Higher Water Yield Research Articles

Molecular Cages Self-Assembled by Imine Condensation in Water.

Self-assembly by imine condensation in aqueous media is a formidable task because of the labile nature of imines in the presence of water. Here, by taking advantage of multivalence and ligand preorganization, basket-shaped triscationic cage molecules are self-assembled in high yields in both water and organic solvent, by condensing a hexaformyl and bisamine. These cages, especially the chiral ones, are stable or inert in aqueous solution, that is, no decomposition was observed upon dilution, precipitation, or exposure to competitive amines or aldehydes. Such water-compatibility allows the hosts to take advantage of the hydrophobic effect to accommodate hydrophobic guests. The chiral cage S-23+ selectively binds and distinguishes one of two enantiomers, opening up opportunities for applications such as chiral compound separation. Chiral narcissistic self-sorting and sergeants-and-soldiers effects occur during cage formation when two amino precursors are involved in self-assembly.

Precipitation rather than evapotranspiration determines the warm-season water supply in an alpine shrub and an alpine meadow

Alpine regions are generally referred to as water towers for the lowlands, yet the water balance has not been quantified for alpine catchments with different vegetation types. This paper presented a multi-year time series of evapotranspiration (ET) and water supply (precipitation minus ET) during the warm-season (June to September), measured using eddy covariance techniques for an upper alpine shrub (3400 m) and for a lower alpine meadow (3200 m), on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The monthly ET for the shrub averaged 71.8 ± 10.1 mm (Mean ± SD), which was 22.7% lower than for the meadow. ET peaked at 89.0 ± 3.0 mm for the shrub and at 113.9 ± 2.6 mm for the meadow both in July. The monthly water supply was nearly neutral from June to July and represented a surplus in August and September at both sites. The mean warm-season ET and water supply were 287.0 ± 17.6 mm and 59.6 ± 16.3 mm for the shrub, and 352.2 ± 15.7 mm and 22.5 ± 32.5 mm for the meadow, respectively. Piecewise structural equation models showed that variability of daily ET was dominated more by net radiation (Rn) than by vapor pressure deficit (VPD) at both sites. However, net radiation was 32.6% higher for the shrub than for the meadow, but this did not drive higher ET for the shrub. This was explained by the difference in the energy partitioning strategy (Bowen ratio), which was attributable to the difference in the bulk surface resistance, rather than the difference in the climatological resistance (which is proportional to VPD/Rn). The seasonal and annual variability of water supply was determined by precipitation rather than by ET. The linear slopes of water supply with precipitation were all close to one, regardless of vegetation type. This suggested that the water yield efficiency was consistent at the two sites. Our results highlighted the different effects of vegetation type on ET and water supply for humid alpine regions. The lower ET loss and consequent higher water yield, but with less digestible forage in the shrub, would present a dilemma for the balance between water supply and forage production under current shrub expansion in alpine rangeland.

Genetic encoding of a highly photostable, long lifetime fluorescent amino acid for imaging in mammalian cells.

Acridonylalanine (Acd) is a fluorescent amino acid that is highly photostable, with a high quantum yield and long fluorescence lifetime in water. These properties make it superior to existing genetically encodable fluorescent amino acids for monitoring protein interactions and conformational changes through fluorescence polarization or lifetime experiments, including fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). Here, we report the genetic incorporation of Acd using engineered pyrrolysine tRNA synthetase (RS) mutants that allow for efficient Acd incorporation in both E. coli and mammalian cells. We compare protein yields and amino acid specificity for these Acd RSs to identify an optimal construct. We also demonstrate the use of Acd in FLIM, where its long lifetime provides strong contrast compared to endogenous fluorophores and engineered fluorescent proteins, which have lifetimes less than 5 ns.

