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Advances in Waste Plastic Disposal and Utilization Technology
Sun Yunan, Zhang Fan, Li Jianyuan, Zhang Hongnan, Li Ning , Mu Lan ,Cheng Zhanjun , Yan Beibei , Chen Guanyi , Hou Li’an
Strategic Study of Chinese Academy of Engineering doi: 10.15302/J-SSCAE-2023.07.022
Plastic products are a significant component of the manufacturing industry and the plastic industry is closely related to economic and social development. As constraints from resources and environment tighten, rational disposal and utilization of waste plastics becomes crucial for the sustainable economic and environmental development. Currently, the variety of plastic products becomes abundant, and disposal technologies and application challenges are constantly updated. Considering the demand for highquality development of the industry and increasingly strict environmental protection requirements, a systematic analysis of the research progress of waste plastic disposal and utilization becomes urgent. In this study, the waste plastic disposal and utilization technologies are categorized into mechanical disposal of waste plastics, energy and resource conversion, regeneration recycling, and new technologies for disposal and utilization. These four types of technologies are expounded from the aspects of technical features, applicable conditions, and research progress. On the basis, facing the technical challenges and referring to the existing experience of developed countries, suggestions are proposed from the aspects of source reduction, sorted recycling of waste plastics, and technological innovation and transformation, hoping to provide a reference for the clean disposal and recycling of waste plastics in China.
Keywords: waste plastic disposal and utilization energy utilization resource utilization recycling
Research Progress and Prospect of Marine Monitoring Instruments and Equipment in China
Wang Juncheng, Sun Jichang, Liu Yan, Liu Shixuan , Zhang Yingying , Chen Shizhe, Qi Suiping , Wang Bo, Li Yunzhou, Cao Xuan , Gao Yang, Zheng Liang
Strategic Study of Chinese Academy of Engineering doi: 10.15302/J-SSCAE-2023.07.024
Marine monitoring instruments and equipments are crucial for understanding and managing the ocean. In recent years, significant achievements have been obtained in the technologies and application of marine monitoring instruments and equipments in China. However, China still lags behind developed countries in terms of core technologies and equipment for marine monitoring. This study analyzes the development requirements and development status of China’s marine monitoring instruments and equipment from the aspects of global ocean stereoscopic observation system, national nearshore operational observation system, and technologies and core equipment for marine environment monitoring and detection. Moreover, it elaborates on the problems existing in China’s marine monitoring instruments and equipment in terms of policies and mechanisms, original innovation and basic scientific research, common key technologies, technical standards and testing, as well as cincization and industrialization. Furthermore, we propose key development directions and several suggestions including (1) establishing an innovative system of marine monitoring instruments, (2) expanding the marine monitoring instrument industry, and (3) building a marine public test infrastructure, hoping to provide a reference for the development and research of China’s operational marine stereoscopic monitoring system.
Keywords: marine monitoring instruments and equipments global ocean stereoscopic observation system national nearshore operational observation system
Overall Conception and Development Suggestions for the Systematic Construction of Smart Society
Lei Bin, Lan Yushi, Li Maolin, Pan Jianqun, Zhou Zhongyuan, Zhang Chunhui
Strategic Study of Chinese Academy of Engineering doi: 10.15302/J-SSCAE-2023.07.025
A smart society is an important component of the digital China strategy; however, the construction of the smart society currently faces practical challenges. Studying a systematic construction method for the smart society will cultivate new competitive advantages for China, promote Chinese path to modernization, and realize the digital China strategy. This study aims to explore methods for building a new type of smart society and maximizing the benefits of social resources. It analyzes the current status and development trends of smart society construction and summarizes the prominent problems including large investment in decentralized construction, low operational efficiency, and uneven development. Following a systems engineering method, an overall architecture for the systematic construction of the smart society is proposed. The architecture adopts a new “1+N+X” model that focuses on coordinating information infrastructure resources of the entire society to build a smart society system capability support platform, thus to expand various business applications accordingly. Moreover, we propose the following suggestions: (1) strengthening top-level design to build a system capability support platform that integrates network, cloud, data, control, and intelligence, thereby forming a basic digital base for the smart society; (2) adopting a new model of systematic construction to promote the sustainable development of smart society construction through efficient operation; (3) establishing a comprehensive standards and regulations system for the smart society; and (4) providing solid theoretical, technical, and talent support for the systematic construction of the smart society by building a national laboratory for digital systems engineering of the smart society.
