Development and validation of a risk score nomogram model to predict the risk of 5-year all-cause mortality in diabetic patients with hypertension: A study based on NHANES data

Background

The present study aimed to develop and validate a prediction nomogram model for 5-year all-cause mortality in diabetic patients with hypertension.

Methods

Data were extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). A total of 3291 diabetic patients with hypertension in the NHANES cycles for 1999-2014 were selected and randomly assigned at a ratio of 8:2 to the training cohort (n = 2633) and validation cohort (n = 658). Multivariable Cox regression was conducted to establish a visual nomogram model for predicting the risk of 5-year all-cause mortality. Receiver operating characteristic curves and C-indexes were used to evaluate the discriminant ability of the prediction nomogram model for all-cause mortality. Survival curves were created using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the log-rank test.

Results

The nomogram model included eight independent predictors: age, sex, education status, marital status, smoking, serum albumin, blood urea nitrogen, and previous cardiovascular disease. The C-indexes for the model in the training and validation cohorts were 0.76 (95% confidence interval: 0.73-0.79, p < 0.001) and 0.75 (95% confidence interval: 0.69-0.81, p < 0.001), respectively. The calibration curves indicated that the model had satisfactory consistency in the two cohorts. The risk of all-cause mortality gradually increased as the tertiles of the nomogram model score increased (log-rank test, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The newly developed nomogram model, a readily useable and efficient tool to predict the risk of 5-year all-cause mortality in diabetic patients with hypertension, provides a novel risk stratification method for individualized intervention.

USP36-mediated PARP1 deubiquitination in doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy

Doxorubicin (Dox) is a potent antineoplastic agent, but its use is curtailed by severe cardiotoxicity, known as Dox-induced cardiomyopathy (DIC). The molecular mechanism underlying this cardiotoxicity remains unclear. Our current study investigates the role of Ubiquitin-Specific Protease 36 (USP36), a nucleolar deubiquitinating enzyme (DUB), in the progression of DIC and its mechanism. We found increased USP36 expression in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes and H9C2 cells exposed to Dox. Silencing USP36 significantly mitigated Dox-induced oxidative stress injury and apoptosis in vitro. Mechanistically, USP36 upregulation positively correlated with Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) expression, and its knockdown led to a reduction in PARP1 levels. Further investigation revealed that USP36 could bind to and mediate the deubiquitination of PARP1, thereby increasing its protein stability in cardiomyocytes upon Dox exposure. Moreover, overexpression of wild-type (WT) USP36 plasmid, but not its catalytically inactive mutant (C131A), stabilized PARP1 in HEK293T cells. We also established a DIC model in mice and observed significant upregulation of USP36 in the heart. Cardiac knockdown of USP36 in mice using a type 9 recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV9)-shUSP36 significantly preserved cardiac function after Dox treatment and protected against Dox-induced structural changes within the myocardium. In conclusion, these findings suggest that Dox promotes DIC progression by activating USP36-mediated PARP1 deubiquitination. This novel USP36/PARP1 axis may play a significant regulatory role in the pathogenesis of DIC.

Mechanistic insight into the aggregation ability of anammox microorganisms: Roles of polarity, composition and molecular structure of extracellular polymeric substances

The chemical characteristics of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of anammox bacteria (AnAOB) play a crucial role in the rapid enrichment of AnAOB and the stable operation of wastewater anammox processes. To clarify the influential mechanisms of sludge EPS on AnAOB aggregation, multiple parameters, including the polarity distribution, composition, and molecular structure of EPS, were selected, and their quantitative relationship with AnAOB aggregation was analyzed. Compared to typical anaerobic sludge (anaerobic floc and granular sludge), the anammox sludge EPS exhibited higher levels of tryptophan-like substances (44.82-56.52 % vs. 2.57-39.81 %), polysaccharides (40.02-53.49 mg/g VSS vs. 30.22-41.69 mg/g VSS), and protein structural units including α-helices (20.70-23.98 % vs. 16.48-19.32 %), β-sheets (37.43-42.98 % vs. 25.78-36.72 %), and protonated nitrogen (Npr) (0.065-0.122 vs. 0.017-0.061). In contrast, it had lower contents of β-turns (20.95-27.39 % vs. 28.17-39.04 %). These biopolymers were found to originate from different genera of AnAOB. Specifically, the α-helix-rich proteins were mainly derived from Candidatus Kuenenia, whereas the extracellular proteins related to tryptophan and Npr were closely associated with Candidatus Brocadia. Critically, these EPS components could drive anammox aggregation through interactions. Substantial amounts of tryptophan-like substances facilitated the formation of β-sheet structures and the exposure of internal hydrophobic clusters, which benefited the anammox aggregation. Meanwhile, extracellular proteins with high Npr content played a pivotal role in the formation of mixed protein-polysaccharide gel networks with the electronegative regions of polysaccharides, which could be regarded as the key component in the maintenance of anammox sludge stability. These findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted roles of EPS in driving anammox aggregation and offer valuable insights into the development of EPS regulation strategies aimed at optimizing the anammox process.

Hepatotoxic effects of chronic exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) on crucian carp: Insights from multi-omics analyses

Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) is an extensively used phthalate esters (PAEs) that raise growing ecotoxicological concerns due to detrimental effects on living organisms and ecosystems. This study performed hepatotoxic investigations on crucian carp under chronic low-dosage (CLD) exposure to DEHP at environmentally relevant concentrations (20-500 μg/L). The results demonstrated that the CLD exposure induced irreversible damage to the liver tissue. Multi-omics (transcriptomics and metabolomics) analyses revealed the predominant toxicological mechanisms underlying DEHP-induced hepatotoxicity by inhibiting energy production pathways and the up-regulation of the purine metabolism. Disruption of metabolic pathways led to excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and subsequent oxidative stress. The adverse metabolic effects were exacerbated by an interplay between oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum stress. This study not only provides new mechanistic insights into the ecotoxicological effects of DEHP under chronic low-dosage exposure, but also suggests a potential strategy for further ecological risk assessment of PAEs.

