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Highlights • The study designed and developed a heteromorphic sample pool. • Modeling method based on 2D light intensity distribution patterns can effectively enhance components detection precision and speed. • The study can provide meaningful and insight guidance for analytical chemistry and high-throughput test. Abstract To enhance the detection precision of samples with scattering characteristics by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), this study developed a heteromorphic sample pool and established the related 2D light intensity acquisition system, which can simultaneously acquire multi-path exit light adsorption and scattering information of the samples under test. The Intralipid-20% phantom solutions in 34 samples with different concentrations were detected, while one-dimensional (1D) exit light intensity distributions and two-dimensional (2D) exit light intensity distributions on the surface of the samples were analyzed and modeled using partial least squares. In contrast with the prediction results based on the modeling method of 1D exit light intensity distribution, the modeling method of 2D exit light intensity distribution exhibits more favorable results; specifically, correlation coefficient enhanced by 2.48%, while root mean square error reduced by 6.89%. The experimental results demonstrate that using heteromorphic sample pool can effectively achieve NIRS-based detection precision and speed of chemical components in the solutions with scattering characteristics, which can provide important references for high-throughput and high-precision detection of turbid media in analytical chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrocoalescence behavior of surfactant-laden droplet pairs in oil under a DC electric field was investigated in this paper. The characteristic parameters such as coalescence time, liquid bridge diameter and contact angle were analyzed for varying surfactant concentrations and electric capillary numbers. The results show that the horizontal electrocoalescence of two identical droplets with the same physical properties is symmetrical. Moreover, the surfactant has a significant influence on the pressure difference at the liquid bridge, which results in a variation of the liquid bridge growth and coalescence time. The pressure difference between the droplet and the liquid bridge is significantly dependent on the initial contact angle, which is determined by the electric capillary number Ca and surfactant concentration. The theoretical analysis and experimental results show that the large initial contact angle restrains the growth of the liquid bridge in the initial coalescence stage. Considering the effect of the initial contact angle, a characteristic time is proposed to describe the evolution of the liquid bridge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anode materials were vital for power production in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). By freeze-drying and carbonization, porous carbon monolith derived from wax gourd (WGCM) was prepared. WGCM was then coated by nano-Fe 3 O 4 to obtain the nano-Fe 3 O 4 /WGCM anode. WGCM anode increased the maximum power density of the MFCs from 430.6 mW/m2 to 906.6 mW/m2, while nano-Fe 3 O 4 /WGCM anode further promoted it to 1438.8 mW/m2. WGCM had a three-dimensional (3D) microporous network structure, a hydrophilic surface and good conductivity, which enhanced biofilm formation and reduced internal resistance. Fe 3 O 4 increased Geobacter enrichment on anode surface, a popular electricigen in MFCs. Calculated from anode surface microbial cell density and the relative abundance, Geobacter on the nano-Fe 3 O 4 /WGCM increased by 41.4% compared with the WGCM anode. The results demonstrated that the preparation of carbon monolith coated with nano-Fe 3 O 4 was a promising method for anode enhancement in MFCs. • Three-dimension porous carbon monolith (WGCM) was prepared by freeze drying and carbonization of wax gourd. • WGCM enhanced biofilm formation due to the microporous network structure, hydrophilic surface, and good conductivity. • Fe 3 O 4 increased the abundance of Geobacter. • WGCM and Fe 3 O 4 improved anode performance in MFCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the performance and solve the restrictions of UV/chlorine process (e.g., the narrow pH application range and high disinfection by-products (DBPs) formation), a Fe2+ assisted advanced oxidation process with electrochemically generated chlorine (UV/E-Cl/Fe2+) was proposed for carbamazepine (CBZ) degradation, which eliminated CBZ (5 mg/L) within 4 min under the optimal conditions. Compared with UV/electro-generated chlorine (UV/E-Cl) and anodic oxidation-chlorination/Fe2+ (AO-Cl/Fe2+) processes, the apparent first-order kinetics constant in UV/E-Cl/Fe2+ increased by 2.56 and 3.18 times respectively, and the energy consumption was lower (1.15 kWh/m3-log). Simultaneously, the pH application range could be expanded to 9, and DBPs formed in this process were 17.1% less than those in UV/E-Cl. Through quenching tests, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) experiments, measurement of •OH concentration, quantification of methyl phenyl sulfoxide (PMSO) and benzosulfone (PMSO 2) and processes comparison, possible CBZ degradation pathways and mechanism of UV/E-Cl/Fe2+ were proposed, in which Fe(IV) played the dominant role in the early stage, while the production of radicals (i.e., •OH and Cl•) was enhanced with the increase of chlorine generation, accelerating the CBZ removal. Furthermore, this process demonstrated wide application prospect in treating various contaminants and real wastewaters. In conclusion, this study offers an effective and energy-efficient method for organic pollutants degradation. [Display omitted] • UV/E-Cl/Fe2+ process was proposed to degrade pollutants efficiently. • UV/E-Cl/Fe2+ showed better pollutants and TOC removal and less DBPs formation than UV/E-Cl. • Fe(IV) and radicals (.•OH and Cl•) dominated carbamazepine (CBZ) removal by UV/E-Cl/Fe2+. • Degradation pathway and mechanism of CBZ by UV/E-Cl/Fe2+ process were proposed. • UV/E-Cl/Fe2+ system showed cost-effective application perspective at wide pH till 9. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in biological processes by regulating specific gene expression. Limited miRNAs information is available on embryonic development in common carp (Cyprinus carpio) so far. In this study, six important embryonic development stages of C. carpio were collected to perform a times-series of small RNA-seq experiments from cleavage, blastocyst, gastrulation, organ formation, hatching stage to 1 day post-hatching larva. The expression profiles of miRNAs were identified and differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) were screened out based on pairwise comparison. A mean of 12,744,989 raw reads and 9,888,123 clean reads were obtained from each library. A total of 2565 miRNAs were identified. 68 of 204 DEMs were overlapped with stage-specific miRNAs, in which 15 were known miRNAs and seemed to play a key role in embryogenesis. Additionally, time-course expression reveals several intriguing fluctuations during embryogenesis. Numerous signaling pathways were identified in embryonic development, including the phototransduction, hippo signaling pathway, Wnt, melanogenesis, histidine metabolism and fatty acid biosynthesis. The results would provide new insight into the roles of miRNAs in embryonic development, and would help us to advance the understanding of miRNA-mediated mechanisms in embryonic development of fish. Unlabelled Image • It provides the first miRNAs expression profile of six embryonic stages in C. carpio. • We screened the stage specific miRNAs and differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs). • 15 known DEMs seemed to play important roles in embryogenesis. • The specifically expressed miRNAs-mRNA interaction is crucial for mechanisms. • Many pathways related to embryonic development were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Evolution of droplet approach can be described by Re = 60Ca/Oh2. • A more precise equation for droplet approach is proposed. • Evolution of bridge expansion for different regimes are determined. The electrocoalescence of droplets in a viscous fluid is resisted by viscous and inertial forces. In this paper, the effects of these forces on the droplet approaching and liquid bridge expansion are investigated. The results show that the approaching of droplets can be described by the equation Re = 60Ca/Oh2. In addition, we propose a modified equation for the approaching of droplets, which is in better agreement with experimental data. In the initial stage of liquid bridge expansion, the dimensionless number Oh is used to identify different regimes, which is collapsed into a unified expression by using a characteristic time. In this way, evolution of the liquid bridge in different regimes is described. Moreover, it is found that larger liquid bridge width in the viscous regime can result in a slower expansion in the later stage. This study deepens the understanding of the kinetics of droplet electrocoalescence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• In this study, a visualized light intensity distribution image is constructed by multi-dimensional spectroscopy fusion method, which extends the wavelength dimension of the model, reduces the data volume of the model, and further improves the prediction accuracy of the model. • The multi-dimensional spectroscopy fusion method of the wedge-shaped sample pool can accurately obtain the component content of the measured complex solution and realize the on-line, non-destructive and rapid detection of the complex solution. In order to improve the accuracy of the detection of complex solution components in wedge-shaped sample pool, this paper obtained multi-dimensional spectroscopy (MDS) of multi-path non-linear features including samples by multi-position and multi-wavelength detection methods. And this research constructed a visualized light intensity distribution image by multi-dimensional spectroscopy fusion (MDSF) method. The detection of 46 samples of India Ink and Intralipd-20% mixed phantoms was carried out, and the visualized light intensity distribution image was analyzed and trained by partial least squares (PLS) method, and compared to training method that the raw data without the MDSF (Non-MDSF). In this study, the multi-dimensional spectral fusion modeling method is used to increase the correlation coefficient of the model by 1.29%, and the mean square error is reduced by 3.07%. The results show that the use of MDSF method to analyze the composition of complex solutions, the composition of the solution with scattering characteristics is fast and accurate, which is of great significance for the field of complex solution detection and analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper used wedge sample as a detection model. • This paper studied the changes of the diffuse disc properties. • This paper proposed the multi-dimension radial distance method. The measurement accuracy of turbid media is difficult to improve due to the co-existence of absorption and scattering effects. In this report, the diffuse disc of transmission surface was obtained by using the Monte Carlo simulation model based on wedge sample, and the radial distance of each diffuse disc was extracted to study the influence of different optical parameters on the diffuse disc properties. Subsequently, the partial least square regression (PLS) analysis model was established to analyze the relationship between multi-dimensional radial distance and the concentration of Intralipid-20%. Compared with multi-dimensional spectroscopy fusion (MDSF) and conventional two-dimensional light intensity method, multidimensional radial distance (MDRD) method increased the average correlation coefficient of prediction set by 3.5% and decreased the average mean square error by 28.6%. This study proposes the high-throughput and non-invasive method to analysis the turbid media using Monte Carlo simulation model based wedge sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Droplet response mode depends on electric capillary number and viscosity ratio. • Liquid bridge growth is dominated by interface tension instead of