Low Recycling Research Articles

НИЖНЕСИЛУРИЙСКИЕ ТЕРРИГЕННЫЕ ОТЛОЖЕНИЯ ЛАОЕЛИН-ГРОДЕКОВСКОГО ТЕРРЕЙНА (ЮЖНОЕ ПРИМОРЬЕ): ВЕЩЕСТВЕННЫЙ СОСТАВ И ОБСТАНОВКИ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ

This paper studies the original results of the material composition analysis of the Early Silurian terrigenous deposits of the Kordonka formation of the Paleozoic – Early Mesozoic Laoeling-Grodekovo terrane of the South Primorye. The research is aimed at reconstructing paleogeodynamic setting of the deposition of sediments of the formation, and determining the type and mother rock composition of the feed sources based on the complex genetic interpretation of the material composition of rocks. It was established that mineralogically and geochemically formation of the rocks correspond to the typical graywackes and represent petrogenic or “first cycle” rocks formed mainly through the source rock failure. They are characterized by a low maturity, low lithodynamic recycling rate of mother rocks and their rapid burial. The interpretation of the results of the complex study of the material composition of the rocks was carried out on the basis of its comparison with the compositions of ancient rocks and modern sediments formed in the well-known geodynamic settings. The obtained data indicate that deposits of the Kordonka formation accumulated in a sedimentary basin connected with an oceanic island arc. Being built by basic and intermediate volcanic rocks as well as by igneous and sedimentary rocks that constituted its base, this island arc was the source area that supplied clastic material to the aforementioned sedimentary basin.

Research on Spent LiFePO4 Electric Vehicle Battery Disposal and Its Life Cycle Inventory Collection in China.

The main research direction for the disposal of spent lithium-ion batteries is focused on the recovery of precious metals. However, few studies exist on the recycling of LiFePO4 electric vehicle (EV) batteries because of their low recycling value. In addition, a detailed life cycle inventory (LCI) of waste plays a significant role in its life cycle assessment (LCA) for an environmental perspective. In this study, an end-of-life (EOL) LiFePO4 EV battery is disposed to achieve the LCI result. The approach comprises manual dismantling of the battery pack/module and crushing and pyrolysis of cells. The authors classify the dismantling results and use different disposal methods, such as recycling or incineration. Regarding the environmental emissions during pyrolysis, the authors record and evaluate the results according to the experimental data, the bill of materials (BOM), the mass conservation, and the chemical reaction equations. In addition, the electricity power demand is related to the electricity mix in China, and the waste gases and solid residue are treated by using neutralization and landfill, respectively. Finally, the authors integrate the LCI data with analysis data and a background database (Ecoinvent). After the integration of the total emission and consumption data, the authors obtained the total detailed LCI resulting from the disposal of the LiFePO4 vehicle battery. This LCI mainly includes the consumption of energy and materials, and emissions to air, water, and soil, which can provide the basis for the future LCA of LiFePO4 (LFP) batteries. Furthermore, the potential of industrial scale process research on the disposal of spent LiFePO4 batteries is discussed.

A review on additive manufacturing of polymers composites

Additive Manufacturing, referred to as 3D printing has extended beyond simple prototyping and is being used for the fabrication of fully functional active components. It is one of the flexible manufacturing technique that can apply to polymers, metals, ceramics, concrete, and composites. Owing to the ability to select from a wide range of processible polymers and the enhancement in some of the properties offered by polymers, the AM industry, still predominantly targets the production of polymeric components. This review demonstrates the current state of AM industry regarding polymeric materials. A brief explanation of the additive manufacturing (AM) techniques, polymers, and polymer composites (fibre reinforces, particle reinforced and nanocomposites) utilised in the AM processes is provided. Polymer AM is being applied in different applications such as biomedical, electronics, aerospace, automobile, and sporting industries respectively. The review also emphasizes the rising importance of antimicrobial polymers in the COVID-19 pandemic. The exponential use of polymeric materials in the industrial sector has caused an increase in wastage generation and disposal issues which draws attention to the importance of green composites as well as life cycle assessment (LCA) of products and processes. Finally, the significance of Distributed Recycling via AM due to the disposal issues and low polymer recycling rates is illustrated.

