We report on a comparative study of strong-field ionization of alkaline-earth-metal atoms by intense femtosecond laser pulses from near-infrared to midinfrared wavelengths. By collecting the ionization signals only produced within the central portion of the laser focus, the focus volume effect is largely reduced and the saturation intensities for different alkaline-earth-metal atoms are reliably determined, which permits us to directly test the strong-field-ionization theories. We demonstrate that the Perelomov-Popov-Terent'ev model accurately predicts the experimental ionization yields and saturation intensities in general for arbitrary values of the Keldysh parameter, while the Ammosov-Delone-Krainov simulations agree with the experiments for the tunneling-ionization regime and also for the regime when the Keldysh parameter is around 1. Our work presents benchmark data for strong-field ionization of alkaline-earth metals over a broad range of laser parameters and confirms the validity of Keldysh's picture for such atoms.
Recent studies have revealed that wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are an important source of fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) in the environment. However, it remains unclear whether volatilization to the atmosphere or discharge with wastewater effluent into receiving water bodies is the dominant pathway through which FTOHs enter the environment; it also remains unclear how the relative importance of these two emission pathways varies among seasons and homologs. Here, we estimated the emissions of 6:2 and 8:2 FTOHs through these two pathways from a typical WWTP in Beijing, China, by measuring height-dependent air concentrations above the wastewater surface; we also measured wastewater concentrations among the four annual seasons. Our results showed that atmospheric emissions dominate total annual FTOH emissions, but are not dominant in every single season. Emission to the aquatic environment is dominant during seasons with less wind (i.e., summer and fall). While the abundance of 6:2 FTOH has increased in recent years, 8:2 FTOH remains the major FTOH homolog released into the environment in China. This study provides comprehensive information regarding FTOH emissions from WWTPs to the environment and practical guidance for future monitoring practices.
Recently, nanoindentation has become an increasingly popular method for geomechanical analysis of rock samples in petroleum industry. Unloading curves of shale samples from the nanoindentation, which are considered as the pure elastic response, are used to determine the mechanical properties such as Young's modulus. In order to find a suitable model to characterize the unloading behavior of shale samples, in this study, we collected one Bakken Shale sample and performed nanoindentation tests on aliquots. First, the characteristics of the unloading curves were analyzed and then parameters such as: contact displacement and Young's modulus, based on two different prominent models (Oliver-Pharr model and Zeng-Chiu model) were calculated. Finally, values obtained from these two models were compared. The results showed that the unloading curves from the shale samples are nonlinear while Oliver-Pharr and Zeng-Chiu models both can be applied to represent the unloading curves. The mean Young's modulus from Oliver-Pharr model is around 1.2 times the value from Zeng-Chiu model. Using the Mori-Tanaka method, the upscaled Young's modulus value (32.14 GPa) from the Oliver-Pharr model is slight larger than the value from Zeng-Chiu model (28.70 GPa). In conclusion, the Oliver-Pharr model and Zeng- Chiu model can be both applied to study the unloading behavior of the nanoindentation curves.
A person’s ability to discriminate fine differences in tone frequency is vital for everyday hearing such as listening to speech and music. This ability can be improved through training (i.e., tone frequency learning). Depending on stimulus configurations and training procedures, tone frequency learning can either transfer to new frequencies, which would suggest learning of a general task structure, or show significant frequency specificity, which would suggest either changes in neural representations of trained frequencies, or reweighting of frequency-specific neural responses. Here we tested the hypothesis that frequency specificity in tone frequency learning can be abolished with a double-training procedure. Specifically, participants practiced tone frequency discrimination at 1 or 6 kHz, presumably encoded by different temporal or place coding mechanisms, respectively. The stimuli were brief tone pips known to produce significant specificity. Tone frequency learning was indeed initially highly frequency specific (Experiment 1). However, with additional exposure to the other untrained frequency via an irrelevant temporal interval discrimination task, or even background play during a visual task, learning transferred completely (1-to-6 kHz or 6-to-1 kHz) (Experiments 2-4). These results support general task structure learning, or concept learning in our term, in tone frequency learning despite initial frequency specificity. They also suggest strategies to design efficient auditory training in practical settings.
