Study on synergistic leaching of potassium and phosphorus from potassium feldspar and solid waste phosphogypsum via coupling reactions

To achieve the resource utilization of solid waste phosphogypsum(PG)and tackle the problem of utilizing potassium feldspar(PF),a coupled synergistic process between PG and PF is proposed in this paper.The study investigates the features of P and F in PG,and explores the decomposition of PF using hydrofluoric acid(HF)in the sulfuric acid system for K leaching and leaching of P and F in PG.The impact factors such as sulfuric acid concentration,reaction temperature,reaction time,material ratio(PG/PF),liquid–solid ratio,PF particle size,and PF calcination temperature on the leaching of P and K is systematically investigated in this paper.The results show that under optimal conditions,the leaching rate of K and P reach more than 93%and 96%,respectively.Kinetics study using shrinking core model(SCM)indicates two significant stages with internal diffusion predominantly controlling the leaching of K.The apparent activation energies of these two stages are 11.92 kJ·mol^(-1)and 11.55 kJ·mol^(-1),respectively.

Surgical intervention combined with weight-bearing walking training promotes recovery in patients with chronic spinal cord injury:a randomized controlled study

For patients with chronic spinal cord injury,the co nventional treatment is rehabilitation and treatment of spinal cord injury complications such as urinary tract infection,pressure sores,osteoporosis,and deep vein thrombosis.Surgery is rarely perfo rmed on spinal co rd injury in the chronic phase,and few treatments have been proven effective in chronic spinal cord injury patients.Development of effective therapies fo r chronic spinal co rd injury patients is needed.We conducted a randomized controlled clinical trial in patients with chronic complete thoracic spinal co rd injury to compare intensive rehabilitation(weight-bearing walking training)alone with surgical intervention plus intensive rehabilitation.This clinical trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov(NCT02663310).The goal of surgical intervention was spinal cord detethering,restoration of cerebrospinal fluid flow,and elimination of residual spinal cord compression.We found that surgical intervention plus weight-bearing walking training was associated with a higher incidence of American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale improvement,reduced spasticity,and more rapid bowel and bladder functional recovery than weight-bearing walking training alone.Overall,the surgical procedures and intensive rehabilitation were safe.American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale improvement was more common in T7-T11 injuries than in T2-T6 injuries.Surgery combined with rehabilitation appears to have a role in treatment of chronic spinal cord injury patients.

Working toward an integrated plasticity/network framework for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to inform tailored treatments

Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques(NIBS),including repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation(rTMS) and transcranial electric stim ulation(tES),are increasingly being adopted clinically for treatment of neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders,albeit with varying success.The rationale behind the use of NIBS has historically been that stim ulation techniques modulate neuronal activity in the targeted region and consequently induce plasticity which can lead to therapeutic outcomes.

Impact on Soil Organic C and Total Soil N from Cool- and Warm-Season Legumes Used in a Green Manure-Forage Cropping System

