Bamboo- and pig-derived biochars reduce leaching losses of dibutyl phthalate, cadmium, and lead from co-contaminated soils

Qin, Peng,Wang, Hailong,Yang, Xing,He, Lizhi,Mü,ller, Karin,Shaheen, Sabry M.,Xu, Song,Rinklebe, Jö,rg,Tsang, Daniel C.W.,Ok, Yong Sik,Bolan, Nanthi,Song, Zhaoliang,Che, Lei,Xu, Xiaoya Elsevier 2018 CHEMOSPHERE - Vol.198 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Biochar effect on the potential mobility of dibutyl phthalate (DBP), cadmium (Cd), and lead (Pb) in co-contaminated soils is not well investigated. A laboratory leaching study was conducted to evaluate the effect of biochars derived from bamboo (BB) and pig (PB) on the leachability of DBP, Cd, and Pb through soil columns packed with two soils with low or high organic carbon content (LOC; 0.35% C: HOC; 2.24% C) and spiked with DBP, Cd, and Pb. Application of PB to the LOC soil significantly (<I>P</I> < 0.05) reduced the leaching loss by up to 88% for DBP, 38% for Cd, and 71% for Pb, whereas its impact was insignificant in the HOC soil. The higher efficacy of PB in reducing the leaching of DBP, Cd, and Pb in the LOC soil than that of BB might be related to PB's higher specific surface area, surface alkalinity, pH, and mineral contents compared to those of BB. Co-contamination of Cd and Pb enhanced leaching of DBP in the LOC soil treated with PB, possibly by competition for the sorption sites. Leaching of DBP, Cd, and Pb were significantly (<I>P</I> < 0.05) higher in the LOC soil than in the HOC soil. This study revealed that the effectiveness of biochars was dependent on the soil organic carbon content. Application of PB to the LOC soil was effective in reducing the leaching risk of DBP, Cd, and Pb.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Pig biochar reduced leaching of DBP, Cd, and Pb in the low organic carbon (LOC) soil. </LI> <LI> Contaminant leaching was higher in the LOC soil than in the high organic carbon soil. </LI> <LI> Existence of Cd and Pb enhanced mobility of DBP in the pig biochar-treated LOC soil. </LI> <LI> Alkalinity and phosphate in biochar controlled the leaching loss of Cd and Pb. </LI> <LI> Impact of pig biochar on leaching of DBP, Cd, and Pb is stronger than bamboo biochar. </LI> </UL> </P>

Improving mechanical and magnetocaloric responses of amorphous melt-extracted Gd-based microwires via nanocrystallization

Belliveau, H.F.,Yu, Y.Y.,Luo, Y.,Qin, F.X.,Wang, H.,Shen, H.X.,Sun, J.F.,Yu, S.C.,Srikanth, H.,Phan, M.H. Elsevier 2017 JOURNAL OF ALLOYS AND COMPOUNDS Vol.692 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>We report on the structural, mechanical, and magnetocaloric properties of annealed melt-extracted Gd<SUB>53</SUB>Al<SUB>24</SUB>Co<SUB>20</SUB>Zr<SUB>3</SUB> amorphous microwires of ∼70 μm diameter. During heat treatment small islands of nanocrystallities are generated and isolated in the amorphous region for the wires. The size of the nanocrystallities ranges from 5 nm to 10 nm. The observed lattice distortion from the nanocrystallities causes changes in the magnetic properties of the wires. The annealing temperature of 100 °C has the largest strength (1845 MPa) as compared to wires annealed at other temperatures. This is likely to trigger nanophase transformation in the amorphous region and these nanocrystals have been preserved through the increase of annealing temperature. The formulation of the nanocrystalline islands is also verified by the selected-area electron diffraction (SAED). The microwires exhibit a large and reversible magnetocaloric effect (MCE), with the maximum isothermal magnetic entropy change (−Δ<I>S</I> <SUB>M</SUB>) and refrigerant capacity (<I>RC</I>) values of 9.5 J/kg K and 689 J/kg respectively for the microwire annealed at 100 °C. This <I>RC</I> is about 35%, 67%, and 91% larger than those of bulk Gd<SUB>53</SUB>Al<SUB>24</SUB>Co<SUB>20</SUB>Zr<SUB>3</SUB> (∼509 J/kg), Gd (∼410 J/kg), and Gd<SUB>5</SUB>Si<SUB>2</SUB>Ge<SUB>1.9</SUB>Fe<SUB>0.1</SUB> (∼360 J/kg) regardless of their ordering temperatures. These results demonstrate the ability to tune the mechanical and magnetic properties of the microwires by thermal annealing.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> The impact of nanocrystallization in Gd<SUB>53</SUB>Al<SUB>24</SUB>Co<SUB>20</SUB>Zr<SUB>3</SUB> microwires. </LI> <LI> Enhanced mechanical strength. </LI> <LI> Enhanced magnetocaloric response. </LI> </UL> </P>

