain degradation occurred during dissolution,but the thermal denaturation temperature decreased by 0.26℃~7.63℃ with the increase of ILs concentrations,measured by ultra-sensitive differential scanning calorimetry.Moreover,the aggregation of collagen molecules was reduced when ILs polarity was increased as determined by fluorescence measurements and dynamic light scattering,which resulted in an increased loose fiber arrangement observed by atomic force microscopy.If the structural integrity of collagen needs to be retained,then the ILs sorts and concentrations should be considered.

Study on the Effect of Chinese Herbal Medicine in Regulating Peritoneal Lymphatic Stomata and Enhancing Drainage of Ascites in Mice with Liver Fibrosis

Objective: To observe the regulating effect of Chinese herbal medicine on peritoneal lymphatic stomata and its significance in treating ascites in liver fibrosis model mice. Methods: Two Chinese herbal compound prescriptions were used separately to treat the carbon tetrachloride induced mouse model of liver fibrosis, the histo-pathologic changes in mice were observed by using scanning electron microscope and processed by computer image processing. The changes of urinary volume and sodium ion concentration were measured, too.Results: In the treated group, the histo-pathologic changes were significantly less than those in the control group, the peritoneal lymphatic stomata enlarged with increased number of opening and higher density in distribution and the urinary volume and sodium ion excretion increased after treatment. Conclusion: Chinese herbal medicine has marked effect in alleviating liver fibrosis, regulating peritoneal lymphatic stomata, improving the drainage of ascites from peritoneal cavity, causing increase of urinary volume and sodium ion excretion to reduce water and sodium retention, and thus have favorable therapeutic effect in treating ascites.

Sustainable green technology on wastewater treatment:The evaluation of enhanced single chambered up-flow membrane-less microbial fuel cell

This study demonstrated the potential of single chamber up-flow membrane-less microbial fuel cell（UFML-MFC） in wastewater treatment and power generation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and enhance the performance under different operational conditions which affect the chemical oxygen demand（COD） reduction and power generation,including the increase of KCl concentration（MFC1） and COD concentration（MFC2）. The results showed that the increase of KCl concentration is an important factor in up-flow membrane-less MFC to enhance the ease of electron transfer from anode to cathode. The increase of COD concentration in MFC2 could led to the drop of voltage output due to the prompt of biofilm growth in MFC2 cathode which could increase the internal resistance. It also showed that the COD concentration is a vital issue in up-flow membrane-less MFC.Despite the COD reduction was up to 96%, the power output remained constrained.