Annual forage legumes are important components of livestock production systems in East Texas and the southeastern US. Forage legumes contribute nitrogen (N) to cropping systems through biological N fixation, and their seasonal biomass production can be managed to complement forage grasses. Our research objectives were to evaluate both warm- and cool-season annual forage legumes as green manure for biomass, N content, ability to enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil N, and impact on post season forage grass crops. Nine warm-season forage legumes (WSL) were spring planted and incorporated as green manure in the fall. Forage rye (Secale cereale L.) was planted following the incorporation of WSL treatments. Eight cool-season forage legumes (CSL) were fall planted in previously fallow plots and incorporated as green manure in late spring. Sorghum-sudangrass (Sorghum bicolor x Sorghum bicolor var. sudanense) was planted over all treatments in early summer after forage rye harvest and incorporation of CSL treatments. Sorghum-sudangrass was harvested in June, August and September, and treatments were evaluated for dry matter and N concentration. Soil cores were taken from each plot, split into depths of 0 to 15, 15 to 30 and 30 to 60 cm, and soil C and N were measured using combustion analysis. Nylon mesh bags containing plant samples were buried at 15 cm and used to evaluate decomposition rate of above ground legume biomass, including change in C and N concentrations. Mungbean (Vigna radiata L. [Wilczek]) had the highest shoot biomass yield (6.24 t DM ha-1) and contributed the most total N (167 kg∙ha-1) and total C (3043 kg∙ha-1) of the WSL tested. Decomposition rate of WSL biomass was rapid in the first 10 weeks and very slow afterward. Winter pea (Pisum sativum L. spp. sativum), arrow leaf clover (Trifolium vesiculosum Savi.), and crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) were the most productive CSL in this trial. Austrian winter pea produced 8.41 t DM ha-1 with a total N yield of 319 kg N ha-1 and total C production of 3835 kg C ha-1. The WSL treatments had only small effects on rye forage yield and N concentration, possibly due to mineralization of N from a large SOC pool already in place. The CSL treatments also had only minimal effects on sorghum-sudangrass forage production. Winter pea, arrow leaf and crimson clover were productive cool season legumes and could be useful as green manure crops. Mungbean and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp.) were highly productive warm season legumes but may include more production risk in green manure systems due to soil moisture competition.

Analysis on unit maximum capacity of orthogonal multiple watermarking for multimedia signals in B5G wireless communications

Beyond-5G(B5G)aims to meet the growing demands of mobile traffic and expand the communication space.Considering that intelligent applications to B5G wireless communications will involve security issues regarding user data and operational data,this paper analyzes the maximum capacity of the multi-watermarking method for multimedia signal hiding as a means of alleviating the information security problem of B5G.The multiwatermarking process employs spread transform dither modulation.During the watermarking procedure,Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization is used to obtain the multiple spreading vectors.Consequently,multiple watermarks can be simultaneously embedded into the same position of a multimedia signal.Moreover,the multiple watermarks can be extracted without affecting one another during the extraction process.We analyze the effect of the size of the spreading vector on the unit maximum capacity,and consequently derive the theoretical relationship between the size of the spreading vector and the unit maximum capacity.A number of experiments are conducted to determine the optimal parameter values for maximum robustness on the premise of high capacity and good imperceptibility.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of the social structure of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins(Sousa chinensis)in Xiamen waters from 2007 to 2019

As highly social animals,Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins(Sousa chinensis)exhibit community differentiation.Nevertheless,our understanding of the external and internal factors influencing these dynamics,as well as their spatiotemporal variations,is still limited.In the present study,variations in the social structure of an endangered Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin population in Xiamen Bay,China,were monitored over two distinct periods(2007–2010 and 2017–2019)to analyze the effects of habitat utilization and the composition of individuals within the population.In both periods,the population demonstrated a strikingly similar pattern of social differentiation,characterized by the division of individuals into two main clusters and one small cluster.Spatially,the two primary clusters occupied the eastern and western waters,respectively,although the core distribution area of the eastern cluster shifted further eastward between the two periods.Despite this distribution shift,the temporal stability of the social structure and inter-associations within the eastern cluster remained unaffected.A subset of 16individuals observed in both periods,comprising 51.6%and 43.2%of the population in each respective period,emerged as a foundational element of the social structure and may be responsible for sustaining social structure stability,especially during the 2007–2010 period.These observations suggest that the composition of dominant individuals,an internal factor,had a more substantial influence on the formation of the social network than changes in habitat use,an external factor.Consequently,the study proposes distinct conservation measures tailored to each of the two main clusters.