A Mo2-ZnP molecular device that mimics photosystem I for solar-chemical energy conversion

Bioinspired solar-chemical energy conversion has long been challenged by chemists with searching for effective synthetic photocatalysts. Herein we show that powered by visible light, molecular photocatalysts developed by integrating zinc porphyrin (ZnP) with a quadruply-bonded Mo2 unit enables hydrogen evolution from water in high yields up to 200 mmol g−1 with TON = 640. Remarkably, this unimolecular Mo2-ZnP device catalyzes efficiently photoreduction of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) to NADH, the reducing equivalent for enzymatic reduction of CO2 in natural photosynthesis. Evidently, this Mo2-ZnP photosystem has the capability of accumulating up to four electrons and two protons for two-electron reduction. Mechanistic investigations reveal that the photoreduced zinc phlorin and chlorin-phlorin anions are the catalytic intermediates for hydride transfer to the substrates, which mimics functionally the hydroquinone state of flavin adenine dinucleotide in photosystem I. The understandings gained in this study are valuable for engineering photocatalysts for solar fuel production.

Green accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) with solvent and temperature effect and green UHPLC-DAD analysis of phenolics in pepper fruit (Capsicum annum L.)

The study presents for the first time, a green and efficient accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) method for phenolic compounds (GA gallic acid, QT quercetin, RT rutin, LT luteolin) with simultaneous determination using a green and effective UHPLC-DAD method. The effect of solvents (ACE acetone, EtOH ethanol, and H2O water) and temperatures (60, 80, 100 °C) Vs extract yield and phenolic recovery was investigated. The scale-up for ASE-UHPLC method was accomplished in 27 food-grade samples of Capsicum annum/pepper fruit (PF). ASE-MD (method development) showed a high extract yield (198.23 mg/g) in water (33 mL) at 100 °C within a time frame of 19.5 min. UHPLC-DAD revealed more yield for GA in ACE whereas, for RT, QT, LT in EtOH at 60 °C. Binary solvent system (ACE: EtOH; 1:1) and 60 °C was optimized the extraction set. The UHPLC-MDMV showed a run time of 5 min with individual retention times of 0.667 (GA), 1.05 (RT), 3.24 (QT), and 3.78 (LT) in the linearity range (1–100 ppm). The average for phenolics (ppm) in 27 PF-food samples was; GA (19.46) > QT (10.19) > LT (4.06) > RT (2.41). SP4 (Spanish green bell pepper) sample showed more amount of total phenolics (32.52 ppm, 25.36 %) whereas, the order for individual phenolic amount (ppm) was; GA (53.39) > QT (13.58) > RT (10.04) > LT (4.62). Multivariate analysis resulted a significant correlation for solvent*temperature with extract yield but with a lack of correlation for phenolics amount. K-mean correlation was positive for solvent Vs phenolic yield (P < 0.05) whereas, extract yield and temperature were less significant for phenolics content. Solvent established a high significant role for extraction and phenolic recovery whereas, temperature was more significant for extract yield rather than phenolic amount.

Photophysics and drug delivery behavior of methylene blue into Arabic-gum based hydrogel matrices

Methylene blue (MB) is an efficient photosensitizer for Photodynamic Therapy treatment. The photodynamic action is based on the interaction between light with a specific wavelength, a photosensitizer, and oxygen. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), including singlet oxygen (1O2), are created and support the photodynamic action. We verified that the MB presents a high 1O2 quantum yield in distilled water and simulated fluids (simulated gastric fluid (SGF, pH 1.2) and simulated intestinal fluid (SIF, pH 6.8)). Hydrogels are investigated for MB delivery to overcome undesirable effects and avoid the formation of non-effective leuco-methylene blue. The glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) was used to modify the Arabic gum structure. pH-responsive hydrogels composed of Arabic gum with different methacrylation degrees (82 and 94 % - MAG82 and MAG94, respectively) are created from the free-radical polymerization mechanism. The low methacrylation degree promotes high MB internalization in the hydrogel. The hydrogels' swelling degree depends on the MB incorporation, methacrylation degree, and pH of the simulated fluid. The MB release in the simulated fluids shows an unusual behavior due to the hydrogel erosion/degradation, attributed to the acid hydrolysis. The amount of released MB in SGF and SIF is similar for the hydrogel containing the high methacrylation degree. On the other hand, the MAG82 hydrogel releases more MB (twice) in SGF than in SIF. The erosion/degradation is more pronounced in the MAGH82 incorporated with the MB (hydrogel MAG82 + MB). Hydrogels matrices containing MB (which acts as photosensitizer) has showed great potential for the treatment of gastrointestinal cancer via Photodynamic Therapy.