Selective Nitrate Electroreduction to Ammonia on CNT Electrodes with Controllable Interfacial Wettability

The development of electrocatalysts that can efficiently reduce nitrate (NO3-) to ammonia (NH3) has garnered increasing attention due to their potential to reduce carbon emissions and promote environmental protection. Intensive efforts have focused on catalyst development, but a thorough understanding of the effect of the microenvironment around the reactive sites of the catalyst is also crucial to maximize the performance of the electrocatalysts. This study explored an electrocatalytic system that utilized quaternary ammonium surfactants with a range of alkyl chain lengths to modify an electrode made of carbon nanotubes (CNT), with the goal of regulating interfacial wettability toward NO3- reduction. Trimethyltetradecylammonium bromide with a moderate alkyl chain length created a very hydrophobic interface, which led to a high selectivity in the production of NH3 (∼87%). Detailed mechanistic investigations that used operando Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and online differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) revealed that the construction of a hydrophobic modified CNT played a synergistic role in suppressing a side reaction involving the generation of hydrogen, which would compete with the reduction of NO3-. This electrocatalytic system led to a favorable process for the reduction of NO3- to NH3 through a direct electron transfer pathway. Our findings underscore the significance of controlling the hydrophobic surface of electrocatalysts as an effective means to enhance electrochemical performance in aqueous media.

SEB-YOLO: An Improved YOLOv5 Model for Remote Sensing Small Target Detection

Due to the limited semantic information extraction with small objects and difficulty in distinguishing similar targets, it brings great challenges to target detection in remote sensing scenarios, which results in poor detection performance. This paper proposes an improved YOLOv5 remote sensing image target detection algorithm, SEB-YOLO (SPD-Conv + ECSPP + Bi-FPN + YOLOv5). Firstly, the space-to-depth (SPD) layer followed by a non-strided convolution (Conv) layer module (SPD-Conv) was used to reconstruct the backbone network, which retained the global features and reduced the feature loss. Meanwhile, the pooling module with the attention mechanism of the final layer of the backbone network was designed to help the network better identify and locate the target. Furthermore, a bidirectional feature pyramid network (Bi-FPN) with bilinear interpolation upsampling was added to improve bidirectional cross-scale connection and weighted feature fusion. Finally, the decoupled head is introduced to enhance the model convergence and solve the contradiction between the classification task and the regression task. Experimental results on NWPU VHR-10 and RSOD datasets show that the mAP of the proposed algorithm reaches 93.5% and 93.9%respectively, which is 4.0% and 5.3% higher than that of the original YOLOv5l algorithm. The proposed algorithm achieves better detection results for complex remote sensing images.

Electro-oxidation and UV irradiation coupled method for in-site removing pollutants from human body fluids in swimming pool

A comprehensive study was conducted to investigate how ultraviolet (UV) irradiation combined with electrochemistry (EC) can efficiently remove human body fluids (HBFs) related pollutants, such as urea/creatinine/hippuric acid, from swimming pool water (SPW). In comparison with the chlorination, UV, EC, and UV/chlorine treatments, the EC/UV treatment exhibited the highest removal rates for these typical pollutants (TPs) from HBFs in synthetic SPW. Specifically, increasing the operating current of the EC/UV process from 20 to 60 mA, as well as NaCl content from 0.5 to 3.0 g/L, improved urea and creatinine degradation while having no influence on hippuric acid. In contrast, EC/UV process was resilient to changes in water parameters (pH, HCO3-, and actual water matrix). Urea removal was primarily attributable to reactive chlorine species (RCS), whereas creatinine and hippuric acid removal were primarily related to hydroxyl radical, UV photolysis, and RCS. In addition, the EC/UV procedure can lessen the propensity for creatinine and hippuric acid to generate disinfection by-products. We can therefore draw the conclusion that the EC/UV process is a green and efficient in-situ technology for removing HBFs related TPs from SPW with the benefits of needless chlorine-based chemical additive, easy operation, continuous disinfection efficiency, and fewer byproducts production.

To Assess the Role of microRNA-451 in the Progression and Metastasis of Colorectal Cancer

The study aimed to determine the expression of miR451 in colorectal cancer (CRC) subjects with CRC cells, and the role of miR451 in colorectal cancer cells. In October 2020, ATC purchased CRC and normal mucosal cell lines of CRC and implanted them in DMEM with 10% fetal serum. The suitability of the HT29 cell line is verified using the STR profile. In an incubator with 5% CO2, enlarged cells were placed at 37 °C. TCGA data was used to select the top 120 patients with a high voice and the lowest 120 patients with a low voice. Cells were collected and coated with Annexin V and PE according to the manufacturer's instructions after 24.0 h. After that, the cells were separated. Cells were also tested using flow cytometry. HCT-120 cells were transplanted into a concentration of 5×105/ml cells in 6-source plates. HCT120 cells in the experimental group were combined with miR451 mimics, miR451 inhibitors, or miR451 miR + SMAD4B for 12 h at 37 °C, and cells were collected 24 h later at 37 °C. The sample was injected with 5 ml of Annexin VFITC and PE. Compared with normal colorectal mucosal cells, CRC cell lines decreased miR451 expression levels (fetal human cells (FHC) and HCoEpiC). Then, the HCT120 cells were transfected with miR451 inhibitors, and 72 h after transfection, say of miR451 was normal. There was a significant decrease in cell function in the miR451mimic groups, but an increase when the miR451 was blocked. The proliferation of cancer cells was prevented and chemotherapy was effective when miR451 was overexpressed. The SMAD4 gene provides instructions for making a protein involved in transmitting chemical signals from the cell surface to the nucleus. The SMAD4B expression was tested by RT-qPCR and Western blotting after 72.0 h of transmission. The mRNA and protein expression of SMAD4B decreased significantly when miR451 was significantly higher than when inhibited, as revealed in the results of this study. Seventy-two hours after transplantation, mRNA levels and SMAD4B proteins were measured in HCT120 cells. In addition, the researchers in this study investigated whether miR451 was associated with SMAD4B-directed control of CRC growth and migration. It was found that SMAD4B is highly expressed in both CRC and para-cancer tissues while using the TCGA database to detect SMAD4B expression. Patients with CRC with SMAD4B have a severe prognosis. MiR451 is sensitive to depressive disorders by targeting SMAD4B, according to these studies. We found that miR451 inhibited cell growth and migration, made CRC cells more readily available in chemotherapy, and did so by targeting SMAD4B. The findings suggest that miR451 and its genetic predisposition, SMAD4B, may help predict the prognosis and course of cancer patients. Treatments that target the miR451/SMAD4B axis may be helpful to people with CRC.

