The thermal behaviour of French water bodies: From ponds to Lake Geneva

The management of French freshwater bodies (lakes, reservoirs, ponds, etc.) needs to face the challenges imposed by the effects of climate change and by legal requirements to develop standards for water temperature and other physicochemical indicators. While 1D hydrodynamical models could be helpful in improving the knowledge of the thermal and hydrodynamic behaviour of French water bodies, the scarcity of data for calibration and validation, in addition to the unavailability of some forcing data, makes their application difficult for most French water bodies. In this article we explore an alternative statistical approach that takes advantage of the available data in order to inform future modelling applications. We used official monitoring data and satellite measurements to study the thermal characteristics of more than 400 French water bodies (depth: 1–310 m, surface area: 0.1–577 km², volume: 0.1–89,000 hm³). The objective was to identify the importance of size on their thermal behaviour. For this we analysed the annual temperature cycle, the summer temperature profiles and within-lake spatial variability. Together with size, geography and transparency determine the thermal behaviour of water bodies through complex interactions. As a result of the analysis we propose a classification of French water bodies as a function of depth and surface area that reflects the summer vertical temperature gradient and the processes influencing the deepening of the thermocline.     

Feasible Preparation of a Thin‐Film Composite Nanofiltration (TFC NF) Membrane with Enhanced Skin–Substrate Adhesion and Compaction Resistance: In Situ Construction of Rigid–Flexible Polymer Composited Microspheres (CPs) in the Casting Solution

Novel microspheres (CPs) composited by rigid and flexible polymers are synthesized and embedded in the supporting membranes to enhance both the skin–substrate adhesion and compaction resistance of the thin‐film composite (TFC) nanofiltration membranes. The CPs are in situ formed in the casting solution after the rigid poly(p‐phenylene terephthamide) (PPTA) is produced in the flexible poly(m‐phenylene isophthalamide) (PMIA) solution. Then the PPTA/PMIA in situ blending membranes are prepared by using the NIPs method, and the TFC NF membranes are fabricated via interfacial polymerization on them. The CPs are characterized via polarizing microscopy and TEM. The surface morphology and chemical composition of the blended membranes are characterized by using FESEM, AFM, FTIR, and WCA, respectively. As the results show, the supporting membrane with higher PPTA content exhibits higher permeability, thermal stability, and compaction resistance. Moreover, the adhesion strength between the TFC functional layer and the supporting membrane is improved significantly. It is proposed that this improvement can be attributed to the CPs that are exposed on the top surface of the supporting membrane, which leads to a great enhancement because of the anchoring effect between the functional layer and the CPs.     

Detailed Insight into the Interaction of Bicyclic Somatostatin Analogue with Cu(II) Ions

Somatostatin analogues are useful pharmaceuticals in peptide receptor radionuclide therapy. In previous studies, we analyzed a new bicyclic somatostatin analogue (BCS) in connection with Cu(II) ions. Two characteristic sites were present in the peptide chain: the receptor- and the metal-binding site. We have already shown that this ligand can form very stable imidazole complexes with the metal ion. In this work, our aim was to characterize the intramolecular interaction that occurs in the peptide molecule. Therefore, we analyzed the coordination abilities of two cyclic ligands, i.e., P1 only with the metal binding site and P2 with both sites, but without the disulfide bond. Furthermore, we used magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopy to better understand the coordination process. We applied this method to analyze spectra of P1, P2, and BCS, which we have described previously. Additionally, we analyzed the MCD spectra of P3 ligand, which has only the receptor binding site in its structure. We have unequivocally shown that the presence of the Phe-Trp-Lys-Thr motif and the disulfide bond significantly increases the metal binding efficiency.     

The Protective Effects of the Autophagic and Lysosomal Machinery in Vascular and Valvular Calcification: A Systematic Review

Background: Autophagy is a highly conserved catabolic homeostatic process, crucial for cell survival. It has been shown that autophagy can modulate different cardiovascular pathologies, including vascular calcification (VCN). Objective: To assess how modulation of autophagy, either through induction or inhibition, affects vascular and valvular calcification and to determine the therapeutic applicability of inducing autophagy. Data sources: A systematic review of English language articles using MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science (WoS) and the Cochrane library. The search terms included autophagy, autolysosome, mitophagy, endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-phagy, lysosomal, calcification and calcinosis. Study characteristics: Thirty-seven articles were selected based on pre-defined eligibility criteria. Thirty-three studies (89%) studied vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) calcification of which 27 (82%) studies investigated autophagy and six (18%) studies lysosomal function in VCN. Four studies (11%) studied aortic valve calcification (AVCN). Thirty-four studies were published in the time period 2015–2020 (92%). Conclusion: There is compelling evidence that both autophagy and lysosomal function are critical regulators of VCN, which opens new perspectives for treatment strategies. However, there are still challenges to overcome, such as the development of more selective pharmacological agents and standardization of methods to measure autophagic flux.     