Toward Improved Accuracy in Quasi-Static Elastography Using Deep Learning

Elastography is a non-invasive medical imaging technique to map the spatial variation of elastic properties of soft tissues.The quality of reconstruction results in elastography is highly sensitive to the noise induced by imaging measurements and processing.To address this issue,we propose a deep learning(DL)model based on conditional Generative Adversarial Networks(cGANs)to improve the quality of nonhomogeneous shear modulus reconstruction.To train this model,we generated a synthetic displacement field with finite element simulation under known nonhomogeneous shear modulus distribution.Both the simulated and experimental displacement fields are used to validate the proposed method.The reconstructed results demonstrate that the DL model with synthetic training data is able to improve the quality of the reconstruction compared with the well-established optimization method.Moreover,we emphasize that our DL model is only trained on synthetic data.This might provide a way to alleviate the challenge of obtaining clinical or experimental data in elastography.Overall,this work addresses several fatal issues in applying the DL technique into elastography,and the proposed method has shown great potential in improving the accuracy of the disease diagnosis in clinical medicine.

Intrinsic Mechanisms of Morphological Engineering and Carbon Doping for Improved Photocatalysis of 2D/2D Carbon Nitride Van Der Waals Heterojunction

Van der Waals(VDW)heterojunctions in a 2D/2D contact provide the highest area for the separation and transfer of charge carriers.In this work,a top-down strategy with a gas erosion process was employed to fabricate a 2D/2D carbon nitride VDW heterojunction in carbon nitride(g-C_(3)N_(4))with carbon-rich carbon nitride.The created 2D semiconducting channel in the VDW structure exhibits enhanced electric field exposure and radiation absorption,which facilitates the separation of the charge carriers and their mobility.Consequently,compared with bulk g-C_(3)N_(4)and its nanosheets,the photocatalytic performance of the fabricated carbon nitride VDW heterojunction in the water splitting reaction to hydrogen is improved by 8.6 and 3.3 times,respectively,while maintaining satisfactory photo-stability.Mechanistically,the finite element method(FEM)was employed to evaluate and clarify the contributions of the formation of VDW heterojunction to enhanced photocatalysis,in agreement quantitatively with experimental ones.This study provides a new and effective strategy for the modification and more insights to performance improvement on polymeric semiconductors in photocatalysis and energy conversion.

Electrochemical Water Splitting:Bridging the Gaps Between Fundamental Research and Industrial Applications

Electrochemical water splitting represents one of the most promising technologies to produce green hydrogen,which can help to realize the goal of achieving carbon neutrality.While substantial efforts on a laboratory scale have been made for understanding fundamental catalysis and developing high-performance electrocatalysts for the two half-reactions involved in water electrocatalysis,much less attention has been paid to doing relevant research on a larger scale.For example,few such researches have been done on an industrial scale.Herein,we review the very recent endeavors to bridge the gaps between fundamental research and industrial applications for water electrolysis.We begin by introducing the fundamentals of electrochemical water splitting and then present comparisons of testing protocol,figure of merit,catalyst of interest,and manufacturing cost for laboratory and industry-based water-electrolysis research.Special attention is paid to tracking the surface reconstruction process and identifying real catalytic species under different testing conditions,which highlight the significant distinctions of corresponding electrochemical reconstruction mechanisms.Advances in catalyst designs for industry-relevant water electrolysis are also summarized,which reveal the progress of moving the practical applications forward and accelerating synergies between material science and engineering.Perspectives and challenges of electrocatalyst design strategies are proposed finally to further bridge the gaps between lab-scale research and large-scale electrocatalysis applications.

A Hydrogen Iron Flow Battery with High Current Density and Long Cyclability Enabled Through Circular Water Management

The hydrogen-iron(HyFe)flow cell has great potential for long-duration energy storage by capitalizing on the advantages of both electrolyzers and flow batteries.However,its operation at high current density(high power)and over continuous cycling testing has yet to be demonstrated.In this paper,we discuss our design and demonstration of a water management strategy that supports high current and long cycling performance of a HyFe flow cell.Water molecules associated with the movement of protons from the iron electrode to the hydrogen electrode are sufficient to hydrate the membrane and electrode at a low current density of 100 mA cm^(-2)during the charge process.At higher charge current density,more aggressive measures must be taken to counter back-diffusion driven by the acid concentration gradient between the iron and hydrogen electrodes.Our water management approach is based on water vapor feeding in the hydrogen electrode,and water evaporation in the iron electrode,thus enabling the high current density operation of 300 mA cm^(-2).

