Municipal landfill leachate (MLL) contamination in surface water is a critical global issue due to the high concentration of toxic organics and recalcitrants. The biological treatment of MLL is ineffective due to an elevated concentration of ammoniacal nitrogen, which restricts the production of the recalcitrant degrading laccase enzyme. In this context, integrating an external laccase-anchored carbon catalyst (LACC) matrix system with the microbial system could be an efficient strategy to overcome the drawbacks of conventional biological MLL treatment technologies. In the present study, the LACC matrix was synthesized by utilizing nanoporous activated carbon (NAC) functionalized ethylene diamine (EDA) and glutaraldehyde (GA) (GA/EDA/NAC) matrix for the anchoring of laccase. The maximum anchoring capacity of laccase onto GA/EDA/ NAC was achieved to be 139.65 U/g GA/EDA/NAC at the optimized anchoring time, 60 min; pH, 5; temperature, 30 °C, and mass of GA/EDA/NAC, 300 mg and was confirmed by Fourier transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analyses. Further, the mechanistic study revealed the involvement of covalent bonding in the anchoring of laccase onto the functionalized surface of the GA/EDA/NAC matrix. The adsorption isotherm and kinetics of laccase anchoring onto the GA/EDA/NAC matrix were performed to evaluate its field-level application. Subsequently, the sequential microbial system (I-stage bacterial treatment followed by II-stage fungal treatment) and III-stage LACC matrix system could effectively reduce the COD by 94.2% and phenol by 92.36%. Furthermore, the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrophotometry (GC–MS) and FT-IR analyses confirmed the effective degradation of organic compounds and recalcitrants by the integrated microbial and LACC matrix system. The study suggested that the application of the LACC matrix system has resulted in the complete treatment of real-time MLL by overcoming the negative interference of elevated ammoniacal nitrogen concentration. Thus, the integrated microbial and LACC matrix approach could be considered to effectively treat the MLL without any secondary pollution generation.

The interface area of the face sheet and core of the sandwich composite is seen as a weakness due to its low de-bonding toughness. To overcome this concern, it is critical to develop a suitable modification strategy to enhance the de-bonding toughness of the face sheet/core interface. In the present study, the corrugated core reinforced sandwich composite was prepared through co-curing and secondary bonding approaches. The MWCNTs reinforced adhesive was induced in the face sheet/core interface in different weight concentrations. The MWCNT-reinforced adhesive was prepared using the sonication technique, and its dispersion was examined using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The three-point bending test revealed that sandwich composite prepared using the co-cure method has higher flexural strength than secondary bonded samples due to better bonding face sheet and corrugated core. Compared with MWCNT-free corrugated core reinforced co-cured sandwich composites (CCSC), the flexural strength of 1 wt.% MWWCNT-induced sandwich composite was increased by 101.28%. The microstructural study showed that secondary bonded samples had extensive fibre breakage at the face plate due to early de-bonding of the face sheet and corrugated core. Furthermore, the free vibrational analysis was performed to evaluate the natural frequency and damping values of the corrugated core reinforced sandwich composite. The modal test results indicated that inducing 1wt.% MWCNTs in the face sheet/core interface had enhanced the natural frequencies of co-cured sandwich composites. The present study provides a suitable method to address the weaker de-bonding toughness concerns of face sheet/core interface region of sandwich structures.

Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) have been the subject of extensive research for their potential applications in various fields, including photovoltaics and medicine. In recent years, researchers have focused their attention on CNMs as their high electrical conductivity, low cost, and large surface area are promising in replacing traditional platinum-based counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). In addition to their electrical properties, CNMs have also displayed antibacterial activity, making them an attractive option for medical applications. The combination of CNMs with metal oxides to form composite materials represents a promising approach with significant potential in various fields, including energy and biology. Here, we introduce porous carbon nanospheres (PCNS) derived from Cocos nucifera L. and its ZnO composite (PCNS/ZnO) as an alternative material, which opens up new research insights for platinum-free counter electrodes. Bifacial DSSCs produced using PCNS-based counter electrodes achieved power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 3.98% and 2.02% for front and rear illumination, respectively. However, with PCNS/ZnO composite-based counter electrodes, the efficiency of the device increased significantly, producing approximately 5.18% and 4.26% for front and rear illumination, respectively. Moreover, these CNMs have shown potential as antibacterial agents. Compared to PCNS, PCNS/ZnO composites exhibited slightly superior antibacterial activity against tested bacterial strains, including gram-positive Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and gram-negative Vibrio harveyi (V. harveyi) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) with MIC values of 125, 250, 125, and 62.5 μg/ml, respectively. It is plausible that the outcomes observed were influenced by the synergistic effects of the composite material.