Keywords: smart society systematic construction capability support platform integrated data unified resource control
Xiaojie Sui, Xiaodong Wang, Chengcheng Cai, Junyi Ma, Jing Yang, Lei Zhang
Engineering 2023, Volume 23, Issue 4, Pages 82-89 doi: 10.1016/j.eng.2022.03.021
Freeze-tolerant hydrogels can regulate the freezing behavior of the water inside them at subzero temperatures, thus maintaining their exceptional properties (e.g., intelligent responsiveness and liquid transporting) and extending their applications under cold conditions. Herein, a series of aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-active freeze-tolerant hydrogels are developed, which enable information encryption and decryption at subzero temperatures. The hydrogels possess varied freezing temperatures (Tf) depending on their betaine concentration. Above/below Tf, the information in the hydrogels that is encoded by means of AIE luminogens presents turn-off/-on fluorescence, thereby enabling the use of these hydrogels for information encryption and decryption. Moreover, by tuning the cooling procedures or introducing photothermal copper sulfide nanoparticles into the hydrogels via an in situ sulfidation process, together with certain irradiation conditions, multistage information readouts can be obtained, significantly enhancing the information security. Finally, because the decrypted information in the hydrogels is irreversibly sensitive to temperature fluctuation, external energy-free cryogenic anticounterfeiting labels built with the hydrogels are demonstrated, which can realize the visual and real-time viability monitoring of cryopreserved biosamples (e.g., mesenchymal stem cells and red blood cells) during cold-chain transportation (–80 °C).
Keywords: Freeze-tolerant hydrogels Aggregation-induced emission Encryption Decryption Anticounterfeiting
Jiahui Gu, Zhou Qu, Xiangning Zhang, Hongwei Fan, Chunxi Li, Jürgen Caro, Hong Meng
Engineering 2023, Volume 23, Issue 4, Pages 73-81 doi: 10.1016/j.eng.2022.02.017
Achieving a water–oil interface imbalance has been identified as a critical factor in the demulsification of water-in-oil emulsions. However, conventional demulsifying membranes generally break the interface balance by depending on a relatively high transmembrane pressure. Here, we present a "contact demulsification" concept to naturally and quickly achieve disruption of the water–oil interface balance. For this purpose, a novel demulsifying membrane with a high flux of the organic component has been developed via the simple vacuum assembly of zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8)@reduced graphene oxide (rGO) microspheres (ZGS) on a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) support, followed by immobilization processing in a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) crosslinking solution. Due to the micro-nano hierarchies of the ZGS, the prepared ZIF-8@rGO@PDMS/PTFE (ZGPP) membranes feature a unique superhydrophobic surface, which results in a water–oil interface imbalance when a surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil emulsion comes into contact with the membrane surface. Under a low transmembrane pressure of 0.15 bar (15 kPa), such membranes show an excellent separation efficiency (~99.57%) and a high flux of 2254 L·m–2·h–1, even for surfactant-stabilized nanoscale water-in-toluene emulsions (with an average droplet size of 57 nm). This "contact demulsification" concept paves the way for developing next-generation demulsifying membranes for water-in-oil emulsion separation.
Keywords: Water-in-oil emulsion Demulsification Oil/water separation Superhydrophobic membrane
First Supercomputer Breaks Exascale Barrier, with More Expected Soon
Mitch Leslie
Engineering 2023, Volume 23, Issue 4, Pages 10-12 doi: 10.1016/j.eng.2023.02.004
Dan Lai, Fuqiang Chen, Lidong Guo, Lihang Chen, Jie Chen, Qiwei Yang, Zhiguo Zhang, Yiwen Yang, Qilong Ren, Zongbi Bao
Engineering 2023, Volume 23, Issue 4, Pages 64-72 doi: 10.1016/j.eng.2022.03.022
The adsorptive separation of CH4 from CO2 is a promising process for upgrading natural gas. However, thermodynamically selective adsorbents exhibit a strong affinity for CO2 and thus require a high energy compensation for regeneration. Instead, kinetic separation is preferred for a pressure swing adsorption process, although precise control of the aperture size to achieve a tremendous discrepancy in diffusion rates remains challenging. Here, we report a guest solvent-directed strategy for fine-tuning the pore size at a sub-angstrom precision to realize highly efficient kinetic separation. A series of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with isomeric pore surface chemistry were constructed from 4,4′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)-bis(benzoic acid) and dicopper paddlewheel notes. The resultant CuFMOF·CH3OH (CuFMOF-c) exhibits an excellent kinetic separation performance thanks to a periodically expanding and contracting aperture with the ideal bottleneck size, which enables the effective trapping of CO2 and impedes the diffusion of CH4, offering an ultrahigh kinetic selectivity (273.5) and equilibrium-kinetic combined selectivity (64.2). Molecular dynamics calculations elucidate the separation mechanism, and breakthrough experiments validate the separation performance.