Bioinspired Tandem Electrode for Selective Electrocatalytic Synthesis of Ammonia from Aqueous Nitrate

The electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR) has recently emerged as a promising technique for readily converting aqueous nitrate (NO3-) pollutants into valuable ammonia (NH3). It is vital to thoroughly understand the mechanism of the reaction to rationally design and construct advanced electrocatalytic systems that can effectively and selectively drive the NO3RR. There are several natural enzymes that incorporate molybdenum (Mo) and that can activate NO3-. Based on this, a cadmium (Cd) single-atom anchored Mo2TiC2Tx electrocatalyst (referred to as CdSA-Mo2TiC2Tx) through the NO3RR to generate NH3 was rationally designed and demonstrated. In an H-type electrolysis cell and at a current density of 42.5 mA cm-2, the electrocatalyst had a Faradaic efficiency of >95% and an impressive NH3 yield rate of 48.5 mg h-1 cm-2. Moreover, the conversion of NO3- to NH3 on the CdSA-Mo2TiC2Tx surface was further revealed by operando attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and an electrochemical differential mass spectrometer. The electrocatalyst significantly outperformed Mo2TiC2Tx as well as reported state-of-the-art catalysts. Density functional theory calculations revealed that CdSA-Mo2TiC2Tx decreased the ability of the d-p orbital to hybridize with NH3* intermediates, thereby decreasing the activation energy of the potential-determining step. This work not only highlights the application prospects of heavy metal single-atom catalysts in the NO3RR but also provides examples of bio-inspired electrocatalysts for the synthesis of NH3.

Machine Learning Models for Inverse Design of the Electrochemical Oxidation Process for Water Purification

In this study, a machine learning (ML) framework is developed toward target-oriented inverse design of the electrochemical oxidation (EO) process for water purification. The XGBoost model exhibited the best performances for prediction of reaction rate (k) based on training the data set relevant to pollutant characteristics and reaction conditions, indicated by Rext2 of 0.84 and RMSEext of 0.79. Based on 315 data points collected from the literature, the current density, pollutant concentration, and gap energy (Egap) were identified to be the most impactful parameters available for the inverse design of the EO process. In particular, adding reaction conditions as model input features allowed provision of more available information and an increase in the sample size of the data set to improve the model accuracy. The feature importance analysis was performed for revealing the data pattern and feature interpretation by using Shapley additive explanations (SHAP). The ML-based inverse design for the EO process was generalized to a random case for tailoring the optimum conditions with phenol and 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) serving as model pollutants. The resulting predicted k values were close to the experimental k values by experimental verification, accounting for the relative error lower than 5%. This study provides a paradigm shift from conventional trial-and-error mode to data-driven mode for advancing research and development of the EO process by a time-saving, labor-effective, and environmentally friendly target-oriented strategy, which makes electrochemical water purification more efficient, more economic, and more sustainable in the context of global carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.

Water Flow-Driven Coupling Process of Anodic Oxygen Evolution and Cathodic Oxygen Activation for Water Decontamination and Prevention of Chlorinated Byproducts

Electrochemical advanced oxidation process (EAOP) is a promising technology for decentralized water decontamination but is subject to parasitic anodic oxygen evolution and formation of toxic chlorinated byproducts in the presence of Cl-. To address this issue, we developed a novel electrolytic process by water flow-driven coupling of anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and cathodic molecular oxygen activation (MOA). When water flows from anode to cathode, O2 produced from OER is carried by water through convection, followed by being activated by atomic hydrogen (H*) on Pd cathode to produce •OH. The water flow-driven OER/MOA process enables the anode to be polarized at low potential (1.7 V vs SHE) that is lower than that of conventional EAOP whose •OH is produced from direct water oxidation (>2.3 V vs SHE). At a flow rate of 30 mL min-1, the process could achieve 94.8% removal of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) and 71.5% removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD) within 45 min at an anode potential of 1.7 V vs SHE and cathode potential of -0.5 V vs SHE. To achieve the comparable 2,4-DCP removal performance, 4.3-fold higher energy consumption was needed for the conventional EAOP with titanium suboxide anode (anode potential of 2.9 V vs SHE), but current efficiency declined by 3.5 folds. Unlike conventional EAOP, chlorate and perchlorate were not detected in the OER/MOA process, because low anode potential <2.0 V vs SHE was thermodynamically unfavorable for the formation of chlorinated byproducts by anodic oxidation, indicated by theoretical calculations and experimental data. This study provides a proof-in-concept demonstration of water flow-driven OER/MOA process, representing a paradigm shift of electrochemical technology for water decontamination and prevention of chlorinated byproducts, making electrochemical water decontamination more efficient, more economic, and more sustainable.

SiamHSFT: A Siamese Network-Based Tracker with Hierarchical Sparse Fusion and Transformer for UAV Tracking

Due to high maneuverability as well as hardware limitations of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platforms, tracking targets in UAV views often encounter challenges such as low resolution, fast motion, and background interference, which make it difficult to strike a compatibility between performance and efficiency. Based on the Siamese network framework, this paper proposes a novel UAV tracking algorithm, SiamHSFT, aiming to achieve a balance between tracking robustness and real-time computation. Firstly, by combining CBAM attention and downward information interaction in the feature enhancement module, the provided method merges high-level and low-level feature maps to prevent the loss of information when dealing with small targets. Secondly, it focuses on both long and short spatial intervals within the affinity in the interlaced sparse attention module, thereby enhancing the utilization of global context and prioritizing crucial information in feature extraction. Lastly, the Transformer's encoder is optimized with a modulation enhancement layer, which integrates triplet attention to enhance inter-layer dependencies and improve target discrimination. Experimental results demonstrate SiamHSFT's excellent performance across diverse datasets, including UAV123, UAV20L, UAV123@10fps, and DTB70. Notably, it performs better in fast motion and dynamic blurring scenarios. Meanwhile, it maintains an average tracking speed of 126.7 fps across all datasets, meeting real-time tracking requirements.

Fluidic MXene Electrode Functionalized with Iron Single Atoms for Selective Electrocatalytic Nitrate Transformation to Ammonia

The growth of renewable energy industries and the ongoing need for fertilizer in agriculture have created a need for sustainable production of ammonia (NH₃) using low-cost, environment-friendly techniques. The electrocatalytic nitrate (NO₃^-) reduction reaction (NO₃RR) has the potential to improve both the management of environmental nitrogen and the recycling of synthetic nutrients. However, NO₃RR is frequently hindered by the incomplete NO₃^- conversion, sluggish reaction kinetics, and suppression of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Inspired by specific local electronic structures that are adjustable for single-atom catalysts, this work presents a nanohybrid electrocatalytic filter with iron single atoms (FeSA) immobilized on MXene. The fabricated FeSA/MXene filter exhibited maximum NH₃ Faradaic efficiency and selectivity (82.9 and 99.2%, respectively) that were higher than those for filters made of Fe nanoparticles anchored on MXene (FeNP/MXene) (69.2 and 81.3%, respectively) and MXene alone (32.8 and 52.4%, respectively), measured at an initial pH of 7 and an applied potential of -1.4 V vs Ag/AgCl. Density functional theory calculations revealed that, compared to the FeNP/MXene filter, the FeSA/MXene filter prevented the competition from the HER and reduced the activation energy of the potential-limiting step (*NO to *NHO) that made the NH₃ synthesis thermodynamically favorable . This work highlights an alternative strategy for achieving a synergistic NO₃^- removal and nutrient recovery with durable catalytic activity and stability.

