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Rehabilitation is necessary for the recovery of patients with paralysis caused by stroke and muscle atrophy. Wearable electronics can provide feedback on physical training and facilitate healthcare. However, most existing wearable electronics are difficult to maintain a conformal skin‐device interface. Additionally, the use of non‐degradable electronic materials is associated with environmental risks. Herein, ionogels with biodegradation and shape‐memory properties as eco‐friendly and geometry‐adaptive wearable electronics for rehabilitation are proposed. The biodegradation is enabled by incorporating polycaprolactone segments into the ionogel matrix. Moreover, the ionogel‐based wearable electronics can be conformal to certain joints by shape programming, and provide stable and reproducible real‐time signals reflecting joint movements during long‐term rehabilitation training assisted by a robotic glove, facilitating carers to assess rehabilitation efficacy and choose an appropriate scheme. This study demonstrates the potential of biodegradable shape‐memory ionogels as green and adaptive wearable electronics for robot‐assisted rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that the dry/wet boundaries of land surface temperature fractional vegetation coverage (LSTfc) trapezoid framework vary linearly with vegetation coverage (fc). In this study, the theoretical end-members algorithm is modified to continuously estimate the dry/wet end-members under varying vegetation conditions, causing the theoretical dry/wet boundaries to become non-linear. The findings revealed that the non-linear dry/wet boundaries were generally below the conventional linear dry/wet boundaries. Furthermore, the non-linear boundary scheme adopted herein provided better performance in estimating the latent heat flux (LE) and vegetation latent heat flux fraction (LEv/LE) compared to the linear boundary scheme. The parametric schemes of aerodynamic and thermodynamic roughness length and the aerodynamic resistance were the major drivers that result in dry/wet boundaries characteristics being highly non-linear. This study enhanced the physical process description in the LST-fc trapezoid framework and improved the prediction accuracy of regional LE and its components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Basic principles and affecting parameters of electrospinning process are overviewed. • Summary of application of electrospinning biohybrid technology. • Applications of electrospinning biohybrid technology targeting different pollutants. • Microbial selection, fabricating routes of electrospinning biohybrid composites. • Bioremediation capacity of electrospinning biohybrid technology in water treatment. • The actual state and future challenges of electrospinning biohybrid technology. With the rapid development of nanotechnology and additive manufacturing industries, electrospinning for the fabrication of high-performance nanofibers has attracted increasing attention. The rapid development of biohybrid environmental remediation technology has led to sustainable water treatment materials aimed at different pollutants and application scenarios. The coupling of biohybrid materials with electrospinning technology further addresses potential drawbacks of traditional biomaterials, such as low activity, poor diffusion, and loss of biological activity. In recent years, advanced techniques for constructing biohybrid fibers have been achieved through electrospinning methods such as fiber encapsulation, microtube encapsulation, and co-electrospinning, utilizing microbial cells (bacteria, algae, yeast, etc.). In this review, we firstly introduce the basic principle of electrospinning technology and parameters affecting spinning process. Then systematically analyze the microbial selection, material synthesis routes, and degradation efficiency of electrospinning biohybrid technology in water treatment processes targeting different pollutants, while assessing the application prospects or drawbacks of each case. Finally, we summarize and prospect the technical characteristics, current issues, and industrial prospects of electrospinning biohybrid technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A deep learning approach is proposed to remotely assess CTP in the Great Lakes. • The model reliably estimates CTP from MODIS and outperforms 7 other algorithms. • The near-surface CTP of the Great Lakes decreased significantly from 2002 to 2022. • Reduced cropland and improved basin ecosystems drive widespread CTP decrease. • Adapting the model to VIIRS enhances seamless CTP estimation at moderate-scale. Total phosphorus (TP) is non-optically active, thus TP concentration (CTP) estimation using remote sensing still exists grand challenge. This study developed a deep neural network model (DNN) for CTP estimation with synchronous in-situ measurements and MODIS-derived remote sensing reflectance (R rs) (N = 3916). Using DNN, the annual and intra-annual CTP spatial distributions of the Great Lakes since 2002 were reconstructed. Then, the reconstructions were correlated to nine potential factors, e.g., Chlorophyll-a, snowmelt, and cropland, to explain seasonal and long-term CTP variations. The results showed that DNN reliably estimated CTP from MODIS R rs , with R2, mean absolute error (MAE), root mean squared error (RMSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and root mean squared logarithmic error (RMSLE) of 0.83, 1.05 μg/L, 2.95 μg/L, 9.92%, and 0.13 on the test set. The near-surface CTP in the Great Lakes decreased significantly (p < 0.05) during 2002 − 2022, primarily attributed to cropland reduction, coupled with improvements in basin natural ecosystems. The sensitivity analysis verified the model robustness when confronted with input feature changes < 35%. This result along with the marginal difference between CTP derived from two sensors (R2 = 0.76, MAE = 2.12 μg/L, RMSE = 2.51 μg/L, MAPE = 11.52%, RMSLE = 0.24) suggested the model transferability from MODIS to VIIRS. This transformation facilitated optimal usage of MODIS-related archive and enhanced the continuity of CTP estimation at moderate resolution. This study presents a practical method for spatiotemporal reconstruction of CTP using remote sensing, and contributes to better understandings of driving factors behind CTP variations in the Great Lakes. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coexistence of microplastics (MPs) and heavy metals in sediments has caused a potential threat to sediment biota. However, differences in the effects of MPs and heavy metals on microbes and plants in sediments under different sediment conditions remain unclear. Hence, we investigated the influence of polyethylene (PE) and polylactic acid (PLA) MPs on microbial community structure, Pb bioavailability, and wheatgrass traits under sequential incubation of sediments (i.e., flood, drainage, and planting stages). Results showed that the sediment enzyme activities presented a dose-dependent effect of MPs. Besides, 10 % PLA MPs significantly increased the F1 fractions in three stages by 11.13 %, 30.10 %, and 17.26 %, respectively, thus resulting in higher Pb mobility and biotoxicity. MPs altered sediment bacterial composition and structures, and bacterial community differences were evident in different incubation stages. Moreover, the co-exposure of PLA MPs and Pb significantly decreased the shoot length and total biomass of wheatgrass and correspondingly activated the antioxidant enzyme activity. Further correlation analysis demonstrated that community structure induced by MPs was mainly driven by sediment enzyme activity. This study contributes to elucidating the combined effects of MPs and heavy metals on sediment ecosystems under different sediment conditions. [Display omitted] • Effects on enzyme activities varied with MPs types and sediment conditions. • 10 % PLA MPs significantly increased the bioavailability of Pb in sediment. • MPs reduced the complexity and stability of bacterial co-occurrence networks. • Co-exposure PLA MPs and Pb exhibited stronger negative impact on wheatgrass growth. • The bacterial structures were mainly driven by sediment enzyme activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at designing Mg alloys with a significantly increased stiffness at elevated temperatures, we propose a high-precision multi-scale methodology to compute temperature-dependent elastic modulus of homogeneous multiphase alloys. The proposed method combines (i) first-principles calculations of temperature- and solid solubility-dependent elastic properties in individual phases with (ii) a two-level multiphase homogenization at the continuum level and (iii) a phenomenological thermodynamic modeling by the CALPHAD approach. According to the post-average approximation during the calculation, the stresses and strains of individual phases in the alloy are superimposed before undergoing the average approximation. This is different from the traditional method which consider forces as acting axially assumptions of isostrain and isostress model and followed by numerical averaging. We applied the proposed method in light-weight Mg-alloys, in particular, a three-phase alloy with the composition Mg 0.878 Al 0.083 Si 0.039 , and verified it through experimental measurements. The present work identifies that Mg x Al y Si 1- x - y with 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.87 and 0 ≤ y ≤ 0.87- x are candidate compositions with Young's modulus exceeding 60 GPa at 623 K. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A core–shell QQ-encapsulated structure was prepared by a standardized method. • SIPN shell enables excellent biocontainment with physical and chemical stability. • The anti-biofouling and phosphorus removal were enhanced in QQ microcapsule MBR. • QQ microcapsule promoted the application of QQ media for anti-biofouling in MBR. Microbial quorum quenching (QQ) has been proven to be a sustainable anti-biological fouling strategy for membrane bioreactors (MBR), but the long-term stability and practical application in MBR were uncertain. We reported a novel semi-interpenetrating network (SIPN) hydrogels-based design of QQ bacteria (Rhodococcus sp. BH4) encapsulation for both biofouling control and enhancement of organic pollutants removal in MBR. The microcapsule included the alginate core, chitosan thin intermediate compartment and SIPN (sodium alginate / polyacrylamide) shell, which exhibited near-perfect biocontainment, including preventing detectable QQ bacteria escape and improving mechanical strength. The QQ-microcapsules in the MBR demonstrated its significant anti-biofouling effect for treating synthetic wastewater (i.e., membrane fouling was delayed by 233%-280% compared to the control MBR membrane). Meanwhile, the efficiency of phosphorus removal was developed in QQ-microcapsule MBR because of the enhanced phosphorus removal triggered by the flocculation of polyacrylamide (PAM) fraction in SIPN. This promising QQ media brings the broad potential for biofouling control and long-term efficient operation in actual MBR wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microplastics (MPs) accumulation in sediments has posed a huge threat to freshwater ecosystems. However, it is still unclear the effect of MPs on riparian sediment structures and contaminant adsorption under different hydrological processes. In this study, three concentrations of polyamide (PA) MPs-treated sediments (0.1%, 1%, and 10%, w/w) were subjected to natural (NA) exposure, dry-wet (DW) cycles, and freeze-thaw (FT) cycles. The results indicated that PA MPs-added sediment increased the micro-aggregates by 10.1%−18.6% after FT cycles, leading to a decrease in aggregate stability. The pH, OM, and DOC of sediments were significantly increased in DW and FT treatments. In addition, the increasing concentration of PA MPs showed an obvious decrease in aromaticity, humification, and molecular weight of sediment DOM in FT treatments. Also, high level of MPs was more likely to inhibit the formation of humic-like substances and tryptophan-like proteins. For DW and FT cycles, 0.1% and 1% PA MPs-treated sediments slightly increased the adsorption capacity of Cd(II), which may be ascribed to the aging of MPs. Further correlation analysis found that DW and FT altered the link between DOM indicators, and aggregate stability was directly related to the changes in sediment organic carbon. Our findings revealed the ecological risk of MPs accumulating in riparian sediments under typical hydrological processes. [Display omitted] • Macro-aggregate and aggregate stability significantly reduced by combined FT cycles and MPs. • DW and FT cycles showed an obvious increase in sediment properties. • The aromaticity and humification degree of DOM were significantly decreased in 10% MPs-treated sediment. • DW and FT cycles slightly increased the Cd(II) adsorption onto 0.1% and 1% MPs-treated sediments. • There was a relationship between aggregate stability and sediment organic carbon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic membranes were fabricated via vacuum assisted layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly of 0D-2D Bi 2 MoO 6 -g-C 3 N 4 on a PDA coated thin-film composite PVDF substrate by Schiff base reaction. The composite membrane possesss excellent photocatalytic activity under visible light. [Display omitted] A Self-cleaning surface can efficaciously solve the problem of irreversible contamination buildup on filtration membranes. Photocatalytic membranes were fabricated via vacuum assisted layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly of 0D-2D Bi 2 MoO 6 -g-C 3 N 4 on a PDA coated thin-film composite PVDF substrate by Schiff base reaction. The rejection rate of the simulated polysaccharide was more than 90%, and that of the simulated protein was more than 80%. The combination of the membrane and the photocatalyst promoted the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride by the composite membrane to 67.85% when original membranes had minor effect. Under visible light, reversible radiation pollutants (R r) gradually replaced irreversible pollutants (R ir) as the main pollutants. The flux recovery ratio (FRR) of 0D-2D Bi 2 MoO 6 -g-C 3 N 4 /PVDF membrane was 85% after being irradiated with visible light for 30 min. The flux recovery rate of contaminated photocatalytic membrane remained 75%, and the rejection was maintained in a stable range after four cycles of the cleaning operation under visible light. The results indicated that the excellent photocatalytic performance of 0D-2D Bi 2 MoO 6 -g-C 3 N 4 photocatalysis material and the increase of multi-dimensional functional layer morphology on pollutant contact area improved the mechanical stability, interception performance and self-cleaning performance of the composite membrane. This work not only builds a new type of composite coating membranes, but also help us to further understand the relationship between the dimensions of photocatalytic materials and the improvement of photocatalytic membrane performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: B lymphocyte activating factor (BAFF) is a growth factor regulating B lymphocytes survival and maturation. Serum BAFF levels were elevated in patients affected with autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD), including Graves' disease (GD) and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). The aim of this study is to explore the association of expression levels of BAFF and its receptors with AITD. Methods: Fifty-two GD patients, 39 Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) patients and 23 healthy controls (HC) were recruited in this study. Serum BAFF levels were measured by ELISA. Expression of BAFF receptors, including BAFF receptor 3 (BR3) and transmembrane activator and calcium-modulating and cyclophilin ligand interactor (TACI), on B lymphocytes were analyzed by flowcytometry. Effects of steroids on serum BAFF levels and expression of BR3 and TACI were also observed in 10 patients with Graves' orbitopathy (GO) receiving steroids therapy. Results: Serum BAFF levels were significantly elevated from 0.93 ± 0.24 ng/ml in HC to 1.18 ± 0.33 ng/ml in GD (P = 0.0027) and 1.02 ± 0.24 ng/ml in HT (P = 0.0331). BR3 expression on peripheral B lymphocytes were elevated in GD (mean MFI: 4.52 ± 2.06 in GD vs. 3.00 ± 0.87 in HC, P = 0.0015), while TACI expression on peripheral B lymphocytes were decreased in GD without significance (mean MFI: 7.96 ± 4.06 in GD vs. 9.10 ± 3.37 in HC, P = 0.1285). Expression of BR3 and TACI was not changed significantly in HT patients. Steroids significantly suppressed serum BAFF concentrations (from 1.18 ± 0.27 ng/ml to 0.97 ± 0.10 ng/ml, P = 0.0364) and BR3 expression in GO patients (mean MFI from 6.26 ± 4.91 to 4.05 ± 1.58, P = 0.0083). Conclusions: Altered expression of BAFF and its receptor may mediate the autoimmunity in GD. Restoring the normal expression profile of receptors for BAFF could be a new strategy to treat GD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water-quality monitoring for small urban waterbodies by remote sensing gets to be difficult due to the coarse spatial resolution of remote-sensing imagery. The recently launched Sentinel-2 produces imagery with a spatial resolution of 10 × 10 m and a temporal resolution of 5 days. It provides an opportunity to conduct high-frequency water-quality monitoring for small waterbodies. Since illegal discharges are an important issue for urban water management, total phosphorous (TP), total nitrogen (TN), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) were chosen as the target water-quality parameters. TP, TN and COD, however, are non-optically active parameters. There are fairly limited previous studies on retrieving these parameters in comparison with optically active parameters, e.g. Chlorophyll-a etc. Based on the fact that non-optically active parameters may be highly correlated with optically active parameters, this study compared 255 possible Sentinel-2 imagery band compositions to identify the most appropriate ones for TP, TN and COD retrieval. Three machine-learning models, namely Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Regression (SVR) and Neural Networks (NN), were compared to seek the most robust ones for retrieving the above non-optically active parameters. Results showed that the most appropriate band (hereafter termed as ' B i n d e x ' for brevity) compositions for TP, TN, and COD retrieval were ' B 3 + B 4 + B 5 + B 6 + B 7 + B 8 ', ' B 3 + B 4 + B 5 \breAK + B 6 + B 7 + B 8 ', and ' B 2 + B 3 + B 5 + B 6 + B 7 + B 8 ' respectively. The coefficient of determination (R2) of TP, TN, and COD estimations by NN, RF and SVR was 0.94, 0.88, and 0.86, respectively. The retrieval performances of these non-optically active parameters were hence significantly improved by the optimized machine-learning models and imagery band selection. The developed models have limitations in applying to other areas, thus band selection and tuning parameters with new data are necessary for different areas. The water-quality mapping obtained from Sentinel-2 imagery provided a full spatial coverage of the water-quality characterization for the entire water surface, and helped identify illegal discharges to urban waterbodies. This study provides a new practical and efficient water-quality monitoring strategy for managing small waterbodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a serious illness that develops suddenly, progresses rapidly, has a poor treatment response and a high mortality rate. Studies have found that circular RNAs (circRNA) play a critical role in several diseases, but their role in ALI remains unclear. The aim of this study was to identify circRNAs that are associated with ALI and investigate their potential molecular mechanisms. A comparison of lung circRNA and microRNA expression profiles in mice with ALI and controls was performed by RNA-sequencing. A bioinformatic analysis was conducted to identify differentially expressed (DE) RNAs, to construct competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks, and to analyze their function and pathways. Then, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was generated by the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes database, and hub genes were identified using Cytoscape. Furthermore, a key ceRNA subnetwork was constructed based on these hub genes. Overall, we found 239 DE circRNAs and 42 DE microRNAs in ALI mice compared to controls. Additionally, the molecular mechanism of ALI was further understood by building ceRNA networks based on these DE