Keywords: Guest solvent-directed strategy Metal– organic frameworks Carbon dioxide Methane Kinetic separation
European Union Legislates Charging Port Standard
Chris Palmer
Engineering 2023, Volume 23, Issue 4, Pages 7-9 doi: 10.1016/j.eng.2023.02.003
Genomic Sequencing Costs Set to Head Down Again
Robert Pollie
Engineering 2023, Volume 23, Issue 4, Pages 3-6 doi: 10.1016/j.eng.2023.02.002
Weijie Wu, Bo Jiang, Ruiling Liu, Yanchao Han, Xiangjun Fang, Honglei Mu, Mohamed A. Farag, Jesus Simal-Gandara, Miguel A. Prieto, Hangjun Chen, Jianbo Xiao, Haiyan Gao
Engineering 2023, Volume 23, Issue 4, Pages 118-129 doi: 10.1016/j.eng.2022.12.006
Cuticular wax plays a major role in the growth and storage of plant fruits. The cuticular wax coating, which covers the outermost layer of a fruit's epidermal cells, is insoluble in water. Cuticular wax is mainly composed of very long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs); their derivatives, including esters, primary alcohols, secondary alcohols, aldehydes, and ketones; and triterpenoids. This complex mixture of lipids is probably biosynthesized in the epidermal cells of most plants and exuded onto the surface. Cuticular wax not only makes the fruit less susceptible to microbial infection but also reduces mechanical damage to the fruit, thereby maintaining the fruit’s commodity value. To date, research has mostly focused on the changes, function, and regulation of fruit wax before harvest, while ignoring the changes and functions of wax in fruit storage. This paper reviews on the composition, structure, and metabolic regulation of cuticular wax in fruits. It also focuses on postharvest factors affecting wax composition, such as storage temperature, relative humidity (RH), gas atmosphere, and as exogenous hormones; and the effects of wax on fruit postharvest quality, including water dispersion, fruit softening, physiological disorders, and disease resistance. These summaries may be of assistance in better understanding the changes in cuticular wax in postharvest fruit and the resulting effects on fruit quality.
Keywords: Cuticular wax Structure and function Postharvest Fruit quality
Ziqi Yang, Zhongjie Wu, Shing Bo Peh, Yunpan Ying, Hao Yang, Dan Zhao
Engineering 2023, Volume 23, Issue 4, Pages 40-55 doi: 10.1016/j.eng.2022.07.022
Mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs), which combine porous materials with a polymeric matrix, have gained considerable research interest in the field of gas separation due to their complementary characteristics and cooperative activation. The tailorability and diversity of porous materials grant MMMs extendable functionalities and outstanding separation performance. To achieve the full potential of MMMs, researchers have focused on the rational matching of porous fillers with polymeric matrixes to achieve enhanced compatibility at the interfaces of these materials. In this review, we highlight state-of-the-art advances in combining metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and metal–organic cages (MOCs) with polymeric matrixes to fabricate MMMs using different strategies. We further discuss the opportunities and challenges presented by the future development of MMMs, with the aim of boosting MMM fabrication with judicious material design and selection.