A coupled human-natural system analysis of water yield in the Yellow River basin, China

In response to the potential water conflict caused by climate change and increased population, an integrated water yield analysis from the perspective of the coupled human-natural system is clearly required. This paper conducted an integrated water yield analysis in the Yellow River basin (YRB), China, with applications for irrigated cropland water modeling and many field, statistical and satellite images. We found the following during 2000–2017: (1) The irrigation water consumption, rain-fed water consumption of cropland and rain-fed water consumption of natural ecosystems all increased significantly. (2) Ecological restoration caused a consequence of the 81.7 108 m3 water consumption transfer from cropland to natural ecosystems. (3) Water consumption variability was strongly related to irrigation expansion and ecological restoration, and this variability dominated the high water yield variability in the midstream YRB (95.73% ± 0.5%). (4) The increased downstream human water use stress was mainly affected by increased downstream water use and upstream water yield change, with contribution ratios of 1.67 and −0.72, respectively. The study declares the intense relationship between ecological restoration, crop production and socioeconomic activities within the water-limited river basin. This research also highlights that synthetic river basin management is essential to balance the water demand between different sectors and between the upper stream and downstream sections of a basin.

Product Distribution of Chemical Product Using Catalytic Depolymerization of Lignin

Lignin depolymerization is a very promising process which can generate value-added products from lignin raw materials. The main objective of lignin depolymerization is to convert the complex molecules of lignin into small molecules. Nevertheless, lignin is natural polymer which the molecules of lignin are extremely complicated due to their natural variability, and it will be a big challenge to depolymerize lignin, particularly high water yield. The various technology and methods are developed to depolymerize lignin into biofuels or bio chemical products including acid/base/metallic catalyzed lignin depolymerization, pyrolysis of lignin, hydroprocessing, and gasification. The distribution and yield of chemical products depend on the reaction operation condition, type of lignin and kind of catalyst. The reactor type, product distributions and specific chemicals (benzene, toluene, xylene, terephthalic acid) production of lignin depolymerization are intensive discussed in this review. Copyright © 2020 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

The influence of teak plantation areas on water yield and peak discharge from five catchments in Blora Regency

Teak plantation occupies 67% of plantation areas in Java-Indonesia; however, its impact on hydrological responses has not been studied in detail. Therefore, a study to assess the impact of teak areas on water yield and peak discharge was conducted in Blora, Central Java. Five catchments with different percentages of the mature teak plantation from 53% to 82% were chosen. Five stream water level recorders were installed at the outlet of the catchments to measure stream water level (SWL). The SWL data were converted into a discharge. Based on 2008-2018 data, the results showed that the lowest monthly (8-41 mm mo−1) and annual (140-445 mm yr−1) water yield were found in Modang catchment with teak areas (82%), and the highest monthly (41-107 mm mo−1) and annual (526-1,500 mm yr−1) water yield occurred in Kejalen catchment with teak areas (74%). Generally, all the catchments had the highest water yield in 2010 and the lowest in 2012. It was found that the broader the teak areas, the lower the peak discharge. Although the catchments with the highest (82%) teak areas produced less monthly and annual water yield compared to the catchments with less teak coverage, however, the catchments with high teak coverage can control peak discharge.