Exploring highly efficient, and low-cost oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts is extremely vital for the commercial application of advanced energy storage and conversion devices. Herein, a series of graphene-like C2N supported TMx@C2N, (TM = Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu, x = 1, 2) single- and dual-atom catalysts are designed. Their catalytic performance is systematically evaluated by means of spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) computations coupled with hydrogen electrode model. Regulating metal atom and pairs can widely tune the catalytic performance. The most promising ORR/OER bifunctional activity can be realized on Cu2@ C2N with lowest overpotential of 0.46 and 0.38 V for ORR and OER, respectively. Ni2@ C2N and Ni@C2N can also exhibit good bifunctional activity through effectively balancing the adsorption strength of intermediates. The correlation of reaction overpotential with adsorption free energy is well established to track the activity and reveal the activity origin, indicating that catalytic activity is intrinsically governed by the adsorption strength of reaction intermediates. The key to achieve high catalytic activity is to effectively balance the adsorption of multiple reactive intermediates by means of the synergetic effect of suitably screened bimetal atoms. Our results also demonstrate that lattice strain can effectively regulate the adsorption free energies of reaction intermediates, regarding it as an efficient strategy to tune ORR/OER activity. This study could provide a significant guidance for the discovery and design of highly active noble-metal-free carbon-based ORR/OER catalysts.

We report a new route of akaganéite (β-FeOOH) formation and maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) formation. Akaganéite can be produced by stirring Fe2+ at room temperature for a day under mild conditions. We used FeCl2 ·4H2O as the precursor and mixed it with the Na-rich particle from the oxidation debris solution. The role of the concentration ratio between graphene oxide (GO) and NaOH was addressed to generate oxidation debris (OD) on the surface. In particular, the characterization of OD by transmission electron microscope (TEM) imaging provides clear evidence for the crystal formation of Na-rich particle under electron beam irradiation. For the base treatment process, increasing the concentration of a NaOH in Na-rich solution contributed primarily to the formation of γ-Fe2O3. The characterization by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and TEM showed that the morphology was changed from needle-like to small-oval form. In addition, β-FeOOH can be effectively produced directly using GO combined with FeCl2 ·4H2O at room temperature. More specifically, the role of parent material (Hummer's GO and Brodie's GO) was discussed, and the crystal transformation was identified. Our results concluded that β-FeOOH can be formed in basic and acidic conditions.

In this paper, iron ore tailings (IOT) were separated from the tailings field and used to prepare cement stabilized macadam (CSM) with porous basalt aggregate. First, the basic properties of the raw materials were studied. Porous basalt was replaced by IOT at ratios of 0, 20 %, 40 %, 60 %, 80 %, and 100 % as fine aggregate to prepare CSM, and the effects of different cement dosage (4 %, 5 %, 6 %) on CSM performance were also investigated. CSM’s durability and mechanical performance with ages of 7 d, 28 d, and 90 d were studied with the unconfined compression strength test, splitting tensile strength test, compressive modulus test and freeze-thaw test, respectively. The changes in Ca2+ content in CSM of different ages and different IOT ratios were analyzed by the ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) titration method, and the micro-morphology of CSM with different ages and different IOT replaced ratio were observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). It was found that with the same cement dosage, the strengths of the IOT-replaced CSM were weaker than that of the porous basalt aggregate at early stage, and the strength was highest at the replaced ratio of 60 %. With a cement dosage of 4 %, the unconfined compressive strength of CSM without IOT was increased by 6.78 % at ages from 28 d to 90 d, while the splitting tensile strength increased by 7.89 %. However, once the IOT replaced ratio reached 100 %, the values increased by about 76.24 % and 17.78 %, which was better than 0 % IOT. The CSM-IOT performed better than the porous basalt CSM at 90 d age. This means IOT can replace porous basalt fine aggregate as a pavement base.

In this study, four different samples of Se60Ge40-xBix chalcogenides glasses were synthesized by heating the melt for 18 h in vacuum Pyrex ampoules (under a 10-4 Torre vacuum), each with a different concentration (x = 0, 10, 15, and 20) of high purity starting materials. The results of direct current (DC) electrical conductivity measurements against a 1,000/T plot for all chalcogenide samples revealed two linear areas at medium and high temperatures, each with a different slope and with different activation energies (E1 and E2). In other words, these samples contain two electrical conduction mechanisms: a localized conduction at middle temperatures and extended conduction at high temperatures. The results showed the local and extended state parameters changed due to the effective partial substitution of germanium by bismuth. The density of extended states N(Eext) and localized states N(Eloc) as a function of bismuth concentration was used to gauge this effect. While the density of the localized states decreased from 1.6 × 1014 to 4.2 × 1012 (ev-1 cm-3) as the bismuth concentration increased from 0 to 15, the density of the extended states generally increased from 3.552 × 1021 to 5.86 × 1021 (ev-1 cm-3), indicating a reduction in the mullet’s randomness. This makes these alloys more widely useful in electronic applications due to the decrease in the cost of manufacturing.