Copper Nanowire Networks: An Effective Electrochemical Peroxymonosulfate Activator toward Nitrogenous Pollutant Abatement

Herein, we developed an electrochemical filtration system for effective and selective abatement of nitrogenous organic pollutants via peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. Highly conductive and porous copper nanowire (CuNW) networks were constructed to serve simultaneously as catalyst, electrode, and filtration media. In one demonstration of the CuNW network's capability, a single pass through a CuNW filter (τ < 2 s) degraded 94.8% of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) at an applied potential of -0.4 V vs SHE. The exposed {111} crystal plane of CuNW triggered atomic hydrogen (H*) generation on sites, which contributed to effective PMS reduction. Meanwhile, with the involvement of SMX, a Cu-N bond was formed by the interactions between the -NH₂ group of SMX and the Cu sites of CuNW, accompanied by the redox cycling of Cu²⁺/Cu⁺, which was facilitated by the applied potential. The different charges of the active Cu sites made it easier to withdraw electrons and promote PMS oxidation. Theoretical calculations and experimental results were combined to suggest a mechanism for pollution abatement with CuNW networks. The results showed that system efficacy for the degradation of a wide array of nitrogenous pollutants was robust across a broad range of solution pH and complex aqueous matrices. The flow-through operation of the CuNW filter outperformed conventional batch electrochemistry due to convection-enhanced mass transport. This study provides a new strategy for environmental remediation by integrating state-of-the-art material science, advanced oxidation processes, and microfiltration technology.

Distribution and transmission of β-lactamase resistance genes in meal-to-milk chain on dairy farm

Antibiotics have been widely used in animal husbandry, which leads to high risk of food-borne transfer of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). The present study investigated the distribution of β-lactamase resistance genes (β-RGs) on dairy farm in the Songnen Plain of western Heilongjiang Province, China, to provide mechanistic insights into food-borne transmission of β-RGs through "meal-to-milk" chain under practically relevant circumstances. The results demonstrated that the abundance of β-RGs (91%) was much higher than that of other ARGs in the livestock farms. The blaTEM exhibited the content as high as 94.55% among all ARGs, and higher than 98% blaTEM was detected in meal, water and milk sample. The metagenomic taxonomy analysis indicated that the blaTEM should be carried by tnpA-04 (7.04%) and tnpA-03 (1.48%) hosted in Pseudomonas genus (15.36%) and Pantoea (29.02%) genus. Both tnpA-04 and tnpA-03 in the milk sample were identified to be the key mobile genetic elements (MGEs) responsible for transferring blaTEM along the "meal-manure-soil-surface water-milk" chain. The ARGs transfer across ecological boundaries underscored the need to evaluate potential dissemination of high-risk Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes carried by humans and animals. They were capable of producing expanded-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) and destroying commonly used antibiotics, leading to possible risk of food-borne horizontal transmission of ARGs. This study not only has important environmental implications for identifying the pathway for ARGs transfer, but also highlights the demand for appropriate policy toward safe regulation of dairy farm and husbandry products.

Highly-dispersed NiFe alloys in-situ anchored on outer surface of Co, N co‑doped carbon nanotubes with enhanced stability for oxygen electrocatalysis

Transition metal alloys have emerged as promising catalysts for oxygen reduction/evolution reactions (ORR/OER) because of their intermetallic synergy and tunable redox properties. However, for alloy nanoparticles, it is quite challenging to suppress the self-aggregation and promote the bifunctional activity. Anchoring alloys in heteroatoms-doped carbon matrix with excellent electro-conductibility is a powerful strategy to form strongly-coupled alloy-carbon nanohybrids. Here, highly-dispersed NiFe alloys are evenly in-situ anchored on the surface of Co, N co-doped carbon nanotubes (NiFe/Co-N@CNTs) via a gravity-guided chemical vapor deposition and self-assembly strategy. Stably-structured NiFe/Co-N@CNTs possesses a tubular skeleton with diameters of 80-100 nm and a hydrophilic surface. For ORR, half-wave potential of NiFe/Co-N@CNTs (0.87 V vs RHE) is higher than that of Pt/C (0.85 V). Strong synergies between NiFe alloys and Co-N_x species facilitate the charge transfer on one-dimensional conductive structure to boost the 4e^- ORR kinetics. For OER, NiFe/Co-N@CNTs has a lower overpotential (300 mV) than RuO₂ (400 mV) at 10 mA cm^-2 due to in-situ formation of highly-active NiOOH/FeOOH species (as indicated by in-situ X-ray diffraction) at the catalytic sites on NiFe alloy. Rechargeable Zn-air battery (ZAB) with NiFe/Co-N@CNTs-based air-cathode exhibits promising open-circuit potential (1.52 V) and charge-discharge cycling stability (350 h). This alloy-carbon integrating strategy is meaningful for promoting dispersion, activity and stability of non-noble metal alloys for oxygen electrocatalysis.

Flow electrochemical inactivation of waterborne bacterial endospores

Waterborne pathogens have the risk of spreading waterborne diseases and even pandemics. Some Gram-positive bacteria can form endospores, the hardiest known life form that can withstand heat, radiation, and chemicals. Electrochemical inactivation may offer a promising solution, but is hindered by low inactivation efficiencies resulting from limitation of electrode/endospores interaction in terms of electrochemical reaction selectivity and mass transfer. Herein, these issues were addressed through modifying selectivity of active species formation using electroactive ceramic membrane with high oxygen evolution potential, improving mass transfer property by flow-through operation. In this way, inactivation (6.0-log) of Bacillus atrophaeus endospores was achieved. Theoretical and experimental results demonstrated synergistic inactivation to occur through fragmentation of coat via interfacial electron transfer and electro-produced transient radicals (•OH primarily, •Cl and Cl₂^•- secondarily), thereby increasing cell permeability to facilitate penetration of electro-produced persistent active chlorine for subsequent rupture of intracellular structures. Numbering-up electrode module strategy was proposed to scale up the system, achieving average 5.3-log inactivation of pathogenic Bacillus anthracis endospores for 30 days. This study demonstrates a proof-of-concept manner for effective inactivation of waterborne bacterial endospores, which may provide an appealing strategy for wide-range applications like water disinfection, bio-safety control and defense against biological warfare.