Randomized phase II study of axitinib versus placebo plus best supportive care in second-line treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma

Kang, Y.-K.,Yau, T.,Park, J.-W.,Lim, H. Y.,Lee, T.-Y.,Obi, S.,Chan, S. L.,Qin, SK.,Kim, R. D.,Casey, M.,Chen, C.,Bhattacharyya, H.,Williams, J. A.,Valota, O.,Chakrabarti, D.,Kudo, M. Oxford University Press 2015 Annals of oncology Vol.26 No.12

<P>Axitinib plus best supportive care failed to meet the primary end point of overall survival in second-line treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma in a randomized phase II study. However, the axitinib arm showed substantially improved progression-free survival, time to tumour progression, and clinical benefit rate compared with the placebo arm, with acceptable safety profile. Background: The efficacy and safety of axitinib, a potent and selective vascular endothelial growth factor receptors 1-3 inhibitor, combined with best supportive care (BSC) was evaluated in a global, randomized, placebo-controlled phase II trial in patients with locally advanced or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients and methods: Patients with HCC and Child-Pugh Class A who progressed on or were intolerant to one prior antiangiogenic therapy were stratified by tumour invasion (presence/absence of extrahepatic spread and/or vascular invasion) and region (Asian/non-Asian) and randomized (2:1) to axitinib/BSC (starting dose 5 mg twice-daily) or placebo/BSC. The primary end point was overall survival (OS). Results: The estimated hazard ratio for OS was 0.907 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.646-1.274; one-sided stratified P = 0.287] for axitinib/BSC (n = 134) versus placebo/BSC (n = 68), with the median (95% CI) of 12.7 (10.2-14.9) versus 9.7 (5.9-11.8) months, respectively. Results of prespecified subgroup analyses in Asian versus non-Asian patients or presence versus absence of tumour invasion were consistent with the overall population. Improvements favouring axitinib/BSC (P < 0.01) were observed in secondary efficacy end point analyses [progression-free survival (PFS), time to tumour progression (TTP), and clinical benefit rate (CBR)], and were retained among Asian patients in the prespecified subgroup analyses. Overall response rate did not differ significantly between treatments and patient-reported outcomes favoured placebo/BSC. Most common all-causality adverse events with axitinib/BSC were diarrhoea (54%), hypertension (54%), and decreased appetite (47%). Baseline serum analyses identified potential new prognostic (interleukin-6, E-selectin, interleukin-8, angiopoietin-2, migration inhibitory factor, and c-MET) or predictive (E-selectin and stromal-derived factor-1) factors for survival. Conclusions: Axitinib/BSC did not improve OS over placebo/BSC in the overall population or in stratification subgroups. However, axitinib/BSC resulted in significantly longer PFS and TTP and higher CBR, with acceptable toxicity in patients with advanced HCC. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01210495.</P>

Quantitative analysis of melamine in milk powders using near-infrared hyperspectral imaging and band ratio

Huang, M.,Kim, M.S.,Delwiche, S.R.,Chao, K.,Qin, J.,Mo, C.,Esquerre, C.,Zhu, Q. Applied Science Publishers 2016 Journal of food engineering Vol.181 No.-