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have been reported to have better properties than conventional materials; however, they are more expensive due to the high cost of their main components. Therefore, research is needed to reduce manufacturing costs. In this study, CoCrFeMnNi HEAs were prepared using metal injection molding (MIM), which is a powder metallurgy process that involves less material waste than machining process. Although the MIM-processed samples were in the face-centered cubic (FCC) phase, porosity remained after sintering at 1200°C, 1250°C, and 1275°C. In this study, the hot isostatic pressing (HIP) process, which considers both temperature (1150°C) and pressure (150 MPa), was adopted to improve the quality of the MIM samples. Although the hardness of the HIP-treated samples decreased slightly and the Mn composition was significantly reduced, the process effectively eliminated many pores that remained after the 1275°C MIM process. The HIP process can improve the quality of the alloy.

This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of combining acidification with adsorbents (zeolite and biochar) to mitigate the environmental impacts of pig slurry, focusing on ammonia (NH3) emission and nitrate (NO3 -) leaching. The four treatments were applied: 1) pig slurry (PS) alone as a control, 2) acidified PS (AP), 3) acidified pig slurry with zeolite (APZ), and 4) acidified pig slurry with biochar (APB). The AP mitigates NH3 emission and NO3 - leaching compared to PS alone. Acidification reduced the cumulative NH3 emission and its emission factor by 35.9% and 12.5%, respectively. The APZ and APB increased NH4 +-N concentration, with the highest level in APB, compared to AP. The NH4 + adsorption capacity of APB (0.90 mg g-1) was higher than that of APZ (0.63 mg g-1). The APB and APZ treatments induced less NH3 emission compared to AP. The cumulative NH3 emission was reduced by 12.2% and 27.6% in APZ and APB, respectively, compared to AP treatment. NO3 - leaching began to appear on days 12 and 13, and its peak reached on days 16 and 17, which were later than AP. The cumulative NO3 - leaching decreased by 17.7% and 25.0% in APZ and APB, respectively, compared to AP treatment. These results suggest that combining biochar or zeolite with acidified pig slurry is an effective method to mitigate NH3 emission and NO3 - leaching, with biochar being particularly effective.

This study emphasizes R&D as a management strategy for small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) to achieve competitive advantage and aims to analyze the impact of innovation resistance, prior knowledge, and technological capability on the intention to adopt R&D. The research targeted 403 decision-makers from SMEs that have not adopted R&D. The analysis revealed the following key findings: As a result, both technical capabilities and prior knowledge had a negative effect on innovation resistance. In addition, technological capabilities and prior knowledge had a positive effect on adoption intention, and innovation resistance had a negative effect on acceptance intention. The indirect effects of technical capabilities and prior knowledge both had a positive impact. In addition, we tested whether dependency on partners and trading organizations that accepted R&D had a moderating effect, but it was not significant. The academic implications of this study provide a detailed analysis of how prior knowledge and technological capability affect innovation resistance in SMEs and verify the intention to adopt R&D. The practical implications suggest a direction for small and medium-sized enterprises to reduce innovation resistance in accepting R&D, and companies need to recognize the suitability of R&D and recognize the importance of technological capabilities and prior knowledge in order to reduce innovation resistance.

The functional roles of plant extracts have been investigated for the treatment of various diseases including subfertility. Recent studies have highlighted the benefits of ashwagandha extract (AE) in enhancing sperm production, boosting testosterone levels, and lowering reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in mammals. The current study is to examine the effects of the addition of AE to liquid boar semen on sperm quality during storage and its potential application in assisted reproductive technology. A hot water extract of ashwagandha was prepared from the dried powder of ashwagandha roots. Boar spermatozoa were stored in Beltsville thawing solution (BTS) at 17℃ for 5 days, with various concentrations of AE (1–50 mg/mL). During storage, motility, viability, acrosomal integrity and ROS of boar spermatozoa were examined. The results have shown that sperm stored in BTS with varying quantities of AE ranging from 1–20 mg/mL exhibited higher motility compared to those without AE (control) or with 50 mg/mL AE for 5 days. Similarly, sperm viability was better maintained in sperm treated with 1–20 mg/mL AE. Moreover, sperm stored in BTS with AE led to significantly higher acrosomal integrity and chromatin stability rates than sperm stored without AE. Notably, intracellular ROS levels significantly decreased in sperm stored in BTS with AE. Particularly, spermatozoa stored at 10 mg/mL AE exhibited an effective reduction in ROS during storage. These findings suggest the potential role of AE as an additive during sperm storage maintains sperm quality and can be used during subfertility treatment in both animals and humans.