Polypropylene non-woven supported calcium alginate hydrogel filtration membrane for efficient separation of dye/salt at low salt concentration

Calcium alginate hydrogel is an eco-friendly material, but its wide application as a self-supporting filtration membrane is severely limited by the weak mechanical properties, which makes it difficult for the large scale preparation and the fixation of the membrane in filtration equipment. In this work, a fiber-reinforced calcium alginate membrane (CaAlg-PP) was prepared by coating calcium alginate (CaAlg) hydrogel on the polypropylene (PP) non-woven fabric treated with ethanol/water (v:v = 1:1) solution. The CaAlg-PP filtration membrane was characterized and used for dye/salt separation under a series of operating conditions. The membrane exhibited the co-operativity of the porous support layer and the CaAlg hydrogel in the compositing process, and also exhibited good pressure resistance, pollution resistance and low anionic dye adsorption efficiency. The optimized CaAlg-PP membrane had a high permeance (e.g. 20.3 L·m−2·h−1 for methyl blue at 0.1 MPa) and high dye rejection (e.g. methyl blue 99.5%), while low salt rejection (e.g. NaCl 7.5%), and the selectivity of methyl blue/NaCl was up to 185. The CaAlg-PP membranes made with simple processes and low-cost materials may provide new strategies for environmentally-friendly and economical low salts-containing wastewater treatment and dye recycling.

Integrated multi-trophic aquaculture systems: energy transfers and food web organization in coastal earthen ponds

Three Ecopath models were built to reproduce 3 experimental treatments carried out in earthen ponds located in Olhão, southern Portugal, to understand the energy transferred and the ecosystem state in integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA). These earthen ponds behave as simplified ecosystems or mesocosms, with well-defined borders, where the relationships between trophic groups can be described through ecosystem modeling. Different combinations of species were produced in these ponds, corresponding to the 3 treatments: (1) fish, oysters and macroalgae (FOM); (2) fish and oysters (FO); and (3) fish and macroalgae (FM). The managed species were meagre Argyrosomus regius, white seabream Diplodus sargus, flathead grey mullet Mugil cephalus, Japanese oyster Crassostrea gigas and sea lettuce Ulva spp. The results showed that the total amount of energy throughput was 15 to 17 times higher when compared with an equivalent naturalized system. The high biomass and low recycling indicated an immature system with low resilience and low stability that demands high rates of water renewal and aeration to maintain good water-quality levels for finfish production. The addition of oysters and macroalgae in the FOM treatment appeared to improve the water quality, since oysters controlled the excess of phytoplankton produced in the ponds by ingesting a fair amount of the phytoplankton, while the macroalgae helped in the absorption of excess nutrients and created a habitat for periphyton and associated macroinvertebrates. Some ecosystem attributes of the FOM ponds approached the values of the naturalized model, suggesting a possible path towards more sustainable aquaculture.

Construction of an all-organic Z-scheme heterostructure based on 2D PDINH aggregates modified TCPP aggregates by co-assembly with enhanced photocatalytic performance

Supramolecular structures based on orderly aggregated metal-free porphyrins (TCPP) are visible-light-driven photocatalysts. But these photocatalysts possess disadvantages of poor activity and low recycling which limit their practical applications. To improve the activity and deficiencies of TCPP aggregates as photocatalysts, TCPP was combined with organic semiconductor perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic diimide (PDINH) aggregates to construct pure organic heterojunctions (TCPP/PDINH) through the co-assembly method in this paper. Through several characterizations, it was concluded that a close contact interface formed through intermolecular π-π stacking and hydrogen bond interactions by the co-assembly method. The photocatalytic activity for the degradation of phenol by TCPP/PDINH was enhanced compared with that of the single aggregate, and the mechanism analysis showed that the matched energy band positions of the two aggregates and the close contact interfaces promoted the formation of a Z-scheme structure, which accelerated the charge carrier separation efficiency. In addition, the existence of two-dimensional PDINH aggregates as a support basement also improved the stability of TCPP aggregates and made them heterogeneous, which enhanced their operation and recycling.

