Soil conditioners improve Cd-contaminated farmland soil microbial communities to inhibit Cd accumulation in rice

The addition of silicon(Si)and organic fertilizers to soil conditioners can inhibit the transfer of heavy metal ions from soil to crops.However,it is not clear how Si and organic fertilizers affect soil properties and the micro-ecological environment and thereby reduce cadmium(Cd)accumulation in rice.In this study,the effects of L-type soil conditioners containing Si and organic fertilizers on bacterial and fungal community diversity,soil pH,organic matter,and available Si were analyzed with field experiments at two sites in Liuzhou City and Hezhou City,respectively,in Guangxi,China.With the increase of Si and organic fertilizer content in soil conditioner,rice yield respectively increased by 16.8–25.8 and 6.8–13.1%,and rice Cd content decreased significantly by 8.2–21.1 and 10.8–40.6%,respectively,at the two experimental sites.Soil microbiome analysis showed that the increase in abundance of Firmicutes and Actinobacteriota bacteria associated with Cd adsorption and sequestration,and Basidiomycota fungal populations associated with degradation of macromolecules favored the inhibition of soil Cd activity(soil exchangeable Cd decreased by 14.4–14.8 and 18.1–20.6%).This was associated with an increase in organic matter and Si content caused by applying soil conditioners.In conclusion,L-type soil conditioners,rich in Si and organic fertilizer,can reduce soil Cd bioavailability by regulating the dominant Cd passivating flora in the soil and ultimately reduce Cd accumulation in rice.

Control Effects of Tianshifu Soil Conditioners on Cd Contamination in Paddy Fields of Hunan Province

To investigate the effects of Tianshifu soil conditioners on rice growth and their control effects on Cd absorption and accumulation in rice, a test was carded out in the field typically polluted by Cd in Hunan Province. The results showed that the Tianshifu soil conditioner, soil bacterial conditioner and the combination of Tian- shifu soil conditioner and soil bacterial conditioner all could promote rice growth, im- prove rice yield and reduce significantly Cd content in rice grains. In Beishan, the Cd contents in rice grains treated by Tianshifu soil conditioner, soil bacterial condi- tioner and the combination of Tianshifu soil conditioner and soil bacterial conditioner were reduced by 37.63% （P〈0.05）, 32.59% （P〈0.05） and 27.95% （P〈0.05） respec- tively compared with that in rice grains treated by conventional fertilization; In Xiang- tan, the Cd contents in rice grains were reduced by 54.36% （P〈0.05）, 50.19% （P〈 0.05） and 45.22% （P〈0.05） respectively. The rice grains harvested at the two test sites all met the national food safety standards. Considering the control effect on Cd contamination, Tianshifu soil conditioner 〉 combination of Tianshifu soil condi- tioner and soil bacterial conditioner 〉 Tianshifu soil bacterial conditioner. In addition to reducing Cd absorption in rice, as described in the lime application treatment, the application of Tianshifu soil conditioners also inhibited the transportation of Cd from rice straws to rice grains. The Tianshifu soil conditioner, soil bacterial conditioner and combination of Tianshifu soil conditioner and soil bacterial conditioner also effec- tively improved the soil acidity, increased the soil pH value and reduced soil avail- able Cd content to some extent.

Effects of Multiple Soil Conditioners on a Mine Site Acid Sulfate Soil for Vetiver Growth

A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of various soil treatments on the growth of vetiver grass ( Vetiveria zizanioides (L.) Nash) with the objective of formulating appropriate soil media for use in sulfide-bearing mined areas. An acidic mine site acid sulfate soil (pH 2.8) was treated with different soil conditioner formula including hydrated lime, red mud (bauxite residues), zeolitic rock powder, biosolids and a compound fertilizer. Soils treated with red mud and hydrated lime corrected soil acidity and reduced or eliminated metal toxicity enabling the establishment of vetiver grass.Although over-liming affected growth, some seedlings of vetiver survived the initial strong alkaline conditions. Addition of appropriate amounts of zeolitic rock powder also enhanced growth, but over-application caused detrimental effects. In this experiment, soil medium with the best growth performance of vetiver was 50 g of red mud, 10 g of lime, 30 g of zeolitic rock powder and 30 g of biosolids with 2000 g of mine soils (100% survival rate with the greatest biomass and number of new shoots), but adding a chemical fertilizer to this media adversely impacted plant growth. In addition, a high application rate of biosolids resulted in poorer growth of vetiver, compared to a moderate application rate.