Improved Machine Learning Models by Data Processing for Predicting Life-Cycle Environmental Impacts of Chemicals

Machine learning (ML) provides an efficient manner for rapid prediction of the life-cycle environmental impacts of chemicals, but challenges remain due to low prediction accuracy and poor interpretability of the models. To address these issues, we focused on data processing by using a mutual information-permutation importance (MI-PI) feature selection method to filter out irrelevant molecular descriptors from the input data, which improved the model interpretability by preserving the physicochemical meanings of original molecular descriptors without generation of new variables. We also applied a weighted Euclidean distance method to mine the data most relevant to the predicted targets by quantifying the contribution of each feature, thereby the prediction accuracy was improved. On the basis of above data processing, we developed artificial neural network (ANN) models for predicting the life-cycle environmental impacts of chemicals with R² values of 0.81, 0.81, 0.84, 0.75, 0.73, and 0.86 for global warming, human health, metal depletion, freshwater ecotoxicity, particulate matter formation, and terrestrial acidification, respectively. The ML models were interpreted using the Shapley additive explanation method by quantifying the contribution of each input molecular descriptor to environmental impact categories. This work suggests that the combination of feature selection by MI-PI and source data selection based on weighted Euclidean distance has a promising potential to improve the accuracy and interpretability of the models for predicting the life-cycle environmental impacts of chemicals.

Prospective Life Cycle Assessment for the Electrochemical Oxidation Wastewater Treatment Process: From Laboratory to Industrial Scale

Electrochemical oxidation (EO) is a promising technology for water purification, but indirect environmental burdens may arise in association with consumption of materials and energy during electrode preparation and process operation. This study evaluated the life cycle environmental impacts of emerging EO technology from laboratory scale to industrial scale using prospective life cycle assessment (LCA) on a quantitative basis. Environmental impacts of EO technology were assessed at laboratory scale by comparing three representative anode materials (SnO2, PbO2, and boron-doped diamond) and other two typical processes (adsorption and Fenton method), which verified the competitiveness of the EO process and identified the key factors to environmental hotspots. Thereafter, LCA of scale-up EO was performed to offer guidance for practical application, and the life cycle inventory was compiled upon thermodynamic and kinetic simulations, empirical calculation rules, and similar technical information. Results demonstrated EO to be effective for destructing recalcitrant organic pollutants, but visible direct benefits might be outweighed by increased indirect environmental burdens associated with the preparation of anode materials, use of electrolytes, and energy consumption during the operation stage at both laboratory scale and larger scale. This necessitated attention to overall life cycle profiles by taking into account reactor design, anode materials, electrolyte and flow pattern, and decentralized location with a large share of renewable power station and rigorous contamination control strategies for wastewater treatment plants.

Enhanced visible light photo-Fenton catalysis by lanthanum-doping BiFeO3 for norfloxacin degradation

Efficient photo-Fenton removal of antibiotic effluent is a widely followed and significant attempt to deal with the growing environmental pollution. In this study, BiFeO₃ and lanthanum doped BiFeO₃ catalysts were synthesized via one-step hydrothermal method as hydrogen peroxide activator for mineralization of norfloxacin (NOR). Various characterization measurements were used to verify La was successfully doped into the lattice of perovskite and investigated the effect of La doping molar ratio on BiFeO₃ through the characterization of the morphology and physicochemical properties. The degradation experiment and reaction rate constants showed that the La-doped BiFeO₃ particle exhibited superior photo-Fenton catalytic performance to undoped BiFeO₃. Especially, the degradation efficiency of 15% La-doped BiFeO₃ could reach up to 84.94%. And the first order kinetic constant of optimized conditions was 0.01638 min^-1, which was about 6.9 times than that of undoped BiFeO₃.The influence of pH, oxidizer content and catalyst dosage in photo-Fenton reaction were investigated detailedly. Besides, the synthetic catalyst possessed favorable stability and reusability with little metal leaching after many cycles of use. Radical scavenger experiments and electron spin resonance tests were carried out to conclude that the ·OH and holes were regarded as the dominate active species in the catalytic process. The narrow band gap and excellent electron transfer efficiency were the key factors for La-doped BiFeO₃ to have high catalytic efficiency in the photo-Fenton system. Current works demonstrated the great promise of La-doped BiFeO₃ in the elimination of antibiotic organics.

New insights into mycelial pellets for aerobic sludge granulation in membrane bioreactor: Bio-functional interactions among metazoans, microbial communities and protein expression

Direct cultivation of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) in membrane bioreactor (MBR) has gained increasing attention. Mycelial pellets (MPs) has been shown capable of promoting rapid granulation of aerobic sludge in MBR, yet mechanisms remain unclear and in-depth insight into cross-scale interactions between MPs and indigenous microbiota as well as the corresponding protein expression functions is necessary. Herein, we found that the addition of MPs in MBR resulted in massive growth of metazoans with 40-400 /mL for rotifers, 20-140 /mL for nematodes and 2-420 /mL for oligochaetes in the initial phase of granulation. This facilitated the MPs to rapidly aggregate with bacteria to form defensive granules for physical protection from predation by metazoans, which inhibited the overgrowth of filamentous bacteria Thiothrix and promoted the reproduction of functional bacteria related to nitrogen removal (Nitrospira, Trichococcus and Acinetobacter). Proteomic analysis demonstrated that the upregulation of functional proteins was mainly ascribed to the decrease of Thiothrix and the increase of Nitrospira, resulting in the enhancement of metabolic pathways involved in glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, citrate (TCA) cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, pyruvate metabolism, nitrogen metabolism and biosynthesis of amino acids, which was responsible for MPs-induced AGS with denser structure, more abundant proteins and β-polysaccharides, higher species diversity, significant nitrogen removal (33.12-42.33%) and lower membrane fouling potential. This study provided a novel and comprehensive insight into the enhanced granulation of aerobic sludge by MPs and the functional superiority of MPs-induced AGS in MBR system.

[Research advances on burn blister fluid]

Burns often cause the damaged tissue to produce a large amount of exudate and the formation of blisters on the wound. The burn blister fluid contains a large number of molecules related to wound healing, which can reflect the state of local tissue microenvironment of the burn wound. Analyzing relevant information such as cellular components, signal mediators, and protein molecules in burn blister fluid is helpful to understand the local reaction and tissue microenvironment of burn wounds, and then help clinical burn treatment. In this article, by understanding the production mechanism of burn blister fluid, discussing its role in wound evaluation, and integrating the research progress of burn blister fluid in proteomics, metabolomics, cellular components, and pharmacokinetics, we propose our thoughts and prospects on the research of burn blister fluid, in order to provide assistance for clinical evaluation and treatment of burn wounds, and also provide idea for the follow-up study of burn blister fluid.