A Hydrogen Iron Flow Battery with High Current Density and Long Cyclability Enabled Through Circular Water Management

The hydrogen-iron(HyFe)flow cell has great potential for long-duration energy storage by capitalizing on the advantages of both electrolyzers and flow batteries.However,its operation at high current density(high power)and over continuous cycling testing has yet to be demonstrated.In this article,we discuss our design and demonstration of a water-management strategy that supports high current and long-cycling performance of a HyFe flow cell.Water molecules associated with the movement of protons from the iron electrode to the hydrogen electrode are sufficient to hydrate the membrane and electrode at a low current density of 100 mA cm^(-2)during the charge process.At higher charge current density,more aggressive measures must be taken to counter back-diffusion driven by the acid concentration gradient between the iron and hydrogen electrodes.Our water-management approach is based on water vapor feeding in the hydrogen electrode and water evaporation in the iron electrode,thus enabling high current density operation of 300 mA cm^(-2).

Green Roof Performance for Stormwater Management in Equatorial Urban Areas Using Storm Water Management Model (SWMM)

Many Low Impact Developments (LIDs) have recently been developed as a sustainable integrated strategy for managing the quantity and quality of stormwater and surrounding amenities. Previous research showed that green roof is one of the most promising LIDs for slowing down rainwater, controlling rainwater volume, and enhancing rainwater quality by filtering and leaching contaminants from the substrate. However, there is no guideline for green roof design in Malaysia. Hence, Investigating the viability of using green roofs to manage stormwater and address flash flood hazards is urgently necessary. This study used the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) to evaluate the effectiveness of green roof in managing stormwater and improving rainwater quality. The selected study area is the multistory car park (MSCP) rooftop at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus. Nine green roof models with different configurations were created. Results revealed that the optimum design of a green roof is 100 mm of berm height, 150 mm of soil thickness, and 50 mm of drainage mat thickness. With the ability to reduce runoff generation by 26.73%, reduce TSS by 89.75%, TP by 93.07%, TN by 93.16%, and improved BOD by 81.33%. However, pH values dropped as low as 5.933 and became more acidic due to the substrates in green roof. These findings demonstrated that green roofs improve water quality, able to temporarily store excess rainfall and it is very promising and sustainable tool in managing stormwater.

Digital compass for multi-user beam access in mmWave cellular networks

Beamforming in stand-alone Millimeter-Wave(mmWave)communications results in prolonged access times and latencies due to the increased number of measurements required to determine the optimal beam directions at the Mobile Station(MS)and Base Station(BS),returning the highest received signal level.Therefore,dynamic and fast access schemes that meet the Third-Generation Partnership Project(3GPP)specifications are required here.Therefore,in this paper,a novel initial access scheme is proposed for multiple MS users by leveraging for the first time a digital compass in the access procedure.Namely,when a new MS joins the footprint of a BS,it probes the channel for beacon signaling about the BS direction,i.e.,broadcasted by a neighboring MS that completed beam association at previous time steps.Then,a digital compass is utilized to adjust the coordinates of the BS according to the location of the new MS.The proposed scheme is applied for a single and multi-user settings at various broadcasting approaches.This includes a single associated MS user that broadcasts information to a single incoming MS user,a single user that broadcasts signals to multiple incoming users,or all multiple associated users broadcast to multiple incoming users.Overall,the proposed schemes yield in notable efficiency in terms of the computational complexity,access times,power and energy consumption as compared to existing access schemes.Further,high success rates are achieved at the detriment of relatively higher cost.