High Activity and Stability of PdOx Anchored in Porous NiO Nanofibers for Catalyzing Suzuki Coupling Reactions

Heterogeneous Pd-based catalysts are receiving great attention in cross-coupling reactions due to their distinct advantages of relatively low cost, high stability, easy separation, and recycling. N...

Geochemical, palaeontological, and sedimentological approaches of a syn-orogenic clastic wedge: Implications for the provenance of the Permian (Cisuralian) Tunas Formation, Ventania System (Argentina)

The Tunas Formation crops out in the eastern sector of the Ventania System (southwestern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) and represents the last unit of the Pillahuincó Group (Pennsylvanian–Cisuralian). This work integrates sedimentological, palaeontological, geochemical, and geochronological studies of the uppermost levels of the unit with the aim to enhance its palaeoenvironmental and stratigraphic framework within the Southwest Gondwana context. The analysed succession, of 250 m thick, is dominated by lithic arkoses and feldspathic litharenites composed of crystalline quartz and minor feldspars and volcanic fragments, interbedded with muddy-siltstones and heterolithic deposits with plant fossils. The succession is organized in three thickening- and coarsening-upward packages that correspond to fluvio-deltaic deposits. The plant fossil assemblage includes fronds of Gangamopteris obovata, Glossopteris angustifolia, Glossopteris wilsonii, and Asterotheca sp. cf. A. andersonii, in association with articulate ribbed stems of Paracalamites australis, which are here assigned to the Gangamopteris Zone. The low plant-diversity of the Tunas Formation could be related to the change from postglacial to semiarid-arid conditions evidenced during the Cisuralian in the Southwest Gondwana region where the study area is located. The obtained geochemical results indicate low recycling and sorting of continentally derived sediments with dominant input from the upper continental crust and acidic to intermediate magmatic precursors related to an active continental margin. Previous studies pointed out that the North Patagonian Massif, located SW of the Ventania System, was the source of such materials. Additionally, new LA-ICP-MS U–Pb zircon ages from two tuff levels of the Tunas Formation were considered together with previous U–Pb zircon ages. These suggest that the source of the ash fall deposits could be as far as the pre-Choiyoi volcanism (Late Mississippian–middle Cisuralian) of the Chilean Precordillera and Frontal Cordillera and as close as the Choiyoi volcanism (middle Cisuralian–Lower Triassic) of the Las Matras and Chadileuvú blocks, all located west of the Ventania System. The integrated analyses of the available U–Pb geochronological data also allowed us to constrain the sedimentation age of the uppermost levels of the Tunas Formation to the Artinskian. However, the age interval of the stratigraphic unit should be wider.

Deep learning of grasping detection for a robot used in sorting construction and demolition waste

The traditional construction and demolition waste (CDW) treatment process adopts the method of crushing and screening after mixing and combines the method with manual sorting for resource recycling. However, there is a problem of low recycling purity and low efficiency of manual sorting after mixed screening. This paper proposes a robot for sorting CDW, which is used to finely sort a large number of objects before mixing and crushing. The use of the robot improves the level of resource utilization of CDW. However, under actual working conditions, the adhesion and stacking of CDW on the conveyor belt and the irregularity of the shapes of CDW lead to errors in grasping-information. Thus, a deep learning method for grasping detection is proposed. The method generates some grasping rectangles through a searching algorithm, and inputs the rectangles to the neural network. Then, the network outputs the optimal grasping pose. The experiment demonstrated that the original accuracy of robotic grasping was only 70%. After deep learning for grasping detection, the accuracy was over 90%, which thoroughly meets the requirements of efficiency and accuracy for sorting CDW under actual working conditions.