Spatio-temporal variation of water yield and its response to precipitation and land use change in the Yellow River Basin based on InVEST model

Yellow River Basin is an important water conservation and ecological barrier area, the study of water supply service in which is of great significance to the high-quality development and ecological environment protection. Based on the Invest InVEST model and the method of scenario analysis, we analyzed the temporal and spatial patterns of water yield in the Yellow River Basin in recent 20 years (1995-2015) with land use and cover, meteorological and soil data as inputs. We examined the impacts of precipitation change and land use change on water yield and their impacts on water yield. The results showed that water yield depth had average growth of 24.34 mm from 1995 to 2015. The high water yield area located in the west and southwest, and the low water yield area located in the northwest. The change of deep spatial pattern was not evident. Among the three grade basins in the Yellow River Basin, the river basin above Longyangxia, with the highest water yield of about 11.7 billion m3·a-1, was the main water yield area of the Yellow River Basin. The river basin from Lanzhou to Hekou had the lowest water yield, with a value of 44 million m3·a-1. The average water yield depth of permanent glacier and snow land was the largest in the whole basin. Grassland was the main contributor to the total water yield of the whole basin, providing 62.6% of the total water yield. Land use/cover change had moderate effect on water yield.

Versatile post-synthetic Sn incorporation into hierarchically porous BEA zeolite for glucose isomerization in 1-butanol

Abstract Glucose isomerization in water has been widely investigated using Sn-BEA zeolites as Lewis acid catalysts. Recently, it was reported that the use of 1-butanol as a solvent can be advantageous in terms of enhanced fructose yields and easy product separation. In this study, we investigated glucose isomerization both in water and 1-butanol over a series of Sn-BEA zeolites including one directly crystallized in a F− medium and the others prepared by post-synthetic Sn incorporation. The directly crystallized Sn-BEA showed high fructose yield (34%) in water because of its defect-free hydrophobic nature, which suppressed the inhibition of Lewis acid sites by water. However, in 1-butanol, it showed the lowest fructose yield and fastest deactivation among the catalysts, because of its extra-large zeolite crystallites (ca. 15 μm) causing mass transfer limitation and undesired side reactions. The Sn-BEA catalysts prepared by post-synthetic Sn incorporation showed limited catalytic performance in water because of hydroxyl defects. However, they showed superior performances in 1-butanol because of the much smaller crystallites and enhanced mass transfer. In particular, the hierarchical Sn-BEA having 10–20 nm crystallites and significant intercrystalline mesoporosity showed a very large fructose yield (55%) that are difficult to achieve in typical aqueous-phase glucose isomerization (

Optimized gas and water production from water-saturated hydrate-bearing sediment through step-wise depressurization combined with thermal stimulation

There have been several trial production tests carried out from marine natural gas hydrate reservoir recently, showing its great potential as an alternative source of energy. Yet an unsustainable production with low productivity and short duration is generally encountered. The marine hydrate reservoirs are mostly highly water-saturated; the resulting water production behaviors remain largely unclear. In this work, the gas and specially water production from a water-saturated reservoir were investigated. The role of water acting as a diffusion barrier of gas was determined: a higher water yield will significantly improve the following gas production. The step-wise depressurization was found to help relieve the initial water production compared with the straightforward depressurization scenario. A high-water-production stage was for the first time identified, accounting for ~47% of the total water production. A further controlled depressurization with finer steps in this stage could enhance the gas productivity by at most 31%; yet its effect on controlling water production was limited. The cumulative water yield depended much on the overall degree of depressurization, regardless of the number of steps. In order for an enhanced gas production under a regulated water yield, thermal stimulation is introduced in the high-water-production stage. This is found to effectively contribute to an optimized water producing process and an at least 30% decline of water yield under comparable gas productivity. The proposed combination method could be applied in the field tests from water-saturated marine reservoir to achieve a high gas-water ratio and a thereby improved energy and economic efficiency.