Distribution, horizontal transfer and influencing factors of antibiotic resistance genes and antimicrobial mechanism of compost tea

Compost tea was alternatives of chemical pesticide for green agriculture, but there were no reports about antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in compost tea. This study investigated the effect of livestock manures, sewage sludge, their composting products and liquid fermentation on ARGs, mobile genetic elements (MGEs), metal resistance genes (MRGs) and antimicrobial properties of various compost tea. The results showed aerobic liquid fermentation reduced ARGs by 65.93 % and 45.20 % in the compost tea of chicken manure and sludge, enriched ARGs by 8.57 % and 37.41 % in the compost tea of pig manure and bovine manure, and increased MGEs and MRGs by 1.25 × 10^-5-5.53 × 10^-3 and 2.03 × 10^-5-2.03 × 10^-3 in the four compost tea. The correlation coefficient of tetracycline and sulfonamide resistance genes between compost product and compost tea were 0.98 and 0.91. aadA2-02, sul2 and tetX abundant in the compost tea were positively correlated with MGEs and MRGs. Furthermore, liquid fermentation enriched the potential host of tetracycline and vancomycin resistance genes. Tetracycline resistance genes occupied 62.7 % of total ARGs in the compost tea. Alcaligenes and Bacillus enriched by 0.78-39.31 % in the four compost tea, which metabolites had high antimicrobial activity. The potential host of ARGs accounted for 42.1 % bacteria abundance in the four compost tea.

Electrified nanohybrid filter for enhanced phosphorus removal from water

Phosphorus (P) has been identified as a major cause of eutrophication. One feasible way to deal with P-containing wastewater is to employ advanced adsorbents with high P affinity. Towards this end, the loading of these sorbents onto a conductive scaffold would facilitate the introduction of an electric field into the reaction system thereby permitting a continuous-flow operation and improved P sorption kinetics. Here, the preparation and evaluation of an electroactive carbon nanotube (CNT) filter functionalized with cerium-based metal organic frameworks (Ce-MOF) is reported. Various advanced characterization techniques confirmed the successful fabrication of the Ce-MOF/CNT nanohybrid filter. The results suggested that the nanohybrid filter had a maximum P adsorption capacity of 22.41 mg g^-1, which compared favorably with other state-of-the-art P sorbents. Ce-MOF loading, applied voltage and flow rate each increased the rate constants for phosphate removal by factors of 1.6, 2.1 and 5.8 times relative to the absent states. The underlying P sorption mechanisms involved outer-sphere surface complexation (electrostatic attraction), inner-sphere surface complexation (Ce-O-P) and diffusion. The performance was tolerant of a wide operational pH range and different water matrices. The Ce-MOF/CNT electrochemical filter described in this study provides a viable strategy to address the challenging issues associated with aqueous P pollution.

Atomic Hydrogen in Electrocatalytic Systems: Generation, Identification, and Environmental Applications

Electrochemical reduction has emerged as a viable technology for the removal of a variety of organic contaminants from water. Atomic hydrogen (H*) is the primary species generated in electrochemical reduction processes. In this work, identification and quantification for H* are reviewed with a focus on methods used to generate H* at different positions. Additionally, we present recently developed proposals for the surface chemistry mechanisms of H* on the most commonly used cathodes as well as the use of H* in standard electrochemical reactors. The proposed reaction pathways in different H* systems for environmental applications are also discussed in detail. As shown in this review, the key hurdles facing H* reduction technologies are related to i) the establishment of systematic and practical synthetic methods; ii) the development of effective identification approaches with high specificity; and, iii) an in-depth exploration of the H* reaction mechanism to better understand the reaction process of H*.

Mo Vacancy-Mediated Activation of Peroxymonosulfate for Ultrafast Micropollutant Removal Using an Electrified MXene Filter Functionalized with Fe Single Atoms

Developing advanced heterogeneous catalysts with atomically dispersed active sites is an efficient strategy to boost the kinetics of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation for micropollutant removal. Here, we report a binary Mo₂TiC₂T_x MXene-based electroactive filter system with abundant surface Mo vacancies for effective activation of PMS. The Mo vacancies assumed two essential roles: (i) as anchoring sites for Fe single atoms (Fe-SA) and (ii) as cocatalytic sites for the Fenton-like reaction. Fe-SA formed strong metal-oxygen bonds with the Mo₂TiC₂T_x support, stabilizing at the sites previously occupied by Mo. The resulting Fe-SA/Mo₂TiC₂T_x nanohybrid filter achieved 100% degradation of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in the single-pass mode (hydraulic retention time <2 s) when assisted by an electric field (2.0 V). The rate constant (k = 2.89 min^-1) for SMX removal was 24 and 67 times greater than that of Fe nanoparticles immobilized on Mo₂TiC₂T_x and the pristine Mo₂TiC₂T_x filter, respectively. Operation in the flow-through configuration outperformed the conventional batch reactor model (k = 0.17 min^-1) due to convection-enhanced mass transport. The results obtained from experimental investigations and theoretical calculations suggested that atomically dispersed Fe-SA, anchored on Mo vacancies, was responsible for the adsorption and activation of PMS to produce sulfate radicals (SO₄^•-) in the presence of an electric field. This study provides a proof-of-concept demonstration of an electroactive Fe-SA/Mo₂TiC₂T_x filter for broader application in the treatment of water contaminated by emerging micropollutants.

Sources, fates and treatment strategies of typical viruses in urban sewage collection/treatment systems: A review

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) throughout the world has severely threatened the global economy and public health. Due to receiving severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from a wide variety of sources (e.g., households, hospitals, slaughterhouses), urban sewage treatment systems are regarded as an important path for the transmission of waterborne viruses. This review presents a quantitative profile of the concentration distribution of typical viruses within wastewater collection systems and evaluates the influence of different characteristics of sewer systems on virus species and concentration. Then, the efficiencies and mechanisms of virus removal in the units of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are summarized and compared, among which the inactivation efficiencies of typical viruses by typical disinfection approaches under varied operational conditions are elucidated. Subsequently, the occurrence and removal of viruses in treated effluent reuse and desalination, as well as that in sewage sludge treatment, are discussed. Potential dissemination of viruses is emphasized by occurrence via aerosolization from toilets, the collection system and WWTP aeration, which might have a vital role in the transmission and spread of viruses. Finally, the frequency and concentration of viruses in reclaimed water, the probability of infection are also reviewed for discussing the potential health risks.