genes. ALI-induced circRNAs are mostly function in the inflammatory response and metabolic processes. Moreover, DE circRNAs are primarily involved in the nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways. Seven hub genes were derived from the PPI network of 191 genes, followed by the construction of circRNA-miRNA-hub gene subnetworks. In this study, circRNA profiles are remarkably changed in mice with LPS-triggered ALI, and their potential contribution to the disease is revealed. • Differential expression of circRNAs involved in ALI and their interactions with miRNAs and mRNAs. • Bioinformatics pipeline to study circRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulation network. • 7 hub genes (Ptpn6, Itga7, Bcl2l1, Tlr4, Vwf, Nfkb2, and Kdr). • 24 circRNA-6 miRNA- 7 hub genes interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Series samples MnBi1-xGdx (x = 0, 0.04, 0.08, 0.12, and 0.16) were prepared and studied the structure and magnetic properties. The Rietveld refinement results showed that the low-temperature phase MnBi content in these samples is above 78% and the doped atoms occupied the position of Bi in the MnBi crystal structure. The Debye temperature is founding to decrease with increasing doping. The Curie temperature, paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transition temperature, thermal hysteresis, saturation magnetization, and coercive force of the samples change significantly with increasing doping content. Within a temperature range of 300–500 K, a positive coercivity temperature coefficient β existed. This work helps MnBi-Gd as a candidate for high-temperature magnetic material applications and contributes to the development of tailoring magnetic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/boron nitride (BN) anisotropic aerogels (CGAs) used as the heat conduction network were prepared by one-step heat flow method to improve the low thermal conductivity and low heat transfer efficiency of phase change materials. Composite phase change materials (CPCMs) were obtained after vacuum adsorption of paraffin. The structure and thermal properties of the samples were then characterized. The results showed that the anisotropic aerogel was successfully prepared and the corresponding CPCM axial thermal conductivity was 1.68 W/(m K) when the graphene oxide (GO)/BN used to prepare the CGA was 1:20, which was 504% higher than pure paraffin. After 50 cycles, the paraffin leakage rate was 3.1%, and the enthalpy loss rate was 2.7%. When simulating the actual temperature change, the paraffin phase change time could be advanced by approximately 1210 s, and the paraffin phase change efficiency could be improved by approximately 47%. CPCMs have high thermal conductivity, high heat transfer efficiency, and high thermal conduction network stability. They exhibit high heat transfer efficiency and can be used in the fields of thermal energy storage and solar energy conversion and so on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic membranes (PMs), coupling of membrane filtration and photocatalysis, have exhibited the potential for application in the wastewater treatment. In this study, we firstly adopted the supramolecular aggregates of melamine (M), cyanuric acid (C), and urea (U) in specific dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as precursors to prepare carbon nitride MCU-C 3 N 4 with high photocatalytic performance, and a kind of novel-designed photocatalytic membrane was prepared via filtrating the mixture of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets and MCU-C 3 N 4 on PVDF membrane supports, and then crosslinked using glutaraldehyde (GA) to construct a steady coating on the GO/MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF membrane. GO/MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF composite membrane exhibited higher permeation flux than that of GO/PVDF membrane and exhibited excellent separation performance for oil-in-water emulsion. A visible light-driven self-cleaning four-stage filtration by a self-built dead-end filtration system was carried out to evaluate membrane antifouling property, and GO/MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF membrane (M2) possessed higher flux recovery ratio (FRR) (∼92.36%) and lower irreversible fouling resistance (R ir) ratio (∼8%) under 30min visible-light irradiation, maintaining relatively higher FRR (>72%) during 4 cycling of four-stage filtrating experiments. GO/MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF PMs are equipped with high permeation flux, separation performance, anti-fouling property and stability, indicating potential application in water treatment. Image 1 • GO/MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF photocatalytic membrane can be driven by visible light. • GO/MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF is prepared by vacuum-assisted self-assembly and crosslink. • GO/MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF has high permeation flux and good separation performance. • GO/MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF has high FRR and low Rir/Rt under visible light irradiation. • GO/MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF has relatively good recyclability and universality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic membranes (PMs), coupling of membrane filtration and photocatalysis in a single unit, have exhibited a great potential for use in energy-efficient water purification and wastewater treatment. The photocatalytic membranes have presented a trend developed from UV-responsive photocatalytic membranes (UV-PMs) (e.g., TiO 2 -based and ZnO-based PMs) into visible light-responsive photocatalytic membranes (Vis-PMs) (e.g., modified TiO 2 /ZnO -based, β-FeOOH-based, and g–C 3 N 4 –based PMs). This paper reviews recent development of the PMs with an emphasis on membrane type and fabrication, key criteria, basic performance assessment, application and challenges. The overall evaluation of the PMs in water treatment is presented, and the development direction of the PMs and the significance of developing the PMs and economy are pointed. Image 1 • Photocatalytic membranes have great potential in water environment purification. • Photocatalysts driven by UV for functional membranes mainly focus on TiO 2 and ZnO. • Visible light-responsive photocatalytic membranes are proposed. • The overall evaluation of the photocatalytic membranes in water treatment is given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An urban water body evaporation (E) model that considers anthropogenic heat flux is proposed; • E in the main urban area (E u) alleviates the urban heat island (UHI) effect, while E in the suburbs area (E s) aggravates the UHI effect; • The upward trend of E u is higher than E s during 1986–2015, indicating the mitigation capability of E to UHI effect is enhanced with urbanization; • The cooling effect of E to UHI mainly depends on the volume and size of the water body in the main urban area; • The mitigation of the urban UHI effect will benefit more from urban E under the future climate change. The urban heat island (UHI) effect is accelerated with urbanization and climate change, thus threatening human survival. The evaporation from water body (E) takes away energy through heat absorption process, thereby effectively play a role in temperature cooling and UHI effect alleviation. However, the response of UHI effect to urban E is still lacks study in the current UHI research. To address this issue, this work proposes a customized water body evaporation model in urban areas. The newly developed urban E model considers the contribution of anthropogenic heat flux (AHF) to the energy balance in urban areas. Meanwhile, AHF is also used to enhance the simulation of the water heat storage change (G) for urban water body. Validation results in two megacities in China indicate that the developed urban E model which considered AHF in the energy balance equation significantly improves the simulation performance of E in the main urban area (the root mean square error (RMSE) significantly decreased by 26.6 W/m2 compared with the original Penman formula for E in the main urban area (E u) simulation). The consideration of AHF in the G determination improves the simulation performance of E in the deep water body (the RMSE significantly decreased by 33.3 W/m2 compared to the AHF-Penman model that do not considering G for E simulation in deep water body). The developed urban E model is further used to evaluate the response of UHI to the E u and E in the suburban area (E s). It is found that E u effectively alleviates UHI, while E s aggravate UHI. Moreover, the cooling effect of E in the main urban areas (ΔT au) and suburbs (ΔT as) are increased with urbanization. The increasing rate of ΔT au is higher than ΔT as , indicate the contribution of evaporation cooling to the UHI alleviation is increased with urbanization. Further analysis demonstrate the urbanization process can explain approximately 90% of the enhanced ability of E to mitigate the UHI effect. Correlation analysis shows that the mitigation capability of E to UHI effect is mainly controlled by the volume and surface size of water body. Finally, future climate scenario-based urban E forecast confirms that ΔT au and ΔT as will continue to rise with climate change. The average increasing rate are 0.018 °C/year and 0.013 °C/year for ΔT au and ΔT as , respectively, under the three representative concentration pathways. The increasing rate of ΔT au is larger than ΔT as , suggesting the mitigation of the UHI effect will benefit more from urban E under the future climate change. Generally, our findings highlight that the mitigation of the UHI effect mainly benefits from E in the main urban area rather than E in the suburban area. This study gains insight into E in urban areas, including its algorithm, interaction with the UHI effect, and responses to urbanization and climate change. The results of this study provide a good scientific basis for urban landscape water planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An indigenous QQ bacteria is efficient on biofouling control in the short-period MBR. • The QQ bacteria has an inhibiting effect on EPS and SMP in MBR mixed liquor. • EPS and SMP contents are linearly dependent on AHLs concentration in mixed