Enhanced removal of chemical oxygen demand, nitrogen and phosphorus using the ameliorative anoxic/anaerobic/oxic process and micro-electrolysis

Synthetic wastewater was treated using a novel system integrating the reversed anoxic/anaerobic/oxic (RAAO) process, a micro-electrolysis (ME) bed and complex biological media. The system showed superior chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) removal rates. Performance of the system was optimised by considering the influences of three major controlling factors, namely, hydraulic retention time (HRT), organic loading rate (OLR) and mixed liquor recirculation (MLR). TP removal efficiencies were 69, 87, 87 and 83% under the HRTs of 4, 8, 12 and 16 h. In contrast, HRT had negligible effects on the COD and TN removal efficiencies. COD, TN and TP removal efficiencies from synthetic wastewater were 95, 63 and 87%, respectively, at an OLR of 1.9 g/(L·d). The concentrations of COD, TN and TP in the effluent were less than 50, 15 and 1 mg/L, respectively, at the controlled MLR range of 75-100%. In this system, organics, TN and TP were primarily removed from anoxic tank regardless of the operational conditions.     

Nonlinear elasticity imaging: theory and phantom study

In tissue the Young's modulus cannot be assumed constant over a wide deformation range. For example, direct mechanical measurements on human prostate show up to a threefold increase in Young's modulus over a 10% deformation. In conventional elasticity imaging, these effects produce strain-dependent elastic contrast. Ignoring these effects generally leads to suboptimal contrast (stiffer tissues at lower strain are contrasted against softer tissues at higher strain), but measuring the nonlinear behavior results in enhanced tissue differentiation. To demonstrate the methods extracting nonlinear elastic properties, both simulations and measurements were performed on an agar-gelatin phantom. Multiple frames of phase-sensitive ultrasound data are acquired as the phantom is deformed by 12%. All interframe displacement data are brought back to the geometry of the first frame to form a three-dimensional (3-D) data set (depth, lateral, and preload dimensions). Data are fit to a 3-D second order polynomial model for each pixel that adjusts for deformation irregularities. For the phantom geometry and elastic properties considered in this paper, reconstructed frame-to-frame strain images using this model result in improved contrast to noise ratios (CNR) at all preload levels, without any sacrifice in spatial resolution. From the same model, strain hardening at all preload levels can be extracted. This is an independent contrast mechanism. Its maximum CNR occurs at 5.13% preload, and it is a 54% improvement over the best case (preload 10.6%) CNR for frame-to-frame strain reconstruction. Actual phantom measurements confirm the essential features of the simulation. Results show that modeling of the nonlinear elastic behavior has the potential to both increase detectability in elasticity imaging and provide a new independent mechanism for tissue differentiation.     

国防远景研究计划局局长估价激光武器计划

国防部管理高能激光和其它长期技术项目的国防远景研究计划局局长库珀（B. Cooper)说：“研制激光武器很有可能得到报偿——这是五角大楼高级官员的集体判断。”他是在十月份于波士顿召开的电-光会议上讲这番话的，该会由美国航空和航天协会发起。库珀概述了该局目前在展望激光武器时的想法，他断定：“我们很可能会把激光武器系统放到战场上。”     

Car insurance and the risk of car crash injury

Despite speculation about the role of vehicle insurance in road traffic accidents, there is little research estimating the direction or extent of the risk relationship. Data from the Auckland Car Crash Injury Study (1998–1999) were used to examine the association between driving an uninsured motor vehicle and car crash injury. Cases were all cars involved in crashes in which at least one occupant was hospitalized or killed anywhere in the Auckland region. Controls were 588 drivers of randomly selected cars on Auckland roads. Participants completed a structured interview. Uninsured drivers had significantly greater odds of car crash injury compared to insured drivers after adjustment for age, sex, level of education, and driving exposure (odds ratio 4.77, 95% confidence interval 2.94–7.75). The causal mechanism for insurance and car crash injury is not easily determined. Although we examined the effects of multiple potential confounders in our analysis including socioeconomic status and risk-taking behaviours, both of which have been previously observed to be associated with both insurance status and car crash injury, residual confounding may partly explain this association. The estimated proportion of drivers who are uninsured is between 5 and 15% in developed countries, representing a significant public health problem worthy of further investigation.     

在普通照明条件下寻找元件瑕疵

作为各类无损检验的一个重要工具，全息干涉法的确贏得了自己的地位。但它确实也受到几种重大的实际限制，其中包括要求暗的环境及波前重建所需的对装置的极细微调整。     

透明带电宏粒子的激光束同步回旋加速

讨论了用激光束重复的辐射压力对透明带电粒子进行加速的问题。径向电场使粒子在一个稳定的轨道上沿封闭路径运动。对碳化硅制成的半径为r=0．5μm的粒子，使其达到100km／s的速度看来是可以实现的，采用这种方法可产生高能密度。     

在原子阱内外玻色凝聚物都相干

最近WolfgangKetterle及其同事在麻省理工学院演示了“原子激光器”，对这件事的报导使物理界人士为之兴奋，自然也吸引了大众媒体的关注。激光的基本特征之一是其相干性，该组提供的证据是惊人的：两团玻色一爱因斯坦凝聚物在从同一陷欧中的捕获态释放出后发生膨胀和重叠，形成高锐度干涉条纹。这种条纹使人联想到双缝相干光波的干涉（见图1）。恐怕不会有人对上述玻色一爱因斯坦凝聚物相干性的证明感到意外。说到底，它是处于量子力学基态的一群原子，可用单一的宏观波函数来描写。但若无实验验证，某些理论研究者会提出以下疑问：谁能确…     

Unimolecular catalytic DNA biosensor for amplified detection of L-histidine via an enzymatic recycling cleavage strategy

Fluorescence catalytic beacons have emerged as a general platform for sensing applications. However, almost all such sensing systems need covalent modification of the DNAzymes with fluorophore-quencher pairs, which may require elaborate design of the synthetic routes and many heavy and complicated synthetic steps and result in increased cost and lower synthesis yield. Here we report the construction of fluorescent cascadic catalytic beacons. With separation of the molecular recognition module from the signal reporter, this new design both avoids DNAzyme modifications and improves sensitivity through an endonuclease-based cascadic enzymatic signal amplification. This allows detection of L-histidine with high sensitivity (LOD = 200 nM) and excellent specificity. The proposed sensing system has also been used for detection of L-histidine in cellular homogenate with satisfactory results.