Optimal Scheduling of Air Conditioners for Energy Efficiency

Energy saving is one of the most important research hotspots, by which operational expenditure and CO2 emission can be reduced. Optimal cooling capacity scheduling in addition to temperature control can improve energy efficiency. The main contribution of this work is modeling the telecommunication building for the fabric cooling load to schedule the operation of air conditioners. The time series data of the fabric cooling load of the building envelope is taken by simulation by using Energy Plus, Building Control Virtual Test Bed （BCVTB）, and Matlab. This pre-computed data and other internal thermal loads are used for scheduling in air conditioners. Energy savings obtained for the whole year are about 4% to 6% by simulation and the field study, respectively.

Evaluation of Energy-Efficiency Standards for Room Air Conditioners in the US

This article describes an analysis of the energy and economic impacts of possible energy efficiency standards for room air conditioners on both U.S. consumers and the nation as a whole. We used two metrics to determine the effect of standards on a representative sample of U.S. consumers: life-cycle cost change and payback period. For the national impact analysis, we evaluated national energy savings attributable to each potential standard, the monetary value of the energy savings to consumers of room air conditioners, the increased total installed costs because of standards, and the net present value of the difference between the value of energy savings and increased total installed costs. Our analysis indicates that standards for room air conditioners at efficiency level 3, which is 17% more efficient than today’s typical unit in the case of room air conditioners less than 6000 Btu/h with louvers and 12% more efficient in the case of room air conditioners 8000 - 13,999 Btu/h with louvers, would save close to one quad of energy over 30 years and have a net present value of consumer benefit of between ?$0.14 billion and $1.82 billion, depending on the discount rate. In addition, such standards would reduce carbon dioxide emissions and NOx emissions.

Jirong Air Conditioners

Various kinds of cabinet air conditioners,roof top air conditioners, cool-water set of air conditioners, and air treatment apparatuses,produced by Guangdong Jirong Air Conditioner Equipment Corporation, using world namebrand compressors, blower fans, computers,and control devices and other materials imported from abroad, are widely used in industrial and civil projects. The quality of the products is reliable, with low noise, easy operation, and high precision for control. Their main quotas for specifications are up to the international advanced standards. The output of Jirong cabinet and roof-top air conditioners is the leader in the country. The variety of cabinet conditioners includes water-cool and air-coon ones

Window Air Conditioners Transition and Restriction in Saudi Arabia

This paper will provide a proposed solution for saving energy consumption due to residential air conditioners by reducing the window air conditioners type which is the most consumed energy and has a big percent of spreading inside KSA than the split type, also it will discuss some restrictions for trading and manufacturing of air conditioner devices inside KSA besides some restrictions on market and buildings to achieve the objective of reducing the consumption of energy which become a big trend in kingdom vision 2030. The results of this suggesting solution will help the decision-makers to start its plan for execution as it has a big difference between using window type from 2022 till 2030 and if we stop its sales and replace by an efficient one of split AC type in energy consumption in addition to CO2 emission reduction and decreasing of energy cost, hence our kingdom can save petroleum raw materials and keeping the environment to become clean from pollutants so that these resources are delivered to successive generations correct and clean as we received them from those before us.