liquor. • QQ bacteria has an effect on the variation of TMP at different stages. In this paper, the immobilized quorum quenching (QQ) bacteria – microbial bag was added to a short-period membrane bioreactor (MBR) and its antifouling ability and mechanism were studied by monitoring the changes in transmembrane pressure (TMP), along with the production of N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs), extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) and soluble microbial products (SMP). The QQ bacteria showed efficient mitigation of TMP increase in different membrane fouling stages. In the control MBR group, the TMP reached 43 kPa on the 4th day, while in the experimental group, TMP of QQ-MBR was only 18 kPa at the same time. The detection result of EPS and SMP content of protein and polysaccharide in MBRs showed that QQ bacteria had significant inhibitory effects on EPS and SMP. Also, the QQ bacterial exhibited excellent AHLs degradation rate in MBR reaction tank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foam fractionation is an effective separation technique in recovery of metal ions and surfactant from wastewater. In this paper, recovery of Cd(II) and surfactant in permeate from MEUF by foam fractionation with mixed anionic-nonionic surfactant were studied. Effects of the molar ratio of anionic-nonionic surfactant, Cd(II) concentration, pH on the foam properties and separation efficiency of the three matters were investigated. When the Cd(II) concentration of the feed solution was 10 mg/L, the molar ratio of Triton X-100/SDS was 0.1, the best Cd(II) removal percentage 99.1% was achieved. In addition, the removal percentages of the two surfactants were also relatively high at this condition. The mechanism of the effect of Triton X-100 on removal of Cd(II) by foam fractionation was also investigated by measurement of zeta potential and analysis of FTIR spectra. Results showed that a small amount of nonionic surfactant can significant enhance the removal percentage of Cd(II) by improvement of foam properties of anionic surfactant, while excessive nonionic surfactant may lower the removal percentage due to its negative effect on adsorption of Cd(II) at gas-liquid interface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• It was the first time to investigate sources and risks of soil heavy metals completely in the study area. • Four sources of soil heavy metals in a typical agricultural county were identified mainly by PMF model. • Agricultural activities were subdivided into two types of sources for research. • The impacts of each pollution source and each metal on ecological risks were quantitatively and spatially analyzed. This study collected topsoil samples from 330 sites of Shan County, a typical Chinese agricultural county, to analyze the causes and effects of heavy metal pollution. It was found that the average contents of all heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn) were lower than their screening values in China. However, average contents of As, Cd, Hg, Ni, and Zn exceeded their local background level. The enrichment factors suggested the moderate pollution of Cd and slight pollution of Hg, and they were also the two of the most toxic elements. Most importantly, a new combination of spatial analysis, ecological risk assessment and positive matrix factorization model was used to identify the sources and ecological risks of heavy metals from different sources quantitatively and spatially. The results showed that the risk contribution rates of the natural source, sewage irrigation and animal husbandry, atmospheric deposition and industrial emissions, and agricultural materials were 20.0%, 35.1%, 22.0% and 22.9%, respectively. It was worth noting that agricultural activities contributed nearly 60% of the risk. In general, a large part of the area was in moderate risk. Therefore, it was necessary to promote long-term control of major sources and take precautions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Polyacrylonitrile layer can enhance chemical stability. • Polyacrylonitrile layer can lengthen service life of microcapsules. • Anti-biofouling ability of microcapsules with polyacrylonitrile layer was superior. • Chitosan layer can protect bacteria from damage caused by toxic casting solution. • Biofouling was mitigated by quorum quenching microcapsules during MBR operation. Abstract Quorum quenching (QQ) has been proved to be an efficient method to mitigate biofouling in membrane bioreactors (MBRs). In this paper, in order to enhance practicability of QQ microcapsules, we prepared three types microcapsules with same alginate cores (SAs). The microcapsules with polyacrylonitrile (PAN) layer showed excellent performance in preventing cell leakage from the microcapsules, increasing service life and improving mechanical strength. And confocal laser scanning microscopy images demonstrated that there were very little dead bacteria in the microcapsules with both chitosan and PAN layer than microcapsules with only PAN layer because chitosan layer can protect bacteria entrapped in cores from the hurt caused by poisonous PAN solution. At the same time, the microcapsules with PAN layer presented more efficient anti-biofouling ability in the physical washing test. At last, the bacterial microcapsules coated with both chitosan and PAN layer showed an obvious biofouling mitigation during the MBRs operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • MCU-C 3 N 4 was fabricated by supramolecular strategy. • MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF membranes were assembled by vacuum filtration with crosslinkers. • MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF membranes had excellent photocatalytic degradation of RhB and TC. • MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF membranes exhibited well self-cleaning properties. Abstract Recently, the application of membranes faces a big challenge due to membrane fouling, to alleviate this situation, the hybridization of photocatalysis and membrane filtration has aroused significant attention. In this study, we firstly introduced melamine, cyanuric acid and urea in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as precursors to fabricated the MCU(DMSO)-C 3 N 4 material with excellent photocatalytic performance, and immobilized it on PVDF membranes by vacuum filtration, subsequently adding polyethylene glycol and glutaraldehyde as crosslinkers from MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF membrane. The results demonstrate that with the MCU-C 3 N 4 ratio increasing, the membrane flux was gradually decreased. Besides, the photocatalytic efficiencies of MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF for rhodamine B (RhB) and tetracycline hydrochloride (TC) degradation are 84.24% and 71.26% respectively, which are about 8 times higher than that of the original membrane. To evaluate antifouling performance of photocatalytic membranes, we conducted a four-stage filtration system, and the flux recovery ratio (FRR) of MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF membranes reached over 80% (optimum 91%) under visible light irradiating (λ > 420 nm) for 30 min. Meanwhile, under visible light irradiation reversible fouling (Rr) gradually became the dominant fouling factor instead of the irreversible fouling (Rir), indicating the excellent antifouling performance of MCU-C 3 N 4 /PVDF membranes. This novel method to modify membranes with MCU-C 3 N 4 gives insight to photocatalytic and self-cleaning properties of photocatalytic composite membranes, providing theoretical basis for their broad application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Surfactant monomers tend to adsorb and aggregate on membrane, which plays a crucial role in removal of metal ions by micellar enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF) at low concentration level. In this paper, MEUF of cadmium(Ⅱ) (Cd(Ⅱ)) with low sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) concentration was studied. Ultrafiltration performance was evaluated in terms of rejection ratios of Cd(Ⅱ) and SDS and relative flux of membranes. The results showed that almost 90% of Cd(Ⅱ) were removed by MEUF when SDS concentration was merely 4 mmol/L. This indicates that reducing the dosage of anionic surfactant in removal of metal ions by MEUF is possible. The retention rates of SDS ranged from 20% to 60%. Relative flux dramatically declined when SDS concentration increased from 0.4 mmol/L to 4 mmol/L. In addition, SDS behaviors on membrane during ultrafiltration were analyzed based on Zhu and Gu's adsorption model and Hermia's blocking models. When large amounts of monomeric SDS existed in the bulk solution, SDS monomers adsorbed on membrane and aggregated into hemimicelles. With SDS concentration gradually increasing, standard pore blocking and cake filtration occurred because SDS hemimicelles deposited on membrane. Cd(Ⅱ) rejection was related to the fouling layer formed by deposition of SDS on membrane. Graphical abstract Image Highlights • Cd is rejected during MEUF with SDS concentration below CMC. • Both adsorption and blocking of SDS occurred with low concentration. • SDS behaviors on membrane vary with feed concentration of SDS. • The formed adsorption layer and cake layer are related to Cd rejection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A new method to separate Cd(II) via MEUF-FF with TX-100/SDS mixture was developed. • As low as 0.15CMC of SDS was used in TX-100/SDS mixture. • High separation efficiency (98.4%) for Cd(II) was achieved. • The dosage of SDS was saved 50% in mixed system. Abstract Micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF) is an effective method to remove cadmium ions (Cd(II)) with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The dosages of SDS in previous studies were often quite large. This paper investigated the synergism of anionic-nonionic surfactants and combined process of MEUF and foam fractionation (MEUF-FF), especially the influence of the mole ratio of Triton X-100 (TX-100) to SDS on the rejection factor of Cd(II). At the same time, the separation characteristics including residual ratio of SDS, TX-100 and total surfactants were also studied. Moreover, the performances of MEUF-FF in SDS/TX-100 mixed system were compared with those in SDS-only system. The results