The discovery of the Neolithic Yangshao Culture in 1921 is widely held to herald the beginning of modern archaeology in China. In this paper we explore what this discovery introduced to archaeology, arguing that several factors coalesced to shape this change and its impact. One of these was the political changes at the time and the search for a new historiography. However, we argue that another formative influence was the new mindset that geology and mining introduced. We propose that the Yangshao Culture excavations became sites of ‘discipline formation’, where a new vocabulary was developed as well as a new way of ‘seeing’ the landscape.

Forecasting port container throughput is crucial due to its impact on economic development. Socio-economic factors, which introduce uncertainty, are increasingly integrated into throughput forecasting. The complexity of common multivariate forecasting models significantly affects accuracy, yet few studies compare their performance on the same time series for throughput modeling. This study implements, evaluates, and compares the performance of eight multivariate forecasting models for port throughput within a proposed multiple-input single-output (MISO) system, chosen for their frequent use in container throughput research. It investigates two data preprocessing approaches: Random Forest Variable Importance Method (RF-VIM) and a Multi Lagged Value approach. The comparison uses six error metrics: normalized root mean squared error, mean absolute error, mean absolute percentage error, mean error, and root mean percentage error. Performances are discussed, and recommendations for adopting a suitable model are provided.

This paper attempts to show that the word sì 巳(祀) used after the negative wù 勿 or wú 毋 functions as a “Vintransitive” (all the abbreviations and references used in this paper are given at the end of Part I). As such, it forms a VP, 勿/毋 V1 (=巳) V2, where V2 is frequently, but not always, one of the six “Type-A ritual Vs”—one being dăo 禱 ‘to pray’ and the rest given in the paper; when V2 is a “Type-B non-ritual V”—one being diàn 田(甸) ‘to hunt’ and the rest inexhaustible. A major reason for the use of V2 is to contrast with the preceding V1. This is deduced from closely examining the semantic relationship between V1 and V2. The details will be explained with examples. There are also inscriptions in which V1 (巳/祀) is used before yú 于, a “multidirectional” preposition. This is labelled as “Nloc in the sense of ‘in, at’, not ‘to, for’ when preceded by the V1 or in the construction given in the title. The paper accounts for its motivating principle. The paper argues that 巳/祀 is a Vaction meaning “conduct sì-providential ritual”. It was done at a place to seek divine direction and guidance from the deity or Power believed to have dwelt in situ. Originally presented in Takashima (2009a), this paper delves further into linguistic, philological, and cultural aspects of the 巳-ritual couched in the VP, 勿/毋 V1 (=巳/祀) V2. Part I has covered “Examination I: Zhū Shēngyù’s Questions and Zhāng Yùjīn’s Interpretation”. The paper answers the former and evaluates the latter. Part II begins with “Examination II: Qiú Xīguī’s Interpretation” and ends with the conclusions of the entire paper.

The separation of zirconium and hafnium using tributyl phosphate (TBP)-Dodecane extractants in nitric acid medium was performed. Zirconium oxychloride, used as extraction feed, was obtained from the synthesis of Kalimantan zircon sand concentrate smelted using NaOH. The extraction process was carried out by dissolving chloride-based metals in nitric acid media in the presence of sodium nitrate using TBP-Dodecane as an extractant. Some of the extraction parameters carried out in this study include variations in organic phase and aqueous phase (O/A), variations in contact time, and variations in nitric acid concentration. Extraction was carried out using a mechanical shaker according to the parameter conditions. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) was used for elemental (Zr and Hf) composition analysis of the aqueous solution. The results showed that zirconium was separated from hafnium at optimum conditions with an organic/aqueous ratio of 1:5, contact time of 75 min, and an HNO3 concentration of 7 M. The resulting separation factor of zirconium and hafnium using TBP-Dodecane was 14.4887.

This review explores the potential of pillared bentonite materials as solid acid catalysts for synthesizing diethyl ether, a promising renewable energy source. Diethyl ether offers numerous environmental benefits over fossil fuels, such as lower emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon oxides (COx) gases and enhanced fuel properties, like high volatility and low flash point. Generally, the synthesis of diethyl ether employs homogeneous acid catalysts, which pose environmental impacts and operational challenges. This review discusses bentonite, a naturally occurring alumina silicate, as a heterogeneous acid catalyst due to its significant cation exchange capacity, porosity, and ability to undergo modifications such as pillarization. Pillarization involves intercalating polyhydroxy cations into the bentonite structure, enhancing surface area, acidity, and thermal stability. Despite the potential advantages, challenges remain in optimizing the yield and selectivity of diethyl ether production using pillared bentonite. The review highlights the need for further research using various metal oxides in the pillarization process to enhance surface properties and acidity characteristics, thereby improving the catalytic performance of bentonite for the synthesis of diethyl ether. This development could lead to more efficient, environmentally friendly synthesis processes, aligning with sustainable energy goals.