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The substitution of noble metal platinum catalyst is one of the important research contents for sustainable development and is also the key to the practical application of photoelectrochemical (PEC) hydrogen production. In this work, we loaded the 1T-2H mixed phase MoS2 on the hydrogenated anatase/rutile heterophase TiO2 (A-H-RTNA) by hydrothermal method to prepare a new MoS2/A-H-RTNA electrode material. The prepared material exhibited higher carrier density, lower PL intensity and higher conductivity than Pt/A-H-RTNA because 1T-MoS2 has more active sites and lower charge transfer resistance than Pt. With the bias voltage of −0.4 V, the optimized 16MoS2/A-H-RTNA as photocathode shows the largest PEC hydrogen production rate of 1840 mmol m−2 h−1, which is 2.9 and 2.2 times higher than those of A-H-RTNA (625 mmol m−2 h−1) and Pt/A-H-RTNA (848 mmol m−2 h−1), respectively. We innovatively used the prepared 16MoS2/A-H-RTNA film as counter electrode instead of Pt electrode to construct a PEC system without any noble-metal. The result demonstrates that the noble-metal-free MoS2 loaded on TiO2 electrode as counter electrode has 75% PEC activity of noble metal Pt electrode. This study develops a PEC method for hydrogen evolution, which no longer depends on precious metal platinum as cathode.

Background N-of-1 trial is a desired and appropriate approach to assessing the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) interventions. There have been an increasing number of N-of-1 trials for TCM published. However, a lack of preferred reporting guidance led in the general poor reporting quality of these trials. Due to the unique characteristics of TCM, the working group developed this CONSORT Extension for reporting N-of-1 Trials for Traditional Chinese Medicine (CENT for TCM) to assist TCM researchers in reporting N-of-1 trials for TCM. Methods We registered CENT for TCM at the EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) Network (available at equator-network.org). The development was a comprehensive process through collection of the initial reporting items, two-round scientific Delphi consensus survey with 17 panelists, revision and formation of the final reporting checklist. Results The checklist includes 25 items within six domains, eight items in which were extended and elaborated on the items of the CENT 2015 checklist. Explanation of the items were listed adequately considering the nature of TCM, introducing the concept of TCM syndrome differentiation and TCM interventions. Conclusions CENT for TCM can be used to assess the completeness of the reporting of N-of-1 trials for TCM. The working group expect that CENT for TCM could be a practical tool to enhance the comprehensiveness and transparency of the design, implementation and reporting of N-of-1 trials for TCM.

Tree peony has been widely planted as an excellent oil crop with high proportion of α-linolenic acid (ALA) in its seeds. It was reported that pollen sources have clear effects on fatty acid (FA) composition of its kernels. Nevertheless, the molecular basis of this novel phenomenon is poorly understood. In this study, four Paeonia suffruticosa cultivars whose pollen caused significant differences in ALA content of Paeonia rockii were selected as pollen donors and grouped under high and low ALA groups. After pollination, total FAs content, composition and expression profiles of 10 genes involved in the FA and triacylglycerol (TAG) biosynthetic pathways were investigated during seed development. During the rapid oil accumulation in seeds, three desaturase genes (SAD, FAD2, FAD3) showed much higher expression in high ALA group, and their differential expression profiles corresponded well with the variations in ALA content among different pollen sources. Overall, pollen sources could affect the expression level of genes associated with fatty acid modification and subsequently affect the composition of FA in the kernels.

Two kinds of branched TiO 2 nanorods arrays (TNRs), i.e. rutile nanorod covered with rutile branches (BTNRs) and rutile nanorod covered with anatase branches (ATNRs), were synthesized on FTO films as photoanodes. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) performances of the both photoanodes were comparably evaluated. The PEC hydrogen production rate of ATNRs photoanode is 4.2 and 2.7 times those of the TNRs and BTNRs photoanodes, respectively. The ATNRs showed a highly PEC response because of a lower intrinsic resistance and a heterophase structure between rutile nanorod and anatase branches. The study explicitly ascertains a kind of more effective structure for photoelectrical materials and gives new insight into intrinsic resistance based on PEC analyses.

In this paper, wavelet transform profilometry (WTP) method is studied to achieve a train wheel surface 3-D topography reconstruction and defects inspection. A structured light illumination is used to generate periodic fringes, and a CCD camera is used to capture the image of deformed fringes caused by a 3-D topography. The Complex Morlet wavelet is used to transform the deformed fringes image. By extracting the maximum value of wavelet transform ridge, distribution of wrapped phase caused by cliffy surface variation is obtained. A reliability algorithm is used for phase unwrapping. Simulation is done to manifest the feasibility of the method, and the maximal deviation of a 3-D reconstructed surface is 0.15 mm, so comparing with traditional 3-D reconstruction method, this method achieves a higher accuracy. Validation test on a train wheel shows that this method performs a precise 3-D reconstruction of large dimension object such as wheel surface, while small dimension object such as surface defects is also fine recognized simultaneously. Comparing with light section method, this method achieves a faster 3-D reconstruction.