of MEUF-FF with SDS/TX-100 mixture showed that the rejection factor of Cd(II) reached the highest value (98.4%) when the dosage of SDS was 337.4 mg/L (0.15 CMC) and the molar ratio of Triton X-100 to SDS was about 0.5. Compared to the results in the SDS-only system, the mixed system saved the dosage of SDS more than 50% and reduced the residual ratio of SDS about 25% at the same Cd(II) rejection factor. This paper provides a promising method using SDS/TX-100 mixture in the MEUF-FF process to efficiently reduce the dosage and residual ratio of anionic surfactant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A low-cost and metal-free semiconductor-based photocatalyst driven by visible light has attracted great interest for water remediation. A relatively larger-surface area carbon nitride consisting of thin nanosheets is synthesized, firstly adopting melamine (M), cyanuric acid (C), urea (U) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as the starting materials to form the supramolecular carbon nitride MCU(DMSO)-C 3 N 4 . Physical, chemical, and optical properties of the resulting samples were characterized. The photocatalytic performance of the MCU(DMSO)-C 3 N 4 was evaluated under visible light irradiation using rhodamine B (RhB), tetracycline hydrochloride (TC), and ciprofloxacin (CIP) as target pollutants. Results showed that MCU-C 3 N 4 exhibited much higher photocatalytic activity than pure g-C 3 N 4 , and when M, C, and U in DMSO with certain molar ratio (1:1:1) exhibited the highest activity. The larger surface area with more active reaction sites, increased bandgap with stronger REDOX ability, and higher separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs contributed to higher photocatalytic activity. The photo-degradation is dominant by the active species (h + and O 2 − ) and converted product ( OH). This exploration of MCU(DMSO)-C 3 N 4 may open a window to the design of low-cost and highly efficient photocatalysis degradation systems for various wastewater treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A metal-free modified carbon nitride MCU(DMSO)-C 3 N 4 (3:3:1) with a honeycomb-like morphology was prepared via firstly introducing cyanuric acid and urea into melamine in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as the precursor for the MCU-C 3 N 4. A variety of characterization methods, including XRD, XPS, FT-IR, SEM, TEM, UV–vis, photoluminescence (PL), and photocurrent generation, were applied to investigate the structure, morphology, optical, and photoelectrochemical properties of the g-C 3 N 4 and MCU-C 3 N 4 (3:3:1). Rhodamine B (RhB), methylene blue (MB), and bisphenol A (BPA) were selected as target pollutants to evaluate photocatalytic activity of the MCU-C 3 N 4 (3:3:1) under visible light irradiation. MCU-C 3 N 4 (3:3:1) exhibits significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity compared with g-C 3 N 4 , where 99.49% RhB is removed within 40min, 97.7% MB is removed within 80 min, and 84.37% BPA is removed within 90 min. The improved photodegradation efficiency was mainly due to the larger surface area, the stronger REDOX ability, and the increased separation efficiency of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. The active radical trapping experiments and electron spin resonance tests indicated that h+ and O 2 − radicals were the dominant active species whereas OH radicals could be a minor factor. A possible photocatalytic mechanism is proposed. This strategy here provides an ideal platform for the design of photocatalysts with large surface area and high porosity for various pollutant controlling applications. Highlights • Honeycomb-like MCU-C 3 N 4 (3:3:1) is well prepared by molecular self-assembly. • High-surface area of MCU-C 3 N 4 improves the photoinduced charges separation. • MCU-C 3 N 4 has greater improvements in degradation of RhB, MB and BPA than g-C 3 N 4. • This preparation strategy for MCU-C 3 N 4 (3:3:1) is facile and environment-friendly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Recent studies on pharmaceuticals removal in MBR treatment process are reviewed. • MBR process and operation parameters have effects on pharmaceuticals removal. • Degradation mechanism of pharmaceuticals and transformation product are analyzed. • Pharmaceuticals are adsorbed by sludge, membrane, and exogenous substance. • Knowledge gaps and recommendation for future research needs are proposed. Abstract Pharmaceuticals in surface waters and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) as emerging pollutants have become a major concern. In comparison with other wastewater treatments, removal of pharmaceuticals in MBR has received much attention. This review presents the source and occurrence of pharmaceuticals in WWTPs influents. Experimental studies related to the removal of pharmaceuticals during MBR treatment, key affecting factors (including the different stages of MBR process configuration and the process parameters), and the underlying mechanisms proposed to explain the biodegradation and adsorption behaviors, have been comprehensively discussed. Several transformation products of pharmaceuticals are also reviewed in this paper. Furthermore, further research is needed to gain more information about the multiple influence factors of the pharmaceuticals elimination, appropriate methods for promoting pharmaceuticals elimination, more essential removal pathways, effect of pharmaceuticals on membrane fouling, and the detection and analysis of transformation products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Introduing N defects over g-C 3 N 4 significantly increased photocatalytic activity. • An IEF was built to further strengthened the transport of photoexcited carriers. • The excellent O 2 adsorption capacity promoted H 2 O 2 production via 2e− ORR. • A possible H 2 O 2 generation pathway formed via 1O 2 was proposed. The development of photocatalysts for the efficient generation of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) and degradation of antibiotic pollutants is a mutual-beneficial solution to the chemical resource demands and environmental remediation. Herein, efficient visible-light-driven H 2 O 2 production and antibiotic degradation are achieved by using nitrogen-deficient modified polymeric carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4) to facilitate the reduction of dioxygen. The N defects modified g-C 3 N 4 reached an excellent H 2 O 2 generation rate of 623.5 μmol g−1h−1 without O 2 bubbling. The structural features and entire photocatalytic conversion process were systematically studied via experiments and theoretical calculations. It was found that the N defects in the framework constructed a giant internal electric field (IEF), which effectively inhibited carrier recombination. Revealed the neglected H 2 O 2 production via 1O 2 pathway, which effectively promoting the selective 2e− oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). More interestingly, the N defects structure greatly improved the O 2 adsorption ability and O 2 production ability of the material, while inhibiting the in situ generated H 2 O 2 from being decomposed and maintaining high efficiency of H 2 O 2 production under air conditions. This study thoroughly revealed the synergistic effects of the terminal cyano group and nitrogen vacancies over g-C 3 N 4 for efficient H 2 O 2 photogeneration photosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel method of electrospinning was employed to enhance quorum quenching hydrogel. • QQ-ECHB performs excellent physical stability and environmental-tolerance. • Stable and long-lasting quorum quenching can be effected at low dosage of QQ-ECHB. • MBR biofouling greatly mitigated and extended service cycle with QQ media addition. Bacterial quorum quenching (QQ) is an effective strategy for controlling biofouling in membrane bioreactor (MBR) by interfering the releasing and degradation of signal molecules during quorum sensing (QS) process. However, due to the framework feature of QQ media, the maintenance of QQ activity and the restriction of mass transfer threshold, it has been difficult to design a more stable and better performing structure in a long period of time. In this research, electrospun fiber coated hydrogel QQ beads (QQ-ECHB) were fabricated by using electrospun nanofiber coated hydrogel to strengthen layers of QQ carriers for the first time. The robust porous PVDF 3D nanofiber membrane was coated on the surface of millimeter-scale QQ hydrogel beads. Biocompatible hydrogel entrapping quorum quenching bacteria (sp.BH4) was employed as the core of the QQ-ECHB. In MBR with the addition of QQ-ECHB, the time to reach transmembrane pressure (TMP) of 40 kPa was 4 times longer than conventional MBR. The robust coating and porous microstructure of QQ-ECHB contributed to keeping a lasting QQ activity and stable physical washing effect at a very low dosage (10g beads/5L MBR). Physical stability and environmental-tolerance tests also verified that the carrier can maintain the structural strength and keep the core bacteria stable when suffering long-term cyclic compression and great fluctuations in sewage quality. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Space networks, in which connectivity is deterministic and intermittent, can be modeled by delay/disruption tolerant networks. In space delay/disruption tolerant networks, a packet is usually transmitted from the source node to the destination node indirectly via a series of relay nodes. If anyone of the nodes in the path becomes congested, the packet will be dropped due to buffer overflow. One of the main reasons behind congestion is the unbalanced network traffic distribution. We propose a load balancing strategy which takes the congestion status of both the local node and relay nodes into account. The congestion status, together with the end-to-end delay, is used in the routing selection. A lookup-table enhancement is also proposed. The off-line computation and the on-line adjustment are combined together to make a more precise estimate of the end-to-end delay while at the same time reducing the onboard computation. Simulation results show that the proposed strategy helps to distribute network traffic more evenly and therefore reduces the packet drop ratio. In addition, the average delay is also decreased in most cases. The lookup-table enhancement provides a compromise between the need for better communication performance and the desire for less onboard computation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) are present both outside of the cells and in the interior of microbial aggregates, and account for a main component in microbial aggregates. EPS can influence the properties and functions of microbial aggregates in biological wastewater treatment systems, and specifically EPS are involved in biofilm formation and stability, sludge behaviors as well as sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) granulation whereas they are also responsible for membrane fouling in membrane bioreactors (MBRs). EPS exhibit dual roles in biological wastewater treatments, and hence the control of available EPS can be expected to lead to changes in microbial aggregate properties, thereby improving system performance. In this review, current updated knowledge with regard to EPS basics including their formation mechanisms, important properties, key component functions as well as sub-fraction differentiation is given. EPS roles in biological wastewater treatments are also briefly summarized. Special emphasis is laid on EPS controlling strategies which would have the great potential in promoting microbial aggregates performance and in alleviating membrane fouling, including limitation strategies (inhibition of quorum sensing (QS) systems, regulation of environmental conditions, enzymatic degradation of key components, energy uncoupling etc.) and elevation strategies (enhancement of QS systems, addition of exogenous agents etc.). Those strategies have been confirmed to be feasible and promising to enhance system performance, and they would be a research niche that deserves further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microplastics (MPs) are able to interact with diverse contaminants in sediments. However, the impacts of MPs on sediment properties and bacterial community structure in heavy metal-contaminated sediments remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the adsorption of Pb(II) by sediment-MPs mixtures and the effects of different concentration MPs on sediment enzyme activities, DOM fractions, and Pb bioavailability in riverine sediments, and further explored the response of sediment microbial community to Pb in the presence of MPs. The results indicated that the addition of MPs significantly decreased the adsorption amount of Pb(II) by sediments, especially decreased by 12.6% at 10% MPs treatment. Besides, the changes in enzyme activities, DOM fractions exhibited dose-dependent effects of MPs. The higher level of MPs (5% and 10%) tends to transform Pb into more bioavailable fractions in sediments. Also, MPs amendment was observed to alter sediment bacterial community structures, and community differences were evident in the uncontaminated and lead-contaminated sediments. Therein, significant increase of Bacteroidota , Proteobacteria and decrease of Firmicutes abundance in Pb-contaminated sediment at the phylum level were observed. These findings are expected to provide comprehensive information for assessing the combined ecological risks of heavy metals and MPs in riverine sediments. [Display omitted] • The adsorption capacity of sediment for Pb(II) decreased with the content of MPs. • The changes in sediment enzyme activities and DOC structures varied with MPs concentration. • High doses of MPs increased the bioavailability of Pb in sediments. • MPs had a greater impact on bacterial community in Pb-contaminated sediments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The flux footprint and physical mechanism are integrated into the convolutional neural network model. • Coupled flux footprint is effective for enhancing the ET estimates in highly heterogeneous and variable wind direction regions. • Coupled physical mechanisms significantly improve the simulation capability of extreme ET events. • Urban ET presents a greater spatial variability with the lowest ET in impervious surface. • The decline in urban ET is due to the combined effect of the decrease in radiation and the increase in impervious surfaces. Estimating urban evapotranspiration (ET) is of great significance for urban water resource allocation and assessing the urban heat island effect. However, most current urban ET models are based on the energy balance theory to estimate urban ET. These models lead to significant errors in urban ET simulation due to the surface heterogeneity and the existence of anthropogenic heat fluxes in urban areas. To solve this issue, this study proposes a modified machine learning-based urban ET method that can estimate urban ET at the site and regional scales. To better characterize the heterogeneity of urban surfaces, the flux footprint of in-situ ET and physical mechanism of ET process are integrated into the convolutional neural network (CNN) model. The modified CNN model is tested in a fast-developing city: Shenzhen, China based on two Eddy Correlation (EC) observations. The verification results indicated that coupling flux footprint and physical mechanism into the CNN model could effectively improve the accuracy of urban ET simulation at the site scale. The modified CNN model significantly reduced the root-mean-square-error (RMSE) of 25.8 W/m2 and increased the determination coefficient (R2) of 0.17 compared to the CNN-O model (The CNN-O model is defined as the CNN model do not integrate flux footprint and physical mechanism of ET). Further analyses suggested that fusing flux footprint data into a machine learning model helps enhance ET estimation in regions with high heterogeneity and highly variable wind directions. Moreover, the integration of physical mechanisms significantly enhanced the model capability to simulate extreme ET events. The modified CNN model is further applied to map the spatial distribution of urban ET and reconstruct long-term urban ET changes. The spatial pattern of urban ET exhibited large spatial variability, where the urban ET in water bodies (mean λET larger than 480 W/m2) and vegetation-covered areas (mean λET larger than 260 W/m2) are substantially higher than the impervious surfaces (mean λET less than 30 W/m2). Long-term trend analyses demonstrated that urbanization resulted in decline in urban ET. The average decreasing rate of urban ET is 1.61 mm/yr (P < 0.05), with a 18 % decrease relative to the long-term ET average. The leading causes for the decline of urban ET are the increased impervious surfaces and the decreased radiation. This study improved the simulation accuracy of urban ET and revealed the response of urban ET to urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The BH4 immobilized media were prepared using nano-silica and silica beads as core reinforcements. • The inclusion of two types of silicon in the beads ensured they were ready for prolonged use. • The application of two quorum quenching media effectively mitigated MBR biofouling. Quorum quenching (QQ) is a strategy to alleviate membrane biofouling in membrane bioreactors (MBRs). As a stable inorganic material with a large specific surface area, silica is often used to prepare of microbial immobilization composites. This study selected two different sizes of silica materials (silica beads and Nano-silica) to make the core encapsulate a QQ bacterial strain (Rhodococcus sp. BH4). The compressive strength and stability under extreme environments were characterized, and the positive effect of silica on QQ beads was verified. The results showed that both QQ beads could resist the impact of high pressure, acid, alkali, salt and EDTA buffer. It was proved that they have the potential to quench effectively continuously. Both beads were still more than 70 % QQ activity after five months of use. In the lab-scale continuous MBR experiment, the time of transmembrane pressure (TMP) reaching 50 kPa in both experimental groups was more than 3 times that in the blank group. The TMP contamination time was extended from 5 to 6 days in the blank group to 18–19 days. Among them, silica beads greatly improve the compressive strength of the beads, and also have a better performance in QQ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The SDS is investigated as a surfactant for heavy metal ion removal via micellar enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF). It is important to recover and reuse surfactant from the retentate stream due to the high cost of surfactant. Repeated acidification is a new way to recover and reuse surfactant. The effects of pH, the initial surfactant concentration of simulated retentate solution, the volume of concentrated solution, and acidification times on SDS recovery and reuse were studied. At pH 1.0, the Cd 2+ was effectively separated from the surfactant micelles, and the SDS had the highest recovery rate. Additionally, the rate of the removal by reused SDS of metal ions was higher than 85% at pH 1.0. When the initial SDS concentration of the simulated retentate solution was 2.0 CMC, the efficiency of SDS recovery and reuse was better than of that at 1.0 CMC. The smaller the concentrated solution volume was, the higher the rates of separation and removal by reused SDS of metal ions were. SDS can be repeatedly used when the concentration achieves its CMC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