Enhanced pedestal H-mode at low edge ion collisionality on NSTX

The Enhanced Pedestal (EP) H-mode regime is an attractive wide-pedestal high-βp scenario for the National Spherical Torus Experiment Upgrade (NSTX-U) and next-step devices as it achieves enhanced energy confinement (H98y,2 > 1.5), large normalized pressure (βN > 5), and significant bootstrap fraction (fBS > 0.6) at Ip/BT = 2 MA/T. This regime is realized when the edge ion collisionality becomes sufficiently small that a positive feedback interaction occurs between a reduction in the ion neoclassical energy transport and an increase in the particle transport from pressure-driven edge instabilities. The EP H-mode was most often observed as a transition following a large edge-localized mode in conditions with low edge neutral recycling. It is hypothesized that the onset of pressure-driven instabilities prior to the full recovery of the neutral density leads to a temporary period with an elevated ion temperature gradient that triggers the transition to EP H-mode. Linear CGYRO and M3D-C1 calculations are compared to beam emission spectroscopy and magnetic spectroscopy in order to describe the evolution of the edge particle transport mechanisms during the ELM recovery and the saturated EP H-mode state. The observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the onset of pressure-driven edge instabilities, such as the kinetic ballooning mode and kink-peeling mode, can be responsible for the increased particle transport in EP H-mode.

Asymmetric photocatalysis over robust covalent organic frameworks with tetrahydroquinoline linkage

The asymmetric photocatalytic organic synthesis (APOS) process is a sustainable and environmentally benign method for the production of optically active chemicals with sunlight as an energy source. However, it still lacks efficient semiconductors with tunable band structures and has a low recycling stability. Herein, we report the synthesis of tetrahydroquinoline-linked covalent organic frameworks (QH-COFs) with irreversible tetrahydroquinoline linkage as efficient semiconductors for the visible-light-driven asymmetric α-alkylation of aldehydes by merging with a chiral secondary amine. Up to 94% ee was obtained over QH-COFs, and the activity of QH-COFs was significantly higher than those of inorganic semiconductors (e.g., TiO2, BiVO4, and WO3) under similar conditions, which is mainly attributed to their narrow band gap and suitable band edge. As far as we know, QH-COFs are the most active semiconductors for asymmetric α-alkylation of aldehydes ever reported. The QH-COFs were prepared via a one-pot Povarov cascade imine formation and cycloaddition reaction using Sc(OTf)3/Yb(OTf)3 as Lewis acid catalysts. Attributed to the tetrahydroquinoline linkage, QH-COFs showed extremely high recycling stability, which made practicals application possible. This work not only opens up a new avenue for asymmetric photocatalysis but also provides an efficient and general method for the construction of robust COFs.

Pyrolysis of plastic waste: Opportunities and challenges

With current low recycling rates and exponentially increasing production of plastics there is an increase in plastic material wastage, and thus new technologies are needed for waste refining. Presently in Europe, only about 10% of plastic waste is recycled, most of which is achieved through mechanical recycling. Chemical recycling methods like pyrolysis could significantly increase these recycling rates, as it can utilize mixtures of waste plastics unlike mechanical recycling. It can also be used to treat waste of many novel materials, such as composites, especially in the emerging phase when the volumes of the new materials in markets are low making separate collection of waste not a cost-efficient option. Pyrolysis offers an environmentally sound alternative to incineration and inefficient landfilling. Currently, main challenges for pyrolysis of plastic waste are unavailability and inconsistent quality of feedstock, inefficient and hence costly sorting, non-existent markets citing lack for standardized products, and unclear regulations around plastic waste management. Possible solutions could include tight cooperation between feedstock providers and converters for securing steady quantity and quality of feedstock. Advanced pre-treatment would provide the basis for cost-effective recycling. The classification of pyrolysis liquid as a product instead of waste is needed, and the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) registration should be carried out to standardise the liquid oil as a product. In addition, sustainability impacts need to be clearly positive.