<P>Since 2008, the detection of the adulterant melamine (2,4,6-triamino-1,3,5-triazine) in food products has become the subject of research due to several food safety scares. Near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging offers great potential for food safety and quality research because it combines the features of vibrational spectroscopy and digital imaging. In this study, NIR hyperspectral imaging was investigated for quantitative evaluation of melamine particles in nonfat and whole milk powders. Melamine was mixed into milk powders in a concentration range of 0.02-1.00% (w/w). A NIR hyperspectral imaging system was used to acquire images (938-1654 nm) of melamine powder, whole milk powder, nonfat milk powder, and mixtures of melamine and each of the milk powders. Two optimal bands (1447 nm and 1466 nm) were selected by a linear correlation algorithm with pure milk and pure melamine. Band ratio (13144711455) images coupled with a single threshold were used to create resultant images to visualize identification and distribution of the melamine adulterant particles in milk powders. The identification results were verified by spectral feature comparison between separated mean spectra of melamine pixels and milk pixels. Linear correlations (r) were found between the number of pixels identified as containing melamine and melamine concentration in nonfat milk and whole milk powders, which were 0.980 and 0.970 or higher, respectively. The study demonstrated that the combination of NIR hyperspectral imaging and simple band ratioing was promising for rapid quantitative analysis of melamine in milk powders. Published by Elsevier Ltd.</P>

Experimental investigation on effect of ion cyclotron resonance heating on density fluctuation in SOL at EAST

Y.C. Li,M.H. Li,M. Wang,L. Liu,X.J. Zhang,C.M. Qin,Y.F. Wang,C.B. Wu,L.N. Liu,J.C. Xu,B. J. Ding,X. D. Lin,B. J. Ding,X. D. Lin,J. F. Shan,F. K. Liu,Y. P. Zhao,T. Zhang,X. Gao 한국원자력학회 2022 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.54 No.1

The suppression of high-intensity blob structures in the scrape-off layer (SOL) by ion-cyclotron range offrequencies (ICRF) power, leading to a decrease in the turbulent fluctuation level, is observed first in theExperimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) experiment. This suppression effect from ICRFpower injection is global in the whole SOL at EAST, i.e. blob structures both in the regions that aremagnetically connected to the active ICRF launcher and in the regions that are not connected to theactive ICRF launcher could be suppressed by ICRF power. However, more ICRF power is required to reachthe full blob structure suppression effect in the regions that are magnetically unconnected to the activelauncher than in the regions that are magnetically connected to the active launcher. Studies show that apossible reason for the blob suppression could be the enhanced Er B shear flow in the SOL, which issupported by the shaper radial gradient in the floating potential profiles sensed by the divertor probearrays with increasing ICRF power. The local RF wave power unabsorbed by the core plasma isresponsible for the modification of potential profiles in the SOL regions.

Three dimensional conjugation of recombinant N-cadherin to a hydrogel for in vitro anisotropic neural growth

Vega L., Johana C. M.,Lee, Min Kyung,Qin, Ellen C.,Rich, Max,Lee, Kwan Young,Kim, Dong Hyun,Chung, Hee Jung,Leckband, Deborah E.,Kong, Hyunjoon Royal Society of Chemistry 2016 Journal of Materials Chemistry B Vol.4 No.42

<P>Living cells are being extensively studied to build functional tissues that are useful for both fundamental and applied bioscience studies. Increasing evidence suggests that cell-cell adhesion controlled by the intercellular cadherin junction plays important roles in the quality of the resulting engineered tissue. These findings prompted efforts to interrogate biological effects of cadherin at a molecular scale; however, few efforts were made to harness the effects of cadherin on cells cultured in an <I>in vivo</I>-like three dimensional matrix. To this end, this study reports a hydrogel matrix three dimensionally functionalized with a controlled number of Fc-tagged recombinant N-cadherins (N-Cad-Fc). To retain the desired conformation of N-Cad, these cadherins were immobilized and oriented to the gel by anti-Fc-antibodies chemically coupled to gels. The gels were processed to present N-Cad-Fc in uniaxially aligned microchannels or randomly oriented micropores. Culturing cortical cells in the functionalized gels generated a large fraction of neurons that are functional as indicated by increased intracellular calcium ion concentrations with the microchanneled gel. In contrast, direct N-Cad-Fc immobilization to microchannel or micropore walls of the gel limited the growth of neurons and increased the glial to neuron ratio. The results of this study will be highly useful to organize a wide array of cadherin molecules in a series of biomaterials used for three-dimensional cell culture and to regulate phenotypic activities of tissue-forming cells in an elaborate manner.</P>

Single-Inductor, Multiple-Input-Single-Output Converter Based Energy Mixer for Power Packet Distribution System

C. M. F. S. Reza,Dylan Dah-Chuan Lu,Ling Qin,Jian Qi 전력전자학회 2018 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.18 No.5