pH plays an important role in heavy metal removal during micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF). In the present work, the influence of pH on heavy metal speciation and removal from wastewater by MEUF was investigated using an anionic surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) and a hydrophilic membrane (polyether sulfone). Experiments were performed with pH values in the range of 1–12. Metal ion removal efficiency (R) was used to assess the effects of the MEUF process. Results showed that better removal rate of copper and cadmium was achieved at high pH values (pH > 3) with SDS feed concentration of 8 mM, while the optimal pH range was 3–10 for zinc and lead. The corresponding efficiencies for heavy metal removal decreased with the increasing feed concentration of metal ions under the pH conditions of 1–12. Furthermore, the heavy metal ion removal rate (50 mg/L) followed the order of Pb 2+ > Cd 2+ > Zn 2+ > Cu 2+ . These results showed that pH is a key parameter in metal ion speciation and removal during MEUF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• E i reaches its peak on the following 1–2 days after a rainy event, then gradually decreases to 0. • E i account for 11–14 % of the total ET during the rainy period. • E i from concrete surfaces can be sustained for a longer time due to higher heat storage capability. • Gravel has the highest spatially average E i value due to its higher water retention capability. • E i improve the turbulent transport efficiency of latent heat flux in urban area. Urban evapotranspiration is an important component linking the urban hydrological cycle and energy balance. Previous studies on urban evapotranspiration (ET) mainly focused on evaporation from the soil, vegetation, and water surfaces. However, the urban E i process was overlooked mainly due to its low amount. In this study, the urban E i was determined by eddy correlation (EC) observations combined with a flux footprint model and urban land use information for two urban EC sites. The evaluation of flux data quality indicated that more than 76 % of observed flux data can be used for E i analysis at the two stations during rainy periods. The daily urban E i exhibited high intermittent temporal patterns. The E i value was 0 during the non-rainy period and peaked on the following 1–2 days after the rainy event, then gradually decreased to 0. The average daily E i accounted for 11–14 % of the total ET for the two EC stations during the rainy period. Further analysis indicated that urban E i significantly altered the urban energy balance and turbulent transport processes. The urban E i reduced sensible heat flux (H) and Bowen ratio (BR) during the rainfall period, thereby playing a vital role in mitigating urban heat land effect. Moreover, urban E i improved the turbulent transport efficiency of latent heat flux (r wq) and restored turbulent transport similarity in an urban area. The temporal characteristics of urban E i exhibited a large discrepancy among different impervious surface materials, which mainly depend on the water retention and thermodynamic properties of the impervious surface. Gravel had the best water retention capability and resulted in the highest spatially averaged E i , while the concrete surface had the best thermal storage capability and resulted in the longest duration time of E i. The spatial average of urban E i and its duration time were positively correlated with the water retention and heat storage capabilities of impervious surface materials. This study gained insight into urban E i , including its determination method, temporal characteristics, controlling factors, and impacts of urban E i on the regional energy balance and turbulent transport process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quorum sensing (QS) is a communication process between cells, in which bacteria secrete and sense the specific chemicals, and regulate gene expression in response to population density. Quorum quenching (QQ) blocks QS system, and inhibits gene expression mediating bacterial behaviors. Given the extensive research of acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) signals, existences and effects of AHL-based QS and QQ in biological wastewater treatments are being subject to high concern. This review summarizes AHL structure, synthesis mode, degradation mechanisms, analytical methods, environmental factors, AHL-based QS and QQ mechanisms. The existences and roles of AHL-based QS and QQ in biomembrane processes, activated sludge processes and membrane bioreactors are summarized and discussed, and corresponding exogenous regulation strategy by selective enhancement of AHL-based QS or QQ coexisting in biological wastewater treatments is suggested. Such strategies including the addition of AHL signals, AHL-producing bacteria as well as quorum quenching enzyme or bacteria can effectively improve wastewater treatment performance without killing or limiting bacterial survival and growth. This review will present the theoretical and practical cognition for bacterial AHL-based QS and QQ, suggest the feasibility of exogenous regulation strategies in biological wastewater treatments, and provide useful information to scientists and engineers who work in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the mass production and daily use of plastic products, the potential toxicity of microplastics to the water environment has attracted worldwide attention. In this work, the effect of typical microplastics (PET) on the performance of activated sludge from membrane bioreactors (MBR) was evaluated. The impacts on biological removal efficiency were unconspicuous with continuous dosing of 60 particles/L. However, further investigations revealed that PET particle accumulation caused adverse impacts on settleability and dewaterability. The SVI value increased from 53.3 ml/g MLSS to 69.9 ml/g MLSS and the CST in the PET reactor increased by 22%. Nevertheless, hydrophobicity was reduced by 49.2%. Mechanism studies exposed that the PET microplastics accumulation improved extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from 116.96 mg/L to 138.70 mg/L and caused cell membrane damage. The abundance and diversity of microbial community reduced in activated sludge in PET reactor compared with control reactor. These phenomena revealed a possible hypothesis that the microplastic particles increased EPS and cytotoxicity of activated sludge. However, the rate of transmembrane pressure (TMP) build-up was significantly mitigated in PET-MBR compared to that in a control-MBR (1.27 folds), which attributes that physical scour of particles may still alleviate membrane contamination in MBR. • Membrane biofouling was alleviated due to physical scouring of PET particles. • The physicochemical properties of sludge were changed after long-term PET exposure. • Accumulation of PET particles caused EPS secretion and cell membrane damage. • Long-term exposure to PET changed the microbial community of MBR system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A competitive smartphone-based portable electrochemical aptamer sensing system was developed for MC-LR detection. The platform was composed with a smartphone-controlled portable electrochemical system, a smartphone with custom application and a screen-printed carbon electrode (SPCE). The portable electrochemical system consisted a homemade ARM STM32 with chronoamperometry (CA), cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV) modules that had a similar performance to commercial electrochemical workstations. The control of the portable electrochemical system, reception and visualization of the assay results were implemented by a smartphone. SPCE was modified by in situ electrodeposition with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Subsequently, the aptamer was incubated onto the SPCE through Au-S bonds. The complementary DNA labeled with methylene blue (cDNA-MB) was conjugated onto the surface of MXene to form the probe for signal amplification. The competitive aptasensor was accomplished when the probe was complemented with the aptamer. The fabricated system exhibited the outstanding capability for the determination of MC-LR over a range of 0.0001–5 nM with a limit of detection of 4 × 10−5 nM. Furthermore, the system demonstrated acceptable stability, reproducibility, specificity and high recovery rate. The smartphone-based competitive aptasensor system exhibited the merits of portability, low-cost and fast-response to satisfy the demand for on-site detection of MC-LR. [Display omitted] • A portable smartphone-based competitive electrochemical aptasensor was developed for MC-LR determination. • A multifunctional portable electrochemical system was developed for CA, CV and SWV measurement. • Mxene/cDNA-MB was applied as a probe for signal enhancement. • The portable system exhibited the detection limit of 4 × 10-5 nM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modified eco-risk assessment method (MEAM) integrated with the hierarchical bioavailability determined by the fraction detection of Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr in road dust samples and the local population distribution derived from the local land use map, was proposed to make the hierarchical eco-risk management strategy in Xiandao District (XDD), China. The geo-accumulation index ( I geo ), the original potential eco-risk index ( E r i ) and the modified eco-risk assessment index (MEAI) were used to identify the priority pollutant. Compared with the Hunan soil background values, evaluated metal concentrations were found to different extent. The results of mean I geo , E r i and bioavailability of studied metals revealed the following orders: Cd > Pb ≈ Zn > Cu ≈ Cr, Cd > Pb > Cu > Cr > Zn and Cd > Zn > Cu ≈ Pb > Cr, respectively. Therefore, Cd was regarded as the priority pollutant. To identify the priority areas taking into account cost consideration, the hierarchical risk map based on the results of the modified eco-risk assessment index with overlay of the population density map was needed and made. The west and partly south areas of XDD were under higher eco-risk generally. Moreover, the whole XDD area was divided into 4 area categories with different management priorities based on the possibility of occurrence of eco-risk, and the hierarchical risk management strategy associated with protecting local population was suggested to facilitate allocation of funds for risk management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The North China Craton is one of the oldest continental nuclei in the world. However, extreme lithospheric modification has occurred since the Mesozoic, of which the most typical area is the Yanshan orogenic belt. In this research, a 3-D lithospheric electrical structure beneath the Yanshan belt and adjacent areas was obtained using magnetotelluric array data, which reveals the regional heterogeneity. Notably, the crust and upper mantle (< 100 km) within the Yanshan belt, especially in its southern part, are characterized by high resistivity (> 1000 Ωm). These features are interpreted to be a relic cratonic lithosphere mainly composed of highly depleted olivine. A lithosphere-scale relatively high-conductivity zone (~ 100 Ωm, near EW-trending), which roughly lies beneath the Miyun-Xifengkou-Qinglong fault