Low temperature wastewater treatment and recycling by psychrophilic biodegradation (a case study Mexico)

Low temperature wastewater treatment and recycling by psychrophilic biodegradation (a case study Mexico)

SOLPS-ITER modeling of SOL-divertor plasmas with different configurations in EAST

SOLPS-ITER is used for modeling divertor plasmas in the experimental shot on the EAST tokamak with a carbon divertor. The modeling uses real divertor geometry and an MHD equilibrium from the shot. The modelled divertor configurations include upper single null (USN), disconnected double null (DDN) and lower single null (LSN). D0, D+1, e− and carbon impurity species sputtered from the first wall are included in the multi-fluid simulations. Neutral particles are traced with EIRENE in which neutral–neutral collisions in triangular grids are considered. The default physics models in the code are employed. The cross-field transport coefficients D, and deduced from the profile measurements at the targets are used with the assumption of , some of the deduced D are modified in the SOL and private regions and D, , in the core are adjusted in order to match better the experimental measurement at the target plates. Employed D, and drop from the core to the SOL, they may drop to neoclassic level within the edge transport barriers (ETBs). A ballooning effect on the transport coefficients is introduced. The computational contour profiles of electron temperature in the divertor regions and the computational profiles of plasma pressure and electron temperature at the mid-plane (the upstream) and at the target plate show the sheath limited (low recycling) operation regime. The calculated profiles of electron density ne, electron temperature Te, particle flux f , parallel ion saturation current and parallel power flux P along the target plates of the divertor are compared to the experimental measurements. Using the deduced and adjusted cross-field transport coefficients, when the measurement errors are considered the calculated and measured profiles have a relatively good match, the computational profiles are similar to the measured profiles, the profiles peaked at the separatrix strike points. The most peak values f s of calculated profiles are in the range of the measured error-bars , only in several matched profiles f s is out of the range of the error-bar, but, relative error does not exceed . When full drifts are taken into account in the entire SOL and the private flux regions the calculated profiles have better match to the measured profiles and the modeling results show the drifts enhance the divertor asymmetry.

Abstract P2-12-12: MyNauseaRisk assay - Predicting chemotherapy-induced delayed nausea using a blood-based assay

Abstract BACKGROUND: Nausea and vomiting are some of the most common and distressing side effects of chemotherapy according to patients. Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) places a substantial burden on patients and their loved ones, which greatly reduces the quality of life, nutritional habits, ability to work and socialize, and adhere to treatment regimens. Therefore, assessment of CINV is an essential component of care for patients receiving chemotherapy. Multiple factors influence the incidence of CINV with the chemotherapy regimen, both type and dosage, being the primary risk factor. It is generally assumed that the strongest patient-related factors are younger age and female sex. However, reports in the literature have demonstrated that using these factors clinicians underestimate the prevalence of CINV, especially delayed nausea. Thus, there is a need for risk assessment tools to accurately identify patients requiring anti-emetic regimens to improve quality of life of patients and their families. Our assay is based on the knowledge that chemotherapeutic agents cause bursts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) resulting in cellular damage and release of substances that activate receptors in the chemoreceptor trigger zone. Glutathione (GSH), a key antioxidant, is responsible for maintaining redox homeostasis by neutralizing ROS. Therefore, we hypothesized that a patient’s risk of CINV may reflect individual variations in the efficiency to scavenge and neutralize ROS after chemotherapy. METHODS: Patients enrolled in our institutional review board approved study (N= 220), were treated in the adjuvant or neoadjuvant setting with highly or moderately emetogenic chemotherapies for their breast cancer diagnosis. Blood samples were drawn from chemotherapy naïve patients and used in the predictive blood assay. The assay is based on the conversion of a bioactive probe, hydroxyethyl disulfide, into mercaptoethanol, which once normalized to red blood cell count, indicates glutathione recycling capacity. Incidence and severity of delayed nausea symptoms were collected from notes in medical records as well as anti-emetic prescription history. RESULTS: A recent second evaluation of patients treated with platinum-based therapies confirmed our previously published data, demonstrating a correlation between low glutathione recycling capacity and risk of delayed nausea for patients with lung and colon cancer (N=111; misclassification rate 0.153; AUC 0.72). In this study, we evaluated age-matched patients treated with anthracycline/cyclophosphamide (AC)(N=42), docetaxel/cyclophosphamide (TC)(N=39), docetaxel/carboplatin/trastuzumab (TCH)(N=27) or docetaxel/carboplatin/trastuzumab/pertuzumab (TCHP)(N=25). The incidence of moderate-to-severe nausea was highest in the AC (38.1%) and TCHP (36.0%) groups. The TCH group had the lowest incidence of patients (11%) reporting delayed nausea. SAS/STAT v.14.1 classification trees demonstrated a weak association between anthracycline-induced delayed nausea and MyNauseaRisk score (misclassification rate 0.333; AUC 0.67). Similarly, patients treated with TC demonstrated a correlation between MyNauseaRisk score and severity of nausea as previously seen for platinum therapies. The algorithm determined that age stratification of patients in the TCHP group prior to applying the MyNauseaRisk score reduced the misclassification rate (0.280) and improved the AUC (0.72). CONCLUSION: The results from this exploratory prospective study suggests that a reduced ability to recycle GSH in the blood may offer an objective prediction of delayed nausea, possibly allowing for optimal anti-emetic regimen to improve the quality-of-life for breast cancer patients. Citation Format: Nicole F Laslett, Dillon D McCourt, Kinjal Parikh, John F Kennedy, Zonera A Ali, Erik L Zeger, Aarti L Shevade, Tracey L Evans, Paul B Gilman, Margaretha Wallon. MyNauseaRisk assay - Predicting chemotherapy-induced delayed nausea using a blood-based assay [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-12-12.