Molybdenum Carbide/Carbon-Based Chitosan Hydrogel as an Effective Solar Water Evaporation Accelerator

Solar-driven water evaporation is deemed to be a green and sustainable strategy to cope with the global freshwater crisis. However, effective water evaporation to achieve high water yield in practi...

Deciphering interior polarity of lysosome in live cancer and normal cells using spectral scanning microscopy

A lysosome specific, pH tolerant, and polarity-sensitive fluorescent probe (LyPol) is designed and synthesized for the determination of lysosomal polarity in live cells. LyPol possesses an intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) properties with high quantum yield in water and in other polar solvents such as methanol, ethanol, dimethyl sulfoxide, acetonitrile, etc. The fluorescence maxima and lifetime increase linearly with a non-specific manner with an increase in the polarity of its surrounding environment. A morpholine group connected with an alkyl linker acts as a lysosome directing moiety, which is attached to the fluorescent core of LyPol. The selective localization of LyPol inside the lysosome was confirmed with live-cell confocal imaging. Further, the spectral scanning confocal technique was utilized to determine the emission spectrum of LyPol inside lysosome, and the polarity turns out to be quite lower as compared to water. Moreover, the combined spectroscopic and live-cell microscopy confirms that the interior of the lysosome is significantly non-polar in cancer cells compared to normal cells. We believe that this report on the measuring polarity inside the biological system with a solvatofluorochromic probe will be of immense interest to researchers working in the multidisciplinary area of biophysics, microscopy, chemical biology, and organelle biology.

Development of a Neutral Diketopyrrolopyrrole Phosphine Oxide for the Selective Bioimaging of Mitochondria at the Nanomolar Level

Development of novel bioimaging materials that exhibit organelle specific accumulation continues to be at the forefront of research interests and efforts. Among the various subcellular organelles, mitochondria, which are found in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells, are of particular interest in relation to their vital function. To date, most molecular probes that target mitochondria utilise delocalised lipophilic cations such as triphenylphosphonium and pyridinium. However, the use of such charged motifs is known to be detrimental to the working function of the mitochondrial transmembrane potential and there remains a strong case for development of neutral mitochondrial fluorescent probes. Herein, we demonstrate for the first time the exploitation of diketopyrrolopyrrole-based chemistries for the realisation of a neutral fluorescent probe that exhibits organelle specific accumulation within the mitochondria at the nanomolar level. The synthesised probe, which bears a neutral triphenylphosphine oxide moiety, exhibits a large Stokes shift and high fluorescence quantum yield in water, both highly sought-after properties in the development of bioimaging agents. In vitro studies reveal no interference with cell metabolism when tested for the human MCF7 breast cancer cell and nanomolar subcellular organelle colocalisation with commercially available mitochondrial staining agent Mitotracker Red. In light of its novelty, neutral structure and the preferential accumulation at nanomolar concentrations we anticipate this work to be of significant interest for the increasingly larger community devoted to the realisation of neutral mitochondrial selective systems and more widely to those engaged in the rational development of superior organic architectures in the biological field.

Identification of Dominant Factors Affecting Soil Erosion and Water Yield within Ecological Red Line Areas