coincides with the boundary of Archean greenstone belt and also the Mesozoic granitic zone, probably indicating a reactivated Precambrian lithospheric weak/shear zone within Yanshan belt. In contrast, the lower crust and upper mantle of the Bohai Bay basin show large areas of high conductivity, which may result from the modification of the crust and mantle by the upwelled asthenospheric materials. Additionally, the epicenters of several historic destructive earthquakes, including the 1976 Tangshan earthquake (M7.8), are mainly located near the high- and low-resistivity boundary at the conjunction of the Yanshan belt and the Bohai Bay basin. The fragmentation of brittle crustal rocks mainly happened in where the tectonic stresses concentrated, which might result from the rheological difference between the high-resistivity ancient and the high-conductivity modified lithosphere. In these places, intense seismicity would be induced. • Resistive block beneath Southern Yanshan indicates relic cratonic lithosphere. • A high-conductivity lithospheric week/shear zone beneath Northern Yanshan. • Conductive zone reveals large-scale lithospheric destruction of Bohai Bay basin. • Earthquakes are mainly distributed along the high-/low-conductivity boundary. • Different degrees of lithospheric destruction beneath Yanshan and Bohai Bay basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the adsorption behavior of Pb(II) on natural-aged and virgin microplastics in different electrolyte solutions was investigated. The results demonstrated that natural-aged microplastics exhibited higher adsorption capacity for Pb(II) compared to virgin ones, and the addition of CaCl 2 strongly inhibited the adsorption amount of Pb(II). The adsorption kinetics of Pb(II) adsorption were better fitted by the pseudo-second order model and Elovich equation, and were slowed down greatly at higher ionic strength. The rate-limiting steps of adsorption process were dominated by intra-particle diffusion. The adsorption isotherm of Pb(II) onto microplastics affected by salt ions can be well described by Freundlich model, the greater adsorption efficiency of natural-aged microplastics proved that adsorption process was multilayer and heterogeneous. In addition, pH significantly influenced the adsorption of Pb(II) due to the changes electrostatic interactions. The effect of fulvic acid in the electrolyte solutions was also revealed and attributed to the complexation with Na+ and Ca2+. Furthermore, the higher pH and ionic strength in different environmental water dramatically decreased adsorption capacity onto microplastics. Finally, it's confirmed that the adsorption mechanisms affected by salt ions mainly involve electrostatic interaction, surface complexation, and ionic exchange. These findings indicate that salt ions exert an important influence on the adsorption of heavy metals for MPs, which should be further concerned. [Display omitted] • The adsorption capacity of Pb(II) on natural-aged microplastics was higher than virgin ones. • Divalent Ca2+ markedly inhibited the sorption of Pb(II) compared to monovalent Na+. • The pH and fulvic acid affected the Pb(II) sorption in different electrolyte solutions. • Competition and complexation interactions played great roles in the adsorption process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) is a star biodegradable polymer widely studied and applied in the biomedical field. Improving the acidic microenvironment caused by its degradation products and regulating its degradation behavior are still urgent scientific and technological problems to be solved. In this study, to regulate the degradation behaviors of PLGA and improve its bioactivity, hydroxyapatite (HA) and magnesium oxide (MgO) were incorporated into PLGA substrate in different proportions and a series of 3D-printing PLGA/HA/MgO (PHM) composite porous scaffolds were prepared. Then the physicochemical properties, degradation behaviors, in vitro and in vivo biological performance of fabricated scaffolds were systematically studied. The in vitro experimental results showed that PHM composite scaffolds exhibited hydrophilic and mechanical properties similar to natural bone, the presence of MgO could effectively neutralize the acidic environment, and promote bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. The in vivo osteogenic experiments demonstrated that the PHM5 (25 wt% HA, 5 wt% MgO) scaffold could reduce the inflammatory response and promote new bone formation. This study provides a new idea for the regulation of the degradation behavior and the improvement of osteogenic properties of PLGA-based biomaterials. The prepared 3D-printed PHM5 scaffold shows great application potential in the bone repair field. [Display omitted] • PLGA/HA/MgO composite porous scaffolds were successfully prepared by 3D-printing. • MgO could effectively neutralize the acidic environment caused by PLGA degradation. • PLGA/HA/MgO scaffold could reduce inflammatory response and promote osteogenesis. • 3D-printed PLGA/HA/MgO scaffolds have great application potential in bone repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Critical source areas (CSAs) are the areas that are relatively more erosion-prone and contribute significantly more pollutants per unit area. They have been widely recognized as optimal locations for the control of non-point source (NPS) pollution. Modeling approach has been frequently used to identify the CSAs of NPS pollution on a basin scale. In previous studies, CSAs were identified based on the simulated average annual nutrient yields for the simulation period at the levels of sub-basin or hydrologic response unit (HRU). However, this method did not consider the impact of uneven spatial distribution of precipitation, which is considered to be the driven force of NPS pollution. In many cases, due to limited length of qualified monitoring data collected, the simulation period may not cover a full spectrum of the precipitation characteristics so that some potential CSAs may be missed. In the present study, the precipitation driven correlation based mapping method (PCM) was proposed, which can reduce the impact of uncertain spatial–temporal distribution of precipitation and identify the CSAs of NPS pollution with a better coverage. This method was applied to the Zhang River Basin, a watershed in North China that occupies an area of 18,072 km 2 . The SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) was used for simulation purposes. By using PCM, the maps of CSAs for controlling total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were produced. This study has found that the monthly precipitation is highly correlated with the TN and TP yields. It was observed that TN yields have slightly higher correlation value with the precipitation than TP yields. Hence, the precipitation has more impacts on TN yields than TP yields. The impact is more substantial in urban areas than other areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing number of constructed wetlands being built, the modelling of wetland function and performance is valuable. This work examines the efficacy of applying a numeric model (SubWet 2.0) originally designed for horizontal subsurface flow wetlands to model wastewater treatment within vertical subsurface flow constructed wetlands (VSSF-CWs). The treatment efficiencies of two VSSF-CWs with substantially different influent characteristics, one in Canada and one in China, were modelled with SubWet 2.0 and simulated values were then compared to observed values to determine how closely SubWet 2.0 reflects the actual observed performance of these wetlands. The model was calibrated to each wetland with observed data that had been collected prior to the simulations. The correlation coefficient ( R ) and Nash–Sutcliff coefficient of efficiency (NSE) were used to evaluate the modelling performance for 5-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD 5 ), ammonium nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen and total phosphorous (TP). The results showed that the modelling performance for TP and BOD 5 was better for these parameters than that observed for ammonium nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen for either of the two wetlands. For TP and BOD 5 , the correlation coefficient R achieved a value of 0.79 for the wetland receiving stormwater and exceeded this value for the Canadian wetland receiving domestic wastewaters. For nitrate nitrogen, the wetland treating domestic waste showed a correlation coefficient R as high as 0.97, while the wetland treating stormwater runoff had a correlation coefficient R of 0.48. For ammonium nitrogen, both wetlands showed low correlation coefficients with values of 0.70 and 0.60 for domestic wastewater and for stormwater runoff, respectively. This study demonstrated that SubWet 2.0 is suitable for the modelling of VSSF-CWs. The two case studies, with substantial differences in the characteristcs of the influents, demonstrated that Subwet 2.0 is a versatile and robust tool for modelling of constructed wetlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For areas that are urbanized rapidly, the practice of low impact development (LID) has gained an important place in stormwater management and urban planning due to its capability and beneficial effects in restoring the original hydrological cycle. The performances of LID alternatives can vary substantially due to different climate conditions. This study investigated the performances of five LID alternatives under a semi-arid climate in northern China onwater balance and flood control. A numerical model, Storm Water Management Model version 5 (US Environmental Protection Agency), was employed to run 10 years' rainfall events for these objectives. Twoevaluationmethodswere proposed in this study: the efficiency index forwater balance and a performance radar chart. The investigation of the five LID alternatives revealed that these LID alternatives functioned differently in flood control andwater balance, and porous pavement performed best in all indices except the lag time. The two evaluation methods, in conjunction with the long-term numerical simulation, can facilitate design and decision making by providing a clear picture of the performance and functions for these LID alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]