Effects of conditioners(single-layer, double-layer and retentionconditioner) on the growth performance, meat quality and intestinal morphology of growing and finishing pigs

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of feed conditioners(single-layer, double-layer and retentionconditioner) on the growth performance, meat quality and intestinal morphology of pigs throughout the growing to finishing phase. A total of 96 growing pigs((28.70±3.20) kg) were selected and randomized into three treatment groups with four replicates per group. Eight pigs were used per replicate for the 17-week feeding trial. The grower diet was given at 0 to 6 weeks and a finisher diet was given at 6 to 17 weeks. The treatments were as follows: SC diet(control; single-layer conditioning), DC diet(double-layer conditioning), and RC diet(retention-conditioning). Starch gelatinization was significantly higher(P<0.05) in the RC treatment than in the SC treatment, however, there was no significant difference in the starch gelatinization between the DC group and the RC group. In the growing phase, the feed to gain index(F:G) was significantly lower(P<0.05) in the RC group than in the SC and DC groups. Between growing and finishing, the F:G was the lowest(P<0.05) in the SC group compared to the RC or DC group. Drip loss, a measurement of meat quality, was significantly lower(P<0.05) in longissimus dorsi tissue collected from pigs fed the RC diet than in tissues collected from pigs fed the SC diet. The intestinal quality of the duodenum and jejunum tissues showed a significant increase(P<0.05) in the crypt depth and villus height in the RC group compared to the SC-or DC-treated pigs. These results demonstrated that the retentionconditioner treatment decreased the F:G in growing pigs, improved intestinal morphology and enhanced the meat quality in the finishing pigs. However, the retention-conditioner treatment had a negative impact on growth performance in the finishing pigs.

A PROSPECTIVE HYDROGEN STORAGE ALLOY PAIR FOR BUS AIR CONDITIONERS

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Remediation Effects of Soil Conditioners for CdPolluted Paddy Fields

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the remediation effects of 14 soil conditioners for Cd-polluted paddy fields contrasted with conventional fertilization and liming.The results showed that soil conditioners had no significant impact on rice yields.Though the soil conditioners had stable effects on decreasing the Cd content in grains,the effects varied with the category of conditioners.In general,The Cd contents of early rice and late rice were reduced by 22.65%~44.24%and 15.20%~63.03%,respectively.Additionally,the stem and leaves showed the same decreasing tendency.Cluster analysis suggested that soil conditioners can be divided into three categories:the first category increases the soil pH to inhibit the Cd activity and cut down the Cd translocation from soil to stem and leaves,which is most efficient in the reduction of Cd content in rice grains;the other category relies on the antagonism or co-precipitation between Cd and certain elements to inhibit the translocation and redistribution of Cd from rice stems to grains,providing a common effect on Cd reduction;the last category can be seen as a combination of the former two categories from the perspective of its functional mechanism and it has a moderate effect on the reduction of Cd contents in rice grains.

A Comparative Study on the Performance and Environmental Characteristics of Alternatives to R22 in Residential Air Conditioners for Tunisian Market

This paper presents the simulation results of a 9000 BTU/h air conditioner with some selected fluids that have been assessed for their suitability as alternatives to R22 for air conditioners. Only those refrigerants with zero Ozone Depletion Potential （ODP） are considered. The performances of 11 refrigerants were comparatively studied using the simulation software NIST Cycle_D. R134a, R290, R600, R404A, R407A, R407B, R407C, 407D, R410A, R410B, and R417A are considered in this study. The thermal performances, which are obtained with R 134a and R290, are very close to those of R22. The power consumptions of the unit operating with R404A, R407C, and R410A are higher in the range 22-31% with respect of R22. For the units operating with 407A, R407B, R407D, R407E, and R410B, the electric consumptions are higher in the range 10-23%. For R600, the power consumptions are in the range 6-8%. For all the fluids, the COP is lower by 7-24% than R22, except for R600 for which the COP is higher by 7-9%, and R134a and R290 which exhibit the same COP as R22. When considering the thermal and environmental parameters, R290 is identified as the best candidate for R22, provided the safety aspects of using R290 are addressed.