Keywords: Gas separation Metal–organic frameworks Metal–organic cages Mixed-matrix membranes Interfacial compatibility
Advancements in MOF-Based Engineered Materials for Efficient Separation Processes
Qilong Ren
Engineering 2023, Volume 23, Issue 4, Pages 1-2 doi: 10.1016/j.eng.2023.02.006
Weimin Tan, Yinyin Cao, Xiaojing Ma, Ganghui Ru, Jichun Li, Jing Zhang, Yan Gao, Jialun Yang, Guoying Huang, Bo Yan, Jian Li
Engineering 2023, Volume 23, Issue 4, Pages 90-102 doi: 10.1016/j.eng.2022.10.015
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of infant death. An artificial intelligence (AI)-based CHD diagnosis network (CHDNet) is an echocardiogram video-based binary classification model that judges whether echocardiogram videos contain heart defects. Existing CHDNets have shown performances comparable to or even better than medical experts, but their unreliability on cases outside of the training set has become the main bottleneck for their deployment. This is a common problem for most AI-based diagnostic approaches. Here, to overcome this challenge, we present two essential mechanisms— Bayesian inference and dynamic neural feedback—to respectively measure and improve the diagnostic reliability of AI. The former easily makes the neural network output its reliability instead of a single prediction result, while the latter is a computational neural feedback cell that allows the neural network to feed knowledge from the output layer back to the shallow layers and enables the neural network to selectively activate relevant neurons. To evaluate the effectiveness of these two mechanisms, we trained CHDNets on 4151 echocardiogram videos containing three common CHD defects and tested them on an internal test set of 1037 echocardiogram videos and an external set of 692 videos that were newly collected from other cardiovascular imaging devices. Each echocardiogram video corresponds to a unique patient and a unique visit. We demonstrate on various neural network architectures how the reliability obtained by Bayesian inference interprets and quantifies the significant performance difference between internal and external test sets of neural networks, and how the devised feedback cell helps the neural networks to maintain high accuracy and reliability, despite the input being corrupted by noise or when using an external test set.
Keywords: Congenital heart disease Artificial intelligence Deep learning Model uncertainty
Xiaoke Wu, Chi Chiu Wang, Yijuan Cao, Jian Li, Zhiqiang Li, Hongli Ma, Jingshu Gao, Hui Chang, Duojia Zhang, Jing Cong, Yu Wang, Qi Wu, Xiaoxiao Han, Pui Wah Jacqueline Chung, Yiran Li, Xu Zheng, Lingxi Chen, Lin Zeng, Astrid Borchert, Hartmut Kuhn, Zi-Jiang Chen, Ernest Hung Yu Ng, Elisabet Stener-Victorin, Heping Zhang, Richard S. Legro, Ben Willem J. Mol, Yongyong Shi
Engineering 2023, Volume 23, Issue 4, Pages 103-111 doi: 10.1016/j.eng.2022.08.013
Ovulation induction is a first-line medical treatment for infertility in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Poor ovulation responses are assumed to be due to insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism. In a prospective cohort (PCOSAct) of 1000 infertile patients with PCOS, whole-exome plus targeted singlenucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sequencing and comprehensive metabolomic profiling were conducted. Significant genome-wide common variants and rare mutations associated with anovulation were identified, and a prediction model was built using machine learning. Common variants in zinc-finger protein 438 gene (ZNF438) indexed by rs2994652 (p = 2.47 × 10–8) and a rare functional mutation in REC114 (rs182542888, p = 5.79 × 10–6) were significantly associated with failure of ovulation induction. Women carrying the A allele of rs2994652 and REC114 p.Val101Leu (rs182542888) had lower ovulation (odds ratio (OR) = 1.96, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 1.55–2.49; OR = 11.52, 95%CI = 3.08–43.05, respectively) and prolonged time to ovulation (mean = 56.7 versus (vs) 49.0 days, p < 0.001; 78.1 vs 68.6 days, p = 0.014, respectively). L-phenylalanine was found to be increased and correlated with the Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) index (r = 0.22, p = 0.050) and fasting glucose (r = 0.33, p = 0.003) for rs2994652, while arachidonic acid metabolism was found to be decreased and associated with increased anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH; r = –0.51, p = 0.01) and total testosterone (TT; r = –0.71, p = 0.02) for rs182542888. A combined model of genetic variants, metabolites, and clinical features increased the prediction of ovulation (area under the curve (AUC) = 76.7%). Common variants in ZNF438 and rare functional mutations in REC114, associated with phenylalanine and arachidonic acid metabolites, contributed to the failure of infertility treatment in women with PCOS.