Quantitative analysis of the impact of flue gas recirculation on the efficiency of oxy-coal power plants

Oxy-combustion typically consists of burning coal with a combination of oxygen and a large amount of recycled flue gas (60–70%) to obtain a similar heat flux profile to that of air-fired systems. As the cost of electricity from first-generation oxy-combustion is relatively high, several new oxy-combustion process concepts have been proposed in recent years, and within these, the proposed amount of flue gas recycle (FGR) has varied from near-zero to 80%. To better understand the fundamental impact of FGR on the efficiency of oxy-combustion systems, a thermodynamic approach is used herein. Second-law losses associated with flue gas recycle are found to be significant and highly non-linear with recycle ratio. A difference in efficiency of up to 10 %-points can be realized, with a maximum efficiency occurring at zero FGR. Furthermore, due to the non-linear relation of plant efficiency with recycle ratio, processes with low recycle (< ∼33%) experience only a small efficiency penalty, compared to no recycle. Additionally, fan power requirements also scale non-linearly with recycle ratio, resulting in significantly lower FGR fan power requirements for low recycle processes as well. These results suggest that for systems employing cold recycle, FGR should be kept below 33%.Due to the recent interest in developing pressurized oxy-combustion (POC) for efficient, low-cost carbon capture, the impact of flue gas recycle on POC systems is also presented, with a discussion on the valorization strategies for the latent heat of flue gas moisture recovery.

Improving the System Performance of the Asymmetric Biosynthesis of d-Pantoic Acid by Using Artificially Self-Assembled Enzymes in Escherichia coli

d-Pantoic acid (d-PA) is an important chiral precursor of a broad range of biologically active compounds. The asymmetric synthesis of d-PA through reductase coupling with NADPH regeneration systems is highly promising, but the process is restricted by expensive cofactor consumption and low cofactor recycling frequency. Here, an effective construction of self-assembled ketopantoic acid reductase and glucose dehydrogenase via protein-peptide interaction of PDZ domain and PDZ ligand was established. The self-assembled enzymes exhibited highly ordered two-dimensional threadlike macromolecular structures with improved cofactor regeneration. Furthermore, the bioconversion with whole-cell catalysis showed that the robustness and efficiency of the system with self-assembled enzymes were significantly higher than those of the unassembled enzymes. This study provides a strategy for the effective asymmetric biosynthesis of d-PA with a trace amount of cofactor and shows potential for industrial applications.