Soil conservation and water retention are important metrics for designating key ecological functional areas and ecological red line (ERL) areas. However, research on the quantitative identification of dominant environmental factors in different ecological red line areas remains relatively inadequate, which is unfavorable for the zone-based management of ecological functional areas. This paper presents a case study of Beijing’s ERL areas. In order to objectively reflect the ecological characteristics of ERL areas in Beijing, which is mainly dominated by mountainous areas, the application of remote sensing data at a high resolution is important for the improvement of model calculation and spatial heterogeneity. Based on multi-source remote sensing data, meteorological and soil observations as well as soil erosion and water yield were calculated using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE) and integrated valuation of ecosystem services and tradeoffs (InVEST) model. Combining the influencing factors, including slope, precipitation, land use type, vegetation coverage, geomorphological type, and elevation, a quantitative attribution analysis was performed on soil erosion and water yield in Beijing’s ERL areas using the geographical detector. The power of each influencing factor and their interaction factors in explaining the spatial distribution of soil erosion or water yield varied significantly among different ERL areas. Vegetation coverage was the dominant factor affecting soil erosion in Beijing’s ERL areas, explaining greater than 30% of its spatial heterogeneity. Land use type could explain the spatial heterogeneity of water yield more than 60%. In addition, the combination of vegetation coverage and slope was found to significantly enhance the spatial distribution of soil erosion (&gt;55% in various ERL areas). The superposition of land use type and slope explained greater than 70% of the spatial distribution for water yield in ERL areas. The geographical detector results indicated that the high soil erosion risk areas and high water yield areas varied significantly among different ERL areas. Thus, in efforts to enhance ERL protection, focus should be placed on the spatial heterogeneity of soil erosion and water yield in different ERL areas.

Direct conversion of biomass derived l-rhamnose to 5-methylfurfural in water in high yield

We report here that l-rhamnose, a less popular renewable and commercially available carbohydrate, can be used as a potential raw material to generate 5-methylfurfural (MF).

Enhanced water yield of solar desalination by thermal concentrated multistage distiller

Solar-driven evaporation for desalination has recently attracted much attention because of its high solar-thermal efficiency, simple structure, low cost, and little environmental impacts. In this paper, we reported a thermal concentrated multistage distiller for solar desalination application. The distiller consists of a thermal concentrator connected to a multistage evaporator-condenser structure. The thermal concentrator with a high solar absorptance of 0.935 and a low emittance of 0.150 on the upper surface can efficiently convert solar radiation into heat for high temperature vapor generation and reduce radiation loss. The multistage distiller with concentric expansion evaporator-condenser structure can efficiently recover the latent heat of vapor, and reduce the heat losses and water diffusion resistance. As a result, a high water yield of 2.2 kg m−2 h−1 was achieved in a 6-stage distiller under solar intensity of 1 kW m−2 and 3 times (3×) thermal concentration. The outdoor tests in rooftop demonstrated that the water yield can reached 3.9 kg m−2 per day even at a low solar intensity of 415 W m−2. This novel design with enhanced water yield provides an effective approach to harvest sunlight for small-scale solar desalination in remote regions.

Application of Electro-Sorption Desalination Technique in Water Treatment

Electro-Sorption Technology (EST) is also known as Capacitive Deionization (CDI).It originated in the late 1990s. Electro-Sorption desalination technology is a new water treatment technology that uses the phenomenon of ions and charged particles adsorbed on the surface of charged electrode to enrich and concentrate dissolved salts and other charged substances in the water on the surface of electrode to realize water purification/desalination. As a new water treatment technology, Electro-Sorption technology (EST) has the characteristics of low inlet water quality, reliable operation, low energy consumption, convenient operation, high water yield and low comprehensive operation cost. The electrode material with high activity is the key to obtain its high performance. According to different water quality conditions, the electrode material which is good for ion adsorption in solution should be studied. The application of this low-energy water purification technology in real life has become a new research hotspot.

An Iodide-Mediated Transition-Metal-Free Strategy towards Unsymmetrical Diaryl Sulfides via Arylhydrazines and Thiols

A mild, scalable iodine-mediated oxidative cross-coupling reaction of arylhydrazines and thiols for construction of thioethers (sulfides) in the absence of any transition metals or photocatalysts is disclosed. A variety of unsymmetrical diaryl sulfides with broad substrate scope both on thiols and hydrazines were synthesized in high yields in water at room temperature. Furthermore, to demonstrate the utility of the protocol, the above C–S bond formation was applied in the synthesis of the key structure of vortioxetine as an antidepressant drug. The gram-scale outcome also added to the potential utility of this protocol.