Keywords: Polycystic ovary syndrome Infertility Ovulation responses ZNF438 REC114 Whole-exome sequencing Deep machine learning
Title Author Date Type Operation
Advances in Waste Plastic Disposal and Utilization Technology
Sun Yunan, Zhang Fan, Li Jianyuan, Zhang Hongnan, Li Ning , Mu Lan ,Cheng Zhanjun , Yan Beibei , Chen Guanyi , Hou Li’an
Journal Article
Research Progress and Prospect of Marine Monitoring Instruments and Equipment in China
Wang Juncheng, Sun Jichang, Liu Yan, Liu Shixuan , Zhang Yingying , Chen Shizhe, Qi Suiping , Wang Bo, Li Yunzhou, Cao Xuan , Gao Yang, Zheng Liang
Journal Article
Overall Conception and Development Suggestions for the Systematic Construction of Smart Society
Lei Bin, Lan Yushi, Li Maolin, Pan Jianqun, Zhou Zhongyuan, Zhang Chunhui
Journal Article
AIE-Active Freeze-Tolerant Hydrogels Enable Multistage Information Encryption and Decryption at Subzero Temperatures
Xiaojie Sui, Xiaodong Wang, Chengcheng Cai, Junyi Ma, Jing Yang, Lei Zhang
Journal Article
Membrane Contact Demulsification: A Superhydrophobic ZIF-8@rGO Membrane for Water-in-Oil Emulsion Separation
Jiahui Gu, Zhou Qu, Xiangning Zhang, Hongwei Fan, Chunxi Li, Jürgen Caro, Hong Meng
Journal Article
Guest Solvent-Directed Isomeric Metal–Organic Frameworks for the Kinetically Favorable Separation of Carbon Dioxide and Methane
Dan Lai, Fuqiang Chen, Lidong Guo, Lihang Chen, Jie Chen, Qiwei Yang, Zhiguo Zhang, Yiwen Yang, Qilong Ren, Zongbi Bao
Journal Article
Structures and Functions of Cuticular Wax in Postharvest Fruit and Its Regulation: A Comprehensive Review with Future Perspectives
Weijie Wu, Bo Jiang, Ruiling Liu, Yanchao Han, Xiangjun Fang, Honglei Mu, Mohamed A. Farag, Jesus Simal-Gandara, Miguel A. Prieto, Hangjun Chen, Jianbo Xiao, Haiyan Gao
Journal Article
Mixed-Matrix Membranes Containing Porous Materials for Gas Separation: From Metal–Organic Frameworks to Discrete Molecular Cages
Ziqi Yang, Zhongjie Wu, Shing Bo Peh, Yunpan Ying, Hao Yang, Dan Zhao
Journal Article
Advancements in MOF-Based Engineered Materials for Efficient Separation Processes
Qilong Ren
Journal Article
Bayesian Inference and Dynamic Neural Feedback Promote the Clinical Application of Intelligent Congenital Heart Disease Diagnosis
Weimin Tan, Yinyin Cao, Xiaojing Ma, Ganghui Ru, Jichun Li, Jing Zhang, Yan Gao, Jialun Yang, Guoying Huang, Bo Yan, Jian Li
Journal Article
Novel Genetic Risk and Metabolic Signatures of Insulin Signaling and Androgenesis in the Anovulation of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Xiaoke Wu, Chi Chiu Wang, Yijuan Cao, Jian Li, Zhiqiang Li, Hongli Ma, Jingshu Gao, Hui Chang, Duojia Zhang, Jing Cong, Yu Wang, Qi Wu, Xiaoxiao Han, Pui Wah Jacqueline Chung, Yiran Li, Xu Zheng, Lingxi Chen, Lin Zeng, Astrid Borchert, Hartmut Kuhn, Zi-Jiang Chen, Ernest Hung Yu Ng, Elisabet Stener-Victorin, Heping Zhang, Richard S. Legro, Ben Willem J. Mol, Yongyong Shi
Journal Article
Guo Hongwei: Reflections on Improving the Performance of Large Scale Ground Antennas (2023-3-30)
26 Apr 2023
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