A nationwide assessment of litter on China’s beaches using citizen science data

China is the largest plastic consumer in the world. Despite its plastic waste import ban in 2017, this populous economy inevitably generates a large amount of waste, including plastic waste, a considerable part of which has become marine litter. Data from the 2018 National Coastal Cleanup and Monitoring Project, the largest beach litter monitoring activities using the citizen science approach in China, have been retrieved and analyzed to understand spatial patterns, composition, and original usage of marine litter. Within this project, 24 beaches were surveyed every two months. As a result, the mean density was 3.85 ± 5.39 items m−2, much higher than that reported by previous studies in China. There were great differences in the spatial distribution of litter. The highest densities appeared in the runoff-affected area of the Yangtze River, which was another difference from previous studies. Low-density, easy-to-transport foamed plastics were the major contributor to marine litter in these areas. Along China’s coast, approximately 90% of litter was from land-based sources, and over half of that originated from domestic sources. Including foamed plastic products, plastic litter with low recycling value dominated. Both natural and human factors influencing the spatiotemporal distribution and composition of litter are discussed. Socioeconomic factors, such as the lifestyle and consumption levels of citizens and local waste management systems, are possible explanations for the low-value characteristic of marine litter. The deviation between previous data and citizen science data in this study may be caused by many factors. Based on the discussion on these factors, some suggestions for citizen science research in China are also put forward.

Role of Cellular Retention and Intracellular State in Controlling Gene Delivery Efficiency of Multiple Nonviral Carriers.

Nonviral gene delivery has seen major progress in the last two decades owing to facile synthesis, low toxicity, and ease of modification of nanocarriers that take nucleic acids to cells and tissues. Gene delivery nanocomplexes need to reach the target locations in significant amounts by overcoming multiple barriers. While the importance of nanocomplex stability, cellular uptake, intracellular trafficking, and nuclear localization has been studied extensively, the role of cellular retention and recycling of these nanocomplexes is less understood in the context of gene delivery. In this study, we used different DNA carriers and made efforts to understand the role played by cellular retention in determining their gene delivery efficiency across multiple cell lines. In addition, we also analyzed whether state of complexation and localization of the nanocomplexes play a role in conjunction with cellular retention. We observed higher transfection efficiencies for nanocomplexes showing better retention, lower unpackaging, and low recycling. Our data also suggests that nanocomplexes made of peptides with terminal cysteine modification show enhanced retention and transfection efficiency compared to their counterparts with no terminal cysteine. Overall, the work highlights myriad of factors to be considered for improving gene delivery efficiency of nanocomplexes.

Influence of reactor temperature conditions on the recycle flow rate

Objectives. The problem of optimizing chemical flow sheets according to energy costs associated with recycling flows is at present quite relevant. The current article investigates the influence of temperature conditions on the recycle flow rate, securing the specified conversion of the recycled flow sheet “reactor – separation unit.”Methods. The study’s main method is the mathematical simulation of a recycled flow sheet based on material balance and chemical kinetics equations. This model assumes that the separation unit can form the recycle and outlet flows of any specified compositions.Results. The mathematical model recycle flows provides the full reagent conversion of recycled flow sheet depends on the reactor type and the temperature conditions in it. It was established that the dependence of the recycle flow rate on the reactor temperature for endothermic reactions has monotonously decreasing shape. The most interesting are exothermic reactions for which the dependence of the recycle flow rate on the reactor temperature curve has a minimum. It is proved that the “reactor – separation unit” system with the plug flow reactor has lower optimal recycle flow rate than the recycled system with the continuous stirred tank reactor. For the adiabatic reactor the dependence of total conversion recycle flow rate on the inlet reactor temperature was investigated. It has been proven that the optimal recycle flow rate is equal to the minimum recycle flow rate for total conversion in the “reactor – separation unit” system.Conclusions. It has been established that isothermal operation conditions are the best in terms of the recycle flow rate, securing the specified conversion for the system.