Power packet (PP) distribution system distributes power to different loads that share the same distribution cable in a packetized form. When compared with conventional power systems, a PP distribution system (PPDS) can reduce standby power, eliminate Point-of-Load (PoL) power conversion, and intelligently control the load demand from the source side. Due to the absence of PoL conversion, when multiple power sources at different voltage levels and conditioning requirements jointly send power to various loads at different voltage ratings, the generated voltage has an irregular shape. A large filter at each of the load sides is required to reduce such a large voltage ripple. In this paper, a single-inductor, multiple-input-single-output converter structure based multiple-energy-source mixer is proposed. It combines PP generation, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of renewable energy sources (RESs) and filtering at the source side. To demonstrate the possible renewable energy integration, a PV panel is used as a power source together with other constant voltage sources. The PV power is approximately tracked using the constant voltage method and it is used for each of the PP generations. The proposed PP distribution system is experimentally verified and it is shown that a conventional PI controller is sufficient for stable system operation.

Single-Inductor, Multiple-Input-Single-Output Converter Based Energy Mixer for Power Packet Distribution System

Reza, C.M.F.S.,Lu, Dylan Dah-Chuan,Qin, Ling,Qi, Jian The Korean Institute of Power Electronics 2018 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.18 No.5

Power packet (PP) distribution system distributes power to different loads that share the same distribution cable in a packetized form. When compared with conventional power systems, a PP distribution system (PPDS) can reduce standby power, eliminate Point-of-Load (PoL) power conversion, and intelligently control the load demand from the source side. Due to the absence of PoL conversion, when multiple power sources at different voltage levels and conditioning requirements jointly send power to various loads at different voltage ratings, the generated voltage has an irregular shape. A large filter at each of the load sides is required to reduce such a large voltage ripple. In this paper, a single-inductor, multiple-input-single-output converter structure based multiple-energy-source mixer is proposed. It combines PP generation, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of renewable energy sources (RESs) and filtering at the source side. To demonstrate the possible renewable energy integration, a PV panel is used as a power source together with other constant voltage sources. The PV power is approximately tracked using the constant voltage method and it is used for each of the PP generations. The proposed PP distribution system is experimentally verified and it is shown that a conventional PI controller is sufficient for stable system operation.

Thermal analysis and optimization of the new ICRH antenna Faraday Screen in EAST

Q.C. Liang,L.N. Liu,W. Zhang,X.J. Zhang,S. Yuan,Y.Z. Mao,C.M. Qin,Y.S. Wang,H. Yang Korean Nuclear Society 2023 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.55 No.7

In Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) experiments, to achieve long pulse and high-power ICRH system operation, a new kind of ICRH antenna has been designed. One of the most critical factors in limiting the operation of long pulse and high power is the intense heat load in the front face of the ICRH antenna, especially the Faraday Screen (FS). Therefore, the cooling channels of FS need to be designed. According to thermal-hydraulic analysis, the FS tubes are divided into several groups to achieve more excellent water cooling capability. The number of series and parallel tubes in one group is chosen as six. This antenna went into service in the spring of 2021, and it is delightful that the temperature distribution of the FS tube is below 400 ℃ in 14.5 s and 1.8 MW ICRH system operation. However, the active water-cooling design was not carried out on the upper and lower plates of FS, which led to severe ablations on that region under long pulse and high power operation, and the temperature is up to 800. Therefore, the upper and lower side plates of the FS were designed with water cooling based on thermal-hydraulic analysis. During the 2022 winter experiments, the temperature of ICRH antenna FS was lower than 400 in the pulse of 200s and the power of 1 MW operation.

China Spallation Neutron Source: Accelerator Design Iterations and R&D Status

J. Wei,C.-D. Deng,C.-H. Wang,C.-T. Shi,H. Sun,H.-F. Ouyang,H.-M. Qu,H.-Y. Dong,J. Li,J. Zhang,J.-S. Cao,J.-Y. Tang,L. Dong,L.-L. Wang,Q. Qin,Q.-B. Wang,S. Wang,S.-N. Fu,S.-X Fang,T. -G. Xu,W. Kang,Y.- 한국물리학회 2007 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.50 No.I

The China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS) is a high-power, accelerator-based project currently under preparation. The accelerator complex consists of an H$^-$ ion source, an H$^-$ linac, a rapid-cycling proton synchrotron, and the transport lines. During the past year, the design of most accelerator systems went through major iterations, and initial research and developments was started on the prototyping of several key components.