Electrochemical removal of 4-chlorophenol in water using a porous Magnéli-phase (Ti4O7) electrode

Electro-oxidation is a promising technology for removal of refractory organic pollutants. While the appeal of this technology lies in its chemical-free nature, commercially scale-up application may be limited by the availability of electrode materials and mass transport. Here we report the development of a flow-through electro-oxidation system for removal of chlorophenols in water using Magnéli-phase (Ti₄O₇) tubular anode and a 304 stainless steel (SS) tubular cathode. The key to this system was the porous and conductive Magnéli-phase Ti₄O₇ anode, the structure and composition of which was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. System efficacy was evaluated by using 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) as a typical refractory contaminant and model chlorophenol. Under optimized conditions, a complete removal of 4-CP could be obtained within 120 min in 0.04 mol L^-1 Na₂SO₄ solution. Electro-produced HO^• and direct electron transfer were both shown to contribute to the 4-CP electro-oxidation process due to the high selectivity and oxygen evolution potential of the Ti₄O₇ anode. The intermediates of 4-CP degradation were identified and a pathway for its electro-oxidation was proposed. When challenged with industrial wastewater containing 4-CP, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total organic carbon removal efficiencies of 67.5% and 63.1% respectively could be obtained, accounting for energy consumption of 85.1 kWh·kg COD^-1 for degradation of 1 kg of COD in industrial wastewater. This study provides an effective and robust solution for the removal of refractory emerging contaminants from industrial wastewaters using a continuous-flow electro-oxidation system.

Flow-through electrochemical removal of benzotriazole by electroactive ceramic membrane

Benzotriazole (BTA) is a widely used anticorrosive additive that is of endurance, bioaccumulation and toxicity, and BTA industrial wastewater treatment remains a challenge. This study reports efficient electrochemical removal of BTA by titanium oxide (TiSO) electroactive ceramic membrane (ECM), indicated by 98.1% removal at current density of 20 mA∙cm-2 and permeate flux of 692 LHM under cathode-to-anode flow pattern (1 h). Electrochemical analysis demonstrated the pH-dependent formation of anti-corrosive BTA film on the TiSO anode, which was responsible for improved BTA removal for cathode-to-anode (CA) flow pattern compared with that for anode-to-cathode (AC). The modelling results showed the CA flow pattern to be more favourable for BTA oxidation mediated by electro-generated •OH by preventing the formation of deactivation film via creating an alkaline boundary layer at the anode/electrolyte interface. Intermediates and essential active sites were identified by using experimental analysis and theoretical density functional theory (DFT) calculations, thereby the most likely degradation pathways were underlined. Toxicity analysis revealed remarkable decrease in oral rat LD50 values and bioaccumulation factor during electrochemical degradation of BTA. This study provides a proof-in-concept demonstration of effective removal for anti-corrosive emerging pollutants by TiSO-ECM under flow-through pattern.

[Chaihu Guizhi Decoction plus or minus formula combined with capecitabine inhibits IL-6/STAT3 signaling to suppress triple-negative breast cancer xenografts in nude mice]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of Chaihu Guizhi Decoction (CHGZD) combined with capecitabine on growth and apoptosis of subcutaneous triple-negative breast cancer xenografts in nude mice and explore the possible mechanism.

METHODS

Nude mouse models bearing subcutaneous triple-negative breast cancer xenografts were randomized into 6 groups (n=10) for treatment with distilled water (model group), low (10.62 g/kg), medium (21.23 g/kg) and high (42.46 g/kg) doses of CHGZD, capecitabine (0.2 mg/kg), or the combination of CHGZD (42.46 g/kg) and capecitabine (0.2 mg/k) once daily for 21 consecutive days. The general condition of mice was observed, and after 21-day treatments, the tumors were dissected for measurement of tumor volume and weight and histopathological examination with HE staining. Serum IL-6 levels of the mice were determined with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the expression levels of IL-6, STAT3, p-STAT3, Bax, Bcl-2 and cyclin D1 in the tumor tissues were detected using real-time PCR and Western blotting.

RESULTS

Compared with those in the model group, the tumor-bearing mice receiving treatments with CHGZD showed significantly increased food intake with good general condition, sensitive responses, increased body weight, and lower tumor mass (P < 0.01). Compared with capecitabine treatment alone, treatment with CHGZD alone at the medium and high doses and the combined treatment all resulted in significantly higher tumor inhibition rates (P < 0.01), induced obvious tumor tissue degeneration and reduced the tumor cell density. Treatments with CHGZD, both alone and in combination with capecitabine, significantly decreased serum IL-6 level, lowered the mRNA expression levels of IL-6 and STAT3, the protein expressions of IL-6, STAT3 and P-STAT3 (P < 0.05), and the mRNA and protein expressions of Bcl-2 and cyclin D1 (P < 0.05), and increased the mRNA and protein expressions of Bax in the tumor tissues (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

CHGZD combined with capecitabine can significantly inhibit tumor growth in nude mice bearing triple-negative breast cancer xenografts, the mechanism of which may involve the inhibition of IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway and regulation of Bax, Bcl-2 and cyclin D1 expressions to suppress tumor cell proliferation and differentiation and induce cell apoptosis.

Amyloid-Templated Palladium Nanoparticles for Water Purification by Electroreduction

Electrocatalysis offers great promise for water purification but is limited by low active area and high uncontrollability of electrocatalysts. To overcome these constraints, we propose hybrid bulk electrodes by synthesizing and binding a Pd nanocatalyst (nano‐Pd) to the electrodes via amyloid fibrils (AFs). The AFs template is effective for controlling the nucleation, growth, and assembly of nano‐Pd on the electrode. In addition, the three‐dimensional hierarchically porous nanostructure of AFs is beneficial for loading high‐density nano‐Pd with a large active area. The novel hybrid cathodes exhibit superior electroreduction performance for the detoxification of hexavalent chromium (Cr⁶⁺), 4‐chlorophenol, and trichloroacetic acid in wastewater and drinking water. This study provides a proof‐of‐concept design of an AFs‐templated nano‐Pd‐based hybrid electrode, which constitutes a paradigm shift in electrocatalytic water purification, and broadens the horizon of its potential engineered applications.

Peroxymonosulfate activation by Fe3O4-MnO2/CNT nanohybrid electroactive filter towards ultrafast micropollutants decontamination: Performance and mechanism

Electrocatalytic peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation is a promising advanced oxidation process for the degradation of micropollutants. Herein, we developed an electroactive carbon nanotube (CNT) filter functionalized with Fe₃O₄-MnO₂ hybrid (Fe₃O₄-MnO₂/CNT) to activate PMS towards ultrafast degradation of sulfamethoxazole (SMX). SMX was completely degraded via a single-pass through the nanohybrid filter (τ < 2 s). The ultrafast degradation kinetics were maintained across a wide pH range (from 3.0 to 8.0), in complicated matrices (e.g., tap water, lake water, WWTP effluent and pharmaceutical wastewater), and for the degradation of various persistent micropollutants. Compared with a conventional batch reactor, the flow-through operation provides an 9.2-fold higher SMX degradation kinetics by virtue of the convection-enhanced mass transport (1.47 vs. 0.16 min^-1). The efficient redox cycle of Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ and Mn²⁺/Mn⁴⁺ facilitate the PMS activation to generate SO₄^•- under electric field. Meanwhile, the ketonic groups on the CNT provide active sites for the generation of ¹O₂. Both experimental and theoretical results revealed the superior activity of nanohybrid filter associated with the synergistic effects among Fe, Mn, CNT and electric field. Therefore, the electrocatalytic filter based PMS activation system provides a green strategy for the remediation of micropollutants in a sustainable manner.