Storage stability of vitamin C fortified purple mashed potatoes processed with microwave-assisted thermal sterilization system

Quality changes in ready-to-eat,shelf-stable foods,during storage can be influenced by many factors,such as processing,storage conditions,and the barrier properties of the packaging.This research investigated retention of vitamin C and anthocyanin in purple mashed potatoes as influenced by packaging barrier properties and encapsulation during storage after microwave assisted thermal sterilization.Purple mashed potatoes fortified with encapsulated(EVC)or non-encapsulated vitamin C(NVC)were packaged in two high-barrier polymer pouches(TLMO and PAA),processed with a pilot-scale microwave assisted thermal sterilization(MATS)system(F0=10.7 min),and stored at 37.8°C for 7 months.MATS processing caused a significant increase(P<0.05)in the oxygen transmission rates(OTRs)of PAA pouches but did not affect the barrier properties of TLMO pouches.PAA film also had a significantly higher(P<0.05)water vapor transmission rate(WVTRs)than TLMO films,which resulted in a significantly higher(P<0.05)weight loss in the samples packaged in PAA pouches than TLMO pouches.Purple mashed potatoes containing encapsulated vitamin C in both TLMO and PAA pouches showed the highest retention over 2 months of storage at 37.8°C than non-encapsulated vitamin C.Additionally,purple mashed potatoes exposed to 700 lumens light showed a significantly higher(P<0.05)deterioration in the anthocyanin,total phenolic content,color,and vitamin C.Overall,MATS processed purple mashed potatoes in high barrier polymeric packaging can minimize the quality changes when stored in dark conditions during storage and have an extended shelf life.

Forest use suitability:Towards decision-making-oriented sustainable management of forest ecosystem services

Management of forest lands considering multi-functional approaches is the basis to sustain or enhance the provi-sion of specific benefits,while minimizing negative impacts to the environment.Defining a desired management itinerary to a forest depends on a variety of factors,including the forest type,its ecological characteristics,and the social and economic needs of local communities.A strategic assessment of the forest use suitability(FUS)(namely productive,protective,conservation-oriented,social and multi-functional)at regional level,based on the provision of forest ecosystem services and trade-offs between FUS alternatives,can be used to develop management strategies that are tailored to the specific needs and conditions of the forest.The present study assesses the provision of multiple forest ecosystem services and employs a decision model to identify the FUS that sup-ports the most present and productive ecosystem services in each stand in Catalonia.For this purpose,we apply the latest version of the Ecosystem Management Decision Support(EMDS)system,a spatially oriented decision support system that provides accurate results for multi-criteria management.We evaluate 32 metrics and 12 as-sociated ecosystem services indicators to represent the spatial reality of the region.According to the results,the dominant primary use suitability is social,followed by protective and productive.Nevertheless,final assignment of uses is not straightforward and requires an exhaustive analysis of trade-offs between all alternative options,in many cases identifying flexible outcomes,and increasing the representativeness of multi-functional use.The assignment of forest use suitability aims to significantly improve the definition of the most adequate management strategy to be applied.

Numerical Study of the Impact of Wake Surfing on Inland Bodies of Water

In many areas around the world, wake surfing has been cited as one of the major causes of lakeshore erosion and turbidity. This paper quantifies the impact related to turbidity and erosion with the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) of boat wakes in shallow water and the build-up of wind driven waves. The energy, type and direction of the boat’s wake are described quantitatively and a table for predicting wind driven waves over varying fetches, depth and wind speeds is provided. The CFD simulation shows that if a wake surf boat is operated 200 ft from shore and in at least 10 ft of water, the environmental impact is minimal.