DOMAIN DECOMPOSITION PRECONDITIONERS FOR SECOND-ORDER HYPERBOLIC EQUATIONS ON L-SHAPED REGIONS

Linear systems arising from implicit time discretizations and finite difference space discretizations of second-order hyperbolic equations on L-shaped region are considered. We analyse the use of domain deocmposilion preconditioner.s for the solution of linear systems via the preconditioned conjugate gradient method. For the constant-coefficient second-order hyperbolic equaions with initial and Dirichlet boundary conditions,we prove that the conditionnumber of the preconditioned interface system is bounded by 2+x2 2+0.46x2 where x is the quo-tient between the lime and space steps. Such condition number produces a convergence rale that is independent of gridsize and aspect ratios. The results could be extended to parabolic equations.

SINE TRANSFORM PRECONDITIONERS FOR SECOND-ORDER PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

In this paper, we are concerned with the numerical solution of second-order partial differential equations. We analyse the use of the Sine Transform precondilioners for the solution of linear systems arising from the discretization of p.d.e. via the preconditioned conjugate gradient method. For the second-order partial differential equations with Dirichlel boundary conditions, we prove that the condition number of the preconditioned system is O(1) while the condition number of the original system is O(m 2) Here m is the number of interior gridpoints in each direction. Such condition number produces a linear convergence rale.

Advances in Research on Effect of Heavy Metals Cd and Pb on Wheat and Mitigation Effect of Conditioners

In this article,the effect of heavy metals Cd and Pb on seed germination,seedling growth and yield of wheat is investigated,and the effect of related conditioners on improving soil and alleviating Cd and Pb stress is explored.

Critical assessment of R410A alternatives for mini-split air conditioners in the Egyptian market

In this study,the potential implementation of three different low-GWP refrigerants(R32,R452B,and R454B)as replacements for R410A was investigated.The study was performed using a simulation tool developed by the authors called RACHP-Lab,which is a vapor compression system simulation tool developed based on physics-based simulation for typical mini-split air conditioners.The simulation study was carried out and validated using experimental performance data of 10 different air conditioning units available in the Egyptian market.The units included fixed-speed or variable-speed compressors and operated in cooling or heating modes.Drop-in replace-ment with the new refrigerants was carried out.For R32,the capacity increased between 4.9%and 13%for cooling cases,and 6.3%and 12.4%for heating cases.However,COP did not improve in all cases.For R452B and R454B with direct replacement,the capacity nearly remained the same,with an increase of COP between 1.6%and 8.0%.Soft optimization was also conducted on cooling cases where compressor suction superheat,condenser subcooling,and compressor volumetric speed were optimized to maximize COP while maintaining the original capacity of R410A.R32 showed an improvement of COP over R410A between 4.6%and 15.5%,while for R452B and R454B between 2.2%and 13.2%.

CFD-Aided Investigation of Combined Flow Conditioners for Gas Ultrasonic Flow Meter

Stable and fully developed gas flow field is crucial for realizing accurate measurement of gas ultrasonicflow meter. To reduce the flow field distortion, a flow conditioner is usually used. However, the traditionalmonotype flow conditioner can only improve the flow field distribution partly. The measurement accuracy of thetransit time ultrasonic flow meter is still affected because of its serious flow field distortion in the complex pipelineconditions. In this paper, to further improve the flow field distribution, a combined conditioner is investigated.The combined flow conditioner is composed of fan-shaped section, turbulent mixing cavity, and honeycomb-shapedsection. The effects of fan blade angle and cavity length on the flow field of the DN50 flow meter are studied usingcomputational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. Simulation results indicate that compared with the monotypeconditioner, the combined conditioner has better performance on effectively reducing the swirl and turbulence andproviding more stable and repetitive velocity profiles. Experiments also validate the effectiveness of the combinedconditioner. The flow meter with the combined conditioner has better repeatability of less than 0.2%, which isbetter than those of the monotype conditioners under the same conditions. This work is very useful for accuratemeasurement of gas ultrasonic flow meter, especially for the complex pipeline conditions.

