Activity

For the first time, the existence of a unique dispersivity of a double-porosity medium at a given saturation was demonstrated for different transport scenarios of initial and boundary conditions. The saturation dependence of the dispersivity in the double-porosity medium was established and compared with the trends obtained for the single-porosity soils in previous studies.Engineered black carbon (biochar) can be introduced into groundwater through its extensive engineered applications (e.g., in-situ remediation of groundwater/soils), which can participate in geochemical processes that may alter the fate of trace contaminants such as arsenic (As(III)). Here we examined the impacts of the undissolved and dissolved fractions of reduced biochar (hereafter denoted as rUBC and rDBC, respectively) on the As(III) immobilization in the absence/presence of Ca2+ (50 mM) at pH 11.5 under anoxic conditions. Selleckchem FICZ While neither rUBC nor rDBC alone was capable of immobilizing As(III), the apparent As(III) immobilization by rUBC and rDBC synergistically occurred in the presence of Ca2+, with an efficiency of 73.1% and 89.6% within 24 h, respectively. In the rUBC/Ca2+/As(III) system, rUBC enabled full oxidation of As(III) to As(V) by its residual redox-active moieties such as quinoid CO and persistent free radicals, thereby facilitating precipitation of the newly generated As(V) with Ca2+ adsorbed onto the rUBC’s surface. In contrast, rDBC induced in-situ local enrichment of Ca2+ in the nascent rDBC-derived flocs with predominant non-oxidative and slight oxidative precipitation of As(III) via ternary rDBC-Ca-As complexation. This ternary complex was created by Ca2+-bridging interactions between As species and oxygen-containing functional groups of rDBC, as evidenced by the FTIR results and the Ca2+-impeded As(III) oxidation. The generation of the flocs physically trapped a small amount of As species particularly As(III). Both the increases in Ca2+ concentration (0-100 mM) and solution pH (10.0-12.5) enhanced the apparent As(III) immobilization. This study provides new insights into the environmental impacts of two reduced biochar fractions released into typical Ca2+-rich aquifers on the fate and transport of As species.Individuals with an advantageous position during a negotiation possess leverage over their partners. Several studies with adults have investigated how leverage can influence the coordination strategies of individuals when conflicts of interest arise. In this study, we explored how pairs of 7-year-old children solved a coordination game (based on the Snowdrift scenario) when one child had leverage over the other child. We presented a social dilemma in the form of an unequal reward distribution on a rotating tray. The rotating tray could be accessed by both children. The child who waited longer to act received the best outcome, but if both children waited too long, they would lose the rewards. In addition, one child could forgo the access to the rotating tray for an alternative option-the leverage. Although children rarely used their leverage strategically, children with access to the alternative were less likely to play the social dilemma, especially when their leverage was larger. Furthermore, children waited longer to act as the leverage decreased. Finally, children almost never failed to coordinate. The results hint to a trade-off between maximizing benefits while maintaining long-term collaboration in complex scenarios where strategies such as turn taking are hard to implement.

The West London lung screening pilot aimed to identify early-stage lung cancer by targeting low-dose CT (LDCT) to high risk participants. Successful implementation of screening requires maximising participant uptake and identifying those at highest risk. As well as reporting pre-specified baseline screening metrics, additional objectives were to 1) compare participant uptake between a mobile and hospital-based CT scanner and 2) evaluate the impact on cancer detection using two lung cancer risk models.

From primary care records, ever-smokers aged 60-75 were invited to a lung health check at a hospital or mobile site. Participants with PLCO

6-yr risk ≥1.51 % and/or LLP

5-yr risk ≥2.0 % were offered a LDCT. Lung cancer detection rate, stage, and recall rates are reported. Participant uptake was compared at both sites (chi-squared test). LDCT eligibility and cancer detection rate were compared between those recruited under each risk model.

Of 8366 potential participants invited, 1047/5135 (20.4 %) invitr levels of participant uptake at a mobile and fixed site scanner were demonstrated, indicating that uptake was driven by factors in addition to scanner location. The LLPv2 model was more permissive; recruitment with PLCOM2012 alone would have missed several cancers.CO is one of the toxic components of syngas, which is the major source of air pollution. Syngas fermentation technology has the ability to convert toxic gases into valuable biofuels, such as ethanol. Fermentative ethanol production is an important method that can be used to promote environmental protection. CO can be converted into ethanol, via the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway, using Clostridium ljungdahlii. The components of the growing medium–especially the trace-element solution and yeast extract–are the main reasons for the high costs associated with this process, however, and this especially impacts scaled-up operations. In this study, cheaper substitutes for these components were used in order to determine their effect on ethanol production. The study comprised three main parts–the optimization of CO concentration, and the substitution of corn syrup and whey powder in the process. The optimum volume of CO for ethanol production was found to be 10 mL. Corn syrup can be used instead of trace-element solution, but the use of yeast extract with the corn syrup was determined to be essential. Up to 1.4 g/L ethanol production was observed with the addition of 15 mL corn syrup. Whey powder had the advantage of being usable without yeast extract, with up to 2.5 g/L ethanol being produced from a 30-g/L concentration. The main finding was that either corn syrup or whey powder can be used as substitutes for expensive basal-medium components.