Toward Quantifying the Increasing Accessibility of the Arctic Northeast Passage in the Past Four Decades

Sea ice,one of the most dominant barriers to Arctic shipping,has decreased dramatically over the past four decades.Arctic maritime transport is hereupon growing in recent years.To produce a long-term assessment of trans-Arctic accessibility,we systematically revisit the daily Arctic navigability with a view to the combined effects of sea ice thickness and concentration throughout the period 1979−2020.The general trends of Navigable Windows(NW)in the Northeast Passage show that the number of navigable days is steadily growing and reached 89±16 days for Open Water(OW)ships and 163±19 days for Polar Class 6(PC6)ships in the 2010s,despite high interannual and interdecadal variability in the NWs.More consecutive NWs have emerged annually for both OW ships and PC6 ships since 2005 because of the faster sea ice retreat.Since the 1980s,the number of simulated Arctic routes has continuously increased,and optimal navigability exists in these years of record-low sea ice extent(e.g.,2012 and 2020).Summertime navigability in the East Siberian and Laptev Seas,on the other hand,varies dramatically due to changing sea ice conditions.This systematic assessment of Arctic navigability provides a reference for better projecting the future trans-Arctic shipping routes.

The Pythium periplocum elicitin PpEli2 confers broad-spectrum disease resistance by triggering a novel receptor-dependent immune pathway in plants

Elicitins are microbe-associated molecular patterns produced by oomycetes to elicit plant defense.It is still unclear whether elicitins derived from non-pathogenic oomycetes can be used as bioactive molecules for disease control.Here,for the first time we identify and characterize an elicitin named PpEli2 from the soil-borne oomycete Pythium periplocum,which is a non-pathogenic mycoparasite colonizing the root ecosystem of diverse plant species.Perceived by a novel cell surface receptor-like protein,REli,that is conserved in various plants(e.g.tomato,pepper,soybean),PpEli2 can induce hypersensitive response cell death and an immunity response in Nicotiana benthamiana.Meanwhile,PpEli2 enhances the interaction between REli and its co-receptor BAK1.The receptor-dependent immune response triggered by PpEli2 is able to protect various plant species against Phytophthora and fungal infections.Collectively,our work reveals the potential agricultural application of non-pathogenic elicitins and their receptors in conferring broad-spectrum resistance for plant protection.

Laboratory Observations on Internal Solitary Wave Evolution over A Submarine Ridge

Laboratory experiments were conducted in a wave flume on internal solitary wave （ISW） of depression and elevation types propagating over a submarine ridge in semicircular/triangular shape. Tests were arranged in series for combinations of submarine ridges of different heights and ISW of different amplitudes. The resuhant wave motions were found differing from thee of surface gravity waves. In deeper water, where an ISW of depression-type prevailed, the process of wave breaking displayed downward motion with continuous eddy on the front face of the ridge followed by upward motion towards the apex of the obstacle. Experimental results also suggested that blockage parameter ξ could be applied to classify various degrees of ISW-ridge interaction, i.e., ξ 〈 0.5 for weak interaction, 0.5 〈 ξ 〈 0.7 for moderate interaction, and 0.7 〈 ξ for wave breaking.

Tunable microwave signal generation based on an Opto-DMD processor and a photonic crystal fiber

Frequency-tunable microwave signal generation is proposed and experimentally demonstrated with a dual-wavelength single-longitudinal-mode （SLM） erbium-doped fiber ring laser based on a digital Opto-DMD processor and four-wave mixing （FWM） in a high-nonlinear photonic crystal fiber （PCF）. The high-nonlinear PCF is employed for the generation of the FWM to obtain stable and uniform dual-wavelength oscillation. Two different short passive sub-ring cavities in the main ring cavity serve as mode filters to make SLM lasing. The two lasing wavelengths are electronically selected by loading different gratings on the Opto-DMD processor controlled with a computer. The wavelength spacing can be smartly adjusted from 0.165 nm to 1.08 nm within a tuning accuracy of 0.055 nm. Two microwave signals at 17.23 GHz and 27.47 GHz are achieved. The stability of the microwave signal is discussed. The system has the ability to generate a 137.36-GHz photonic millimeter signal at room temperature.