Direct sludge granulation by applying mycelial pellets in continuous-flow aerobic membrane bioreactor: Performance, granulation process and mechanism

This study provides a sustainable manner for direct cultivation of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) by addition of mycelial pellets (MPs) into continuous-flow aerobic MBR. The results showed that the granulation time in MPs-MBR was shortened by at least 65 days, accounting for enhanced mean size of granules (0.68-0.76 mm), increased mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) concentration (12.8 g/L) and improved settling ability (78.1 mL/g), in comparison with that of 0.23-0.28 mm, 9.8 g/L and 102.1 mL/g in control MBR. MPs-MBR demonstrated significant advantages in terms of COD reduction (97.0-99.1%), NH₄⁺-N reduction (100%) and TN reduction (32.27-42.33%). MPs, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and filamentous bacteria acted as inducible nucleus, crosslinking matter and supporting skeleton, respectively, in favor of promoting the formation and stabilization of AGS with a four-layered structure. The relevant mechanism was underlined by rheological analysis, indicating that MPs addition enhanced non-Newtonian flow characteristics and network structure of sludge.

Biological mechanism of alleviating membrane biofouling by porous spherical carriers in a submerged membrane bioreactor

In this study, porous spherical carriers were fixed around the hollow fiber membrane module to mitigate membrane biofouling. Two MBRs (R1 without carriers, R2 with carriers) were operated for 31 days under identical operating conditions to investigate the effects of the carriers on the reactor performances, the production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), the level of N-acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs), and the microbial communities. The results showed that the presence of carriers in MBR was conducive to nitrogen removal and decreased the total membrane filtration resistance by about 1.7 times. Slower transmembrane pressure (TMP) rise-up, thinner bio-cakes, lower EPS production, and fewer tryptophan and aromatic proteins substances on the membrane surface were observed in R2. The polysaccharides secretion of EPS in bio-cakes was mainly regulated by C4-HSL and 3OC6-HSL in the presence of carriers. The microbial community analysis revealed that carriers addition reduced the relative abundance of EPS and AHL producing bacteria in the membrane bio-cakes and enriched the accumulation of functional bacteria conducive to nutrient removal in the mixed liquor. This study provided an in-depth understanding for the application of porous spherical carriers to alleviate membrane biofouling.

Electrochemical removal of tetrabromobisphenol A by fluorine-doped titanium suboxide electrochemically reactive membrane

This study reports fluorine-doped titanium suboxide anode for electrochemical mineralization of hydrophobic micro-contaminant, tetrabromobisphenol A. Fluorinated TiSO anode promoted electro-generated hydroxyl radicals (•OH) with higher selectivity and activity, due to increased O₂ evolution potential and more loosely interaction with hydrophobic electrode surface. For electro-oxidation process, fluorine doping had an insignificant impact on outer-sphere reaction and exerted inhibition on inner-sphere reaction, as indicated by cyclic voltammogram performed on Ru(NH₃)₆^3+/2+, Fe(CN)₆^3-/4- and Fe^3+/2+ redox couple. This facilitated electrochemical conversion of TBBPA and intermediates via more efficient outer-sphere reaction and hydroxylation route. Additionally, generated O₂ micro-bubbles could be stabilized on hydrophobic F-doped TiSO anode, which extended the three-phase boundary available for interfacial enrichment of TBBPA and subsequent mineralization. Under action of these comprehensive factors, 0.5% F-doped TiSO electrochemically reactive membrane could achieve 99.7% mineralization of TBBPA upon energy consumption of 0.52 kWh m^-3 at current density of 7.8 ± 0.24 mA cm^-2 (3.75 V vs SHE) and flow rate of 1628 LHM based on flow-through electrolysis. The modified anode exhibited superior performances compared with un-modified one with more efficient TBBPA removal, less toxic intermediate accumulation and lower energy consumption. The results may have important implications for electrochemical removal and detoxification of hydrophobic micro-pollutants.

Facile synthesis of oxygen vacancies enriched α-Fe2O3 for peroxymonosulfate activation: A non-radical process for sulfamethoxazole degradation

Hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) has been commonly used as an eco-friendly catalyst for peroxymonosulfate (PMS) to generate free radicals (SO₄^•- and/or •OH). However, the activation efficiency of PMS relies heavily on the conversion of Fe(III) to Fe(II) that is slow and rate-limiting. In this study, oxygen vacancies enriched α-Fe₂O₃ was prepared from thermally treated goethite (α-FeOOH) and employed as a PMS activator. Systematic characterization demonstrated that α-Fe₂O₃ with most abundant oxygen vacancies could be obtained by heating α-FeOOH at 300 °C. The as-prepared α-Fe₂O₃ exhibited excellent catalytic activity in activation of PMS for oxidation of sulfamethoxazole (SMX, k = 0.04 min^-1). The SMX degradation rate was found to be positively correlated with the concentration of oxygen vacancies. Quenching experiments, EPR, LC/MS and XPS analysis revealed that singlet oxygen (¹O₂) was the predominant reactive oxygen species. The effects of pH, PMS dosage, catalyst loading, temperature, and anions on SMX degradation were comprehensively investigated. Moreover, the plausible degradation pathways of SMX in the α-Fe₂O₃/PMS system were proposed. This work not only provides a valuable insight into the mechanism of PMS activation by α-Fe₂O₃ but also establishes a new strategy for the design of more efficient and practical iron-based catalyst for PMS activation.

Complete solar-driven dual-photoelectrode fuel cell for water purification and power generation in the presence of peroxymonosulfate

This study reports the development of complete solar-driven dual-photoelectrode fuel cell (PFC) based on WO₃ photoanode and Cu₂O photocathode with peroxymonosulfate (PMS) serving as cathodic electron acceptor. As indicated by photoelectrochemical measurements, the PMS was able to improve thermodynamic properties of photocathode, achieving an increased open circuit potential from 0.42 V to 0.65 V vs standard hydrogen electrode (SHE). Under simulated sunlight irradiation (~100 mW cm^-2), the maximum power density of 0.12 mW cm^-2 could be obtained at current density of 0.34 mA cm^-2, which was 8.57 times of that produced