To get a comprehensive source apportionment of the non-refractory submicron aerosol (NR-PM,), a merged dataset of the organic fragments and the inorganic species, measured by an aerosol chemical speciation monitor (ACSM) during winter 2014 in Shijiazhuang, was used as input for positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis using the multilinear engine (ME-2) algorithm. Four primary factors were resolved by constraining the profiles of the previously separated organic factors, while three unconstrained secondary factors were resolved. Secondary factors (sum of organic and inorganic components) accounted for over half of NR-PM, during normal days (NDs, 58% or 105.7 mu g m(-3)) and Chinese New Year (CNY, 79% or 72.6 mu g m(-3)). Among the organic components of the total secondary aerosol, 38-48% (8.0-14.4 mu g m(-3)) of the oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA) was attributed to the nitrate-rich OOA (i.e., OOA-NO3) factor, indicating that a part of the OOA was freshly formed and/or had similar volatility as nitrate. In comparison, a portion of 25-26% (5.5-7.7 mu g m(-3)) of the OOA was attributed to the regionally transported sulfate-rich OOA (i.e., OOA-SO4) while 26-37% (7.3-7.4 mu g m(-3)) of the OOA to aged primary aerosol. The positive relationship between OOA-SO4 and aerosol liquid water content (ALWC) in the same air mass suggested an aqueous-phase reaction pathway, which produced nearly half as much OOA as sulfate (12.0-17.0 mu g m(-3)), while photochemical reactions could produce similar amounts of OOA as nitrate (8.6-15.4 mu g m(-3)), as indicated by the positive relationship between OOA-NO3 and O-x (O-3 + NO2). During CNY, the NR-PM, concentrations (91.9 mu g m(-3)) were reduced by similar to 50% when compared to the nonholiday periods (182.7 mu g m(-3)). This reduction was primarily due to the reduced anthropogenic activities, resulting in a 65-89% reduction in the primary emissions from traffic, cooking, biomass burning, and coal combustion, as well as a 1-44% reduction in secondary factors. The results in our study have significant implications for controlling primary emissions, while joint measures over a regional scale are needed to reduce the secondary aerosols in Shijiazhuang.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have emerged as a major concern in aquatic systems worldwide due to their widespread applications and health concerns. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is one of the most-detected PFAS. Yet, a cost-effective technology has been lacking for the degradation of PFAS due to their resistance to conventional treatment processes. To address this challenge, we prepared a novel adsorptive photocatalyst, referred to Fe/TNTs@AC, based on low-cost commercial activated carbon (AC) and TiO2. The composite material exhibited synergistic adsorption and photocatalytic activity and enabled a novel “concentrate-&-destroy” strategy for rapid and complete degradation of PFOA in water. Fe/TNTs@AC was able to adsorb PFOA within a few minutes, thereby effectively concentrating the target contaminant on the photoactive sites. Subsequently, Fe/TNTs@AC was able to degrade >90% of PFOA that was preconcentrated on the solid in 4 h under UV irradiation (254 nm, 21 mW cm‒2), of which 62% was completely mineralized to F−. The efficient photodegradation also regenerated Fe/TNTs@AC, eliminating the need for expensive chemical regenerants, and after six cycles of adsorption/photodegradation, the material showed no significant drop in adsorption capacity or photocatalytic activity. Simulations based on the density functional theory (DFT) revealed that Fe/TNTs@AC adsorbs PFOA in the side-on parallel mode, facilitating the subsequent photocatalytic degradation of PFOA. According to the DFT analysis, scavenger tests, and analysis of degradation intermediates, PFOA decomposition is initiated by direct hole oxidation, which activates the molecule and leads to a series of decarboxylation, C–F bond cleavage, and chain shortening reactions. The innovative “concentrate-&-destroy” strategy may significantly advance conventional adsorption or photochemical treatment of PFAS-contaminated water and holds the potential to degrade PFOA, and potentially other PFAS, more cost-effectively.