Genesis of LCT Pegmatites during Early Paleozoic Orogeny of the North Qinling Orogenic Belt,China:Emplacement Conditions and Structural Control

The Guanpo pegmatite field in the North Qinling orogenic belt(NQB),China,hosts the most abundant LCT pegmatites.However,their emplacement conditions and structural control remain unexplored.In this contribution,we investigated it combining pegmatite orientation measurement with oxygen isotope geothermometry and fluid inclusion study.The orientations of type A1 pegmatites(P_(f)<σ_(2))are predominantly influenced by P-and T-fractures due to simple shearing in Shiziping dextral thrust shear zone during D_(2)deformation,whereas type A2 pegmatites(contemporaneous with D_(4))are governed by hydraulic fractures aligned with S_(0)and S_(0+1)stemming from fluid pressure(P_(f)<σ_(2)).Additionally,type B pegmatites(P_(f)≤σ_(2))exhibit orientations shaped by en echelon extensional fractures in local ductile shear zones(contemporaneous with D_(3)).The albite-quartz oxygen isotope geothermometry and microthermometric analysis of fluid inclusions in elbaites from the latest pegmatites(including types B and A2)suggest that the crystallization P-T for late magmatic and hydrothermal stages are 527.5-559.2℃,320℃,3.1-3.6 kbar and 2.0 kbar,respectively.Our observations along with previous studies suggest that the genesis of the LCT pegmatites was a long-term,multi-stage event during early Paleozoic orogeny(including the collision stage)of the NQB,and was facilitated by various local fractures.

Ambient-Condition Strategy for Production of Hollow Ga_(2)O_(3)@rGO Crystalline Nanostructures Toward Efficient Lithium Storage

Crystallineγ-Ga_(2)O_(3)@rGO core-shell nanostructures are synthesized in gram scale,which are accomplished by a facile sonochemical strategy under ambient condition.They are composed of uniformγ-Ga_(2)O_(3)nanospheres encapsulated by reduced graphene oxide(rGO)nanolayers,and their formation is mainly attributed to the existed opposite zeta potential between the Ga_(2)O_(3)and rGO.The as-constructed lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)based on as-fabricatedγ-Ga_(2)O_(3)@rGO nanostructures deliver an initial discharge capacity of 1000 mAh g^(-1)at 100 mA g^(-1)and reversible capacity of 600 mAh g^(-1)under 500 mA g^(-1)after 1000 cycles,respectively,which are remarkably higher than those of pristineγ-Ga_(2)O_(3)with a much reduced lifetime of 100 cycles and much lower capacity.Ex situ XRD and XPS analyses demonstrate that the reversible LIBs storage is dominant by a conversion reaction and alloying mechanism,where the discharged product of liquid metal Ga exhibits self-healing ability,thus preventing the destroy of electrodes.Additionally,the rGO shell could act robustly as conductive network of the electrode for significantly improved conductivity,endowing the efficient Li storage behaviors.This work might provide some insight on mass production of advanced electrode materials under mild condition for energy storage and conversion applications.

Aero-Hydro-Elastic-Servo Modeling and Dynamic Response Analysis of A Monopile Offshore Wind Turbine Under Different Operating Scenarios

This paper constructs a coupled aero-hydro-elastic-servo simulation framework for a monopile offshore wind turbine(OWT).In this framework,a detailed multi-body dynamics model of the monopile OWT including the gearbox,blades,tower and other components(nacelle,hub,bedplate,etc.)has been explicitly established.The effects of pile−soil interaction,controller and operational conditions on the turbine dynamic responses are studied systematically in time domain and frequency domain.The results show that(1)a comprehensive drivetrain model has the capability to provide a more precise representation of the complex dynamic characteristics exhibited by drivetrain components,which can be used as the basis for further study on the dynamic characteristics of the drivetrain.(2)The pile−soil interaction can influence the wind turbine dynamic responses,particularly under the parked condition.(3)The effect of the pile−soil interaction on tower responses is more significant than that on blade responses.(4)The use of the controller can substantially affect the rotor characteristics,which in turn influences the turbine dynamic responses.(5)The tower and blade displacements under the operational condition are much larger than those under the parked condition.The model and methodology presented in this study demonstrate potential for examining complex dynamic behaviors of the monopile OWTs.To ensure accuracy and precision,it is imperative to construct a detailed model of the wind turbine system,while also taking into account simulation efficiency.