electric stress. • Dimensionless liquid bridge radius is linear with the conical angle. Deformation and coalescence behaviors of water droplets in viscous fluid under a direct current electric field are investigated with experiments and numerical simulations. An electro-hydrodynamic model is developed based on fluid dynamics equations and electrostatic equations. A coupled level set and volume of fluid method is proposed to capture the dynamic interface. The numerical results are validated to be in good accordance with classic results in the literature. The effects of electric capillary number Ca and viscosity ratio λ on droplet deformation and coalescence are systematically analyzed. Two different droplet response modes are obtained, namely overdamping response and underdamping response. The conversion of response modes is discussed with the (Ca, λ) phase diagram. Moreover, the distributions of electric field and flow field before and after the droplets contact are compared and analyzed. Numerical results show the time evolution of liquid bridge is dominated by the interfacial tension and viscosity of continuous phase. The electric stress is extremely weak at the liquid bridge and has a slight influence on evolution of liquid bridge. The correlation formula between dimensionless liquid bridge radius and conical angle during the growth of liquid bridge is regressed. These results are helpful for the optimization of electro-coalescence process. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Effect of droplet banding on demulsification process is analyzed. • Optimal acoustic intensity and treatment time are obtained. • Acoustic cavitation threshold in emulsions is achieved by spectral analysis. • Range of oil-water properties suitable for ultrasonic separation is determined. Abstract This paper focuses on the application range and optimal parameters for separating water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions using ultrasonic standing waves (USWs). Firstly, the effect of droplet bandings on the demulsification process is theoretically analyzed. The formation of droplet bandings coincides with droplet sedimentation when horizontal irradiation is applied, which improves the separation efficiency. On this basis, the effects of acoustic parameters and oil-water properties on demulsification are analyzed in detail. It is shown that ultrasonic treatment is an efficient demulsification method, and that maximum demulsification efficiency can be achieved by optimizing the acoustic intensity and treatment time. Excessive acoustic intensity causes acoustic cavitation in low-frequency USWs and acoustic streaming in high-frequency USWs, resulting in a low separation efficiency. Acoustic cavitation also causes secondary emulsification, dispersing tiny oil droplets into separated water. In addition, ultrasonic separation is significantly affected by oil-water properties. The demulsification efficiency of W/O emulsions decreases with increasing oil viscosity and decreasing oil-water interfacial tension. Ultrasonic treatment has significant advantages for separation of emulsions with low water content and interfacial tension. This study presents an in-depth analysis of ultrasonic separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The voltage swell (VS) in power system may require high voltage ride through (HVRT) of wind farms (WFs), and the detailed WF simulation model would need huge computational time, and thus is not be suitable for the analysis of HVRT dynamic behaviour of large-scale WFs. In this paper, a novel WF equivalent model with the required accuracy level for HVRT analysis is proposed. Firstly, multiscale entropies (MSEs) of the operational parameters in wind turbines (WTs) are calculated to represent their distinguishability in different HVRT processes, and the time series of several parameters which have obvious distinguishability are selected as the multi-view clustering indicators (CIs). To handle the multi-view CIs, a new clustering algorithm namely multi-view incremental transfer fuzzy C means (MVIT-FCM) is proposed. This algorithm integrates the transfer learning technique to increase the stability and accuracy of the WTs clustering. Also, the high-dimensionality of the time series based CIs and the consequent computational burden in clustering are considered, and an incremental technique is applied in MVIT-FCM to handle the large-scale WF modelling. A real WF system is used for case study. The results indicate that the multi-view CIs are very effective for increasing the equivalent accuracies. In addition, with the aid of incremental and transfer learning techniques, MVIT-FCM can acquire stable clustering results and handle large-scale WF accurately and efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Learning and memory and emotional impairment in rats with post-weaning social isolation were verified. • The similarities and differences between the multifunctional closed maze, water maze, and IntelliCage system were compared in the post-weaning social isolation model rat behavior test. • Multifunctional closed maze was the optimal choice to simultaneously detect learning and memory and emotional disorders. To verify a behavioral device for the detection of learning, memory, and affective disorders in post-weaning socially isolated rats. We tested the behavioral changes in post-weaning socially isolated rats using a multi-function closed maze, a self-developed behavioral device, against the classical mood disorder detection method, the IntelliCage system and Morris water maze. In the multifunctional closed maze experiment, the spatial learning and memory ability of post-weaning socially isolated rats decreased, which was consistent with the results of the water maze and IntelliCage system. Furthermore, the behavioral changes in the post-weaning socially isolated rats in the multi-function closed maze test were the same as those of the forced swimming and open field tests, indicating that the rats had depression- and anxiety-like behaviors. A multi-function closed maze can detect emotional changes, spatial learning ability, and memory ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]