A novel membrane-free electrodeionization (MFEDI) process has been proposed and tested successfully for high purity water production in our previous work. However, to prevent the ions backward migration, the electrode polarity had to be reversed during regeneration, which complicated the regeneration process, reduced the regeneration efficiency and shortened the electrode life. In order to avoid the electrode polarity reversal and enhance the regeneration efficiency, the resin layer structure and the types of mixed resins were changed in this work to form a MFEDI without electrode polarity reversal which was then tested by desalinating the synthetic two-pass RO permeate of seawater with a total of 40 operational cycles. Results demonstrated that the backward migration of Na + ions was prevented effectively; the weak-type resins facilitated the water dissociation and promoted the regeneration of strong-type resins significantly. Both good purification and effective regeneration were achieved. The conductivity of effluent was 0.060–0.063 μS/cm only. The energy consumption and the water recovery were 0.24 kW h/m 3 water and 96.1%, respectively. Repetitive experimental results showed this MFEDI system could work stably.

Electrodeionization (EDI) is widely used for removal and recovery of nickel from dilute wastewater due to its high efficiency and easy operation. However, the use of membranes in EDI causes problems such as membrane fouling, scaling and concentration polarization. In this work, the treatability of nickel containing wastewater by membrane-free electrodeionization (MFEDI) was experimentally investigated. The study concentrated on the effect of different resin bed configurations in MFEDI system in term of nickel removal, precipitation generation and water recovery, as well as energy consumption. The experiment results show that excellent purification and effective regeneration were achieved by MFEDI with a layered mixed bed. It was observed that, in the purification stage, with an inlet conductivity of 42.5 μS/cm and a nickel concentration of 10.0 mg/L, the effluent conductivity was 0.3–1.0 μS/cm and the nickel concentration of the effluent was below the detection limit; in the regeneration stage, the average nickel concentration of the concentrate was over 80.0 mg/L, the average pH of the concentrate was 7.4, thereby precipitation was prevented. The energy consumption and water recovery rate were 5.6 kWh/m 3 and 88%, respectively.

In some coastal areas, the primary freshwater obtained through seawater desalination has been widely used as the feed water in high purity-water production. Due to its high conductivity, however, further lowering ionic species load is needed before the final polishing process such as the mixed bed ion exchange and electrodeionization. In this work, a new process called as chemical-free ion exchange (CFIE) was proposed to replace the conventional two-bed (cation–anion) ion exchange for the purpose above. Results demonstrated that the mixed resin regeneration was achieved mainly by electrically enhancing water split. After regeneration, the resins could resume their ability to desalinate. The conductivities of purified water were 0.8–1.5 μS/cm, and the energy consumption and water recovery were 0.29–1.04 kWh/m3 water and 81.8–94.7%, respectively. The neutral concentrate collected during regeneration could be returned to a pretreatment unit for recovery. No chemical was needed and no wastewater was produced. Repetitive experimental results showed that the CFIE system could run stably.

A promising membrane-free electrodeionization (MFEDI) process has been proposed for high purity water (HPW) production in our previous work. However, the employ of a large number of weak-acid resins in MFEDI limits this process for purifying the reverse osmosis (RO) permeate of tap water with a pH value below 6.0. In this work, a MFEDI system filled only with mixed strong-acid and strong-base resins was tested to desalinate the synthetic acidic RO permeate. Results demonstrated that the resins regeneration was achieved mainly by electrically enhancing water dissociation after a high current density was imposed to the resin layer. Both good purification and effective regeneration were achieved. The conductivity of effluent was 0.060–0.062 μS/cm only. The energy consumption fluctuated in the range of 0.35–0.41 kW h/m 3 water and the water recovery reached 93.1%. The mixed concentrate collected during regeneration, with an average conductivity of 145 μS/cm and a pH value of 6.5, could be returned to a pretreatment unit for recovery. No chemical was needed and no wastewater was produced. Repetitive experimental results showed the MFEDI system could work stably.

Bi2WO6 nanoplates with thickness of about 100 nm had been successfully synthesized by sol-gel method using egg white proteins (albumin) as a biotemplate. On the basis of results of morphologies observation, it was found that albumin was critical for controlling the morphologies of the final products. Photocatalytic activities of the samples were evaluated by the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) under visible light irradiation. Due to the combined effects of high specific area, high light absorption and efficient separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, Bi2WO6 photocatalyst synthesized in the presence of albumin exhibited better photocatalytic activity than that Bi2WO6 synthesized without using albumin.