HIP法制备CuCr触头的真空电击穿特性

采用热等静压(HIP)固相烧结法制备了近乎完全致密、低氧、氮含量的CuCr合金材料,研究了在不同烧结温度下制备CuCr合金的Cr相颗粒度、电击穿场强及击穿区域,给出了CuCr合金Cr相粒子半径与击穿场强的关系式。结果表明:随着HIP烧结温度的上升,CuCr触头材料的Cr相颗粒度也将逐渐增大,导致真空电击穿场强减小,与此同时真空电击穿烧蚀面积增大,烧蚀坑深度逐步加深。     

拉锻式摩擦塞焊的热力耦合解析模型和试验验证

为快速得到拉锻式摩擦塞焊的焊接工艺参数，对焊接过程进行预测，建立了摩擦塞焊过程的扭矩、轴向力、功率和能量等指标的力学模型和热力耦合解析模型。模型的输入量为焊接塞棒的几何参数、材料属性、焊接转速和进给速度，输出量为焊接过程的扭矩、轴向力、功率和能量等。在自主设计的拉锻式摩擦塞焊设备上进行了焊接试验。通过将试验数据的输入和输出指标与理论模型值进行对比分析，验证了理论解析模型的可行性。     

Highly efficient chemical mechanical polishing method for SiC substrates using enhanced slurry containing bubbles of ozone gas

In this study, a highly efficient method for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) of silicon carbide (SiC) substrates using enhanced slurry was proposed and developed. The enhanced slurry contains bubbles of ozone gas generated by ozone gas generator in pure water mixed with a conventional commercially available slurry. Therefore, the enhanced slurry has an oxidizing effect on the Si-face of SiC substrates. To confirm the effectiveness of bubbles enclosing ozone gas, both nano-indentation test and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis were conducted. As a result, the hardness decrease of the Si-face of the SiC substrate was confirmed through the nano-indentation test, and the generation of reaction products was confirmed on Si-face of SiC substrate in the XPS analysis. According to a series of experimental results of our proposed highly efficient CMP method for SiC substrates, the removal rate can be increased when the enhanced slurry was applied, comparing with that for the not only conventional commercially available slurry but also commercially available dedicated slurry.     

不同长度金属结合肽对大肠杆菌吸附钯性能的影响

利用微生物吸附法回收铂族金属(PGMs)有较大的应用前景，然而利用基因工程手段改造微生物胞外金属结合基团，进而提升微生物的吸附量与特异性仍是一项挑战。本研究利用微生物表面展示技术，在大肠杆菌(Escherichia coli，简写为E. coli)BL21菌株外膜上展示了不同长度的金属结合肽(EC10、EC20、EC30)，并解析了其对钯(Pd(II))的吸附行为。结果表明，在E.coli BL21表面展示不同长度金属结合肽均能增强其对Pd(II)的吸附量。其中，表面展示了EC20的菌株(简写为E. coli EC20)吸附量最高，为144.25 mg/g，是未进行表面展示菌株的1.14倍；E. coli BL21和E. coli EC20均能够从含多种金属离子的工业废水中选择性吸附Pd(II)和Pt(IV)，两株菌对Pd(II)吸附率分别为96.2%和99.0%。以上研究表明利用表面展示技术增加微生物外膜金属结合基团是一种有效提升微生物吸附能力的手段。     

应用PMO提高连铸坯生产拉速及成分均匀性

为了实现电炉厂提产增效的目标,研究了脉冲磁致振荡(PMO)在提高铸坯生产拉速中的应用潜能。结果表明,优化PMO处理参数可以适应生产拉速提高的要求,并改善铸坯的中心偏析和宏观偏析。当连铸拉速提至1.05 m/min,PMO脉冲频率为1.16K_f Hz,峰值电压为1.00K_iV处理参数(K_f和K_i分别为仪器的放电频率和电压峰值)时, 铸坯横断面碳偏析指数可控制在1±0.05内;当连铸拉速提至1.15 m/min,PMO脉冲频率为1.28K_fHz,峰值电压为1.00K_iV处理参数时,铸坯横断面碳偏析指数可控制在1±0.07内。试验证明,在高拉速条件下通过保证单位时间内对钢液施加的脉冲能量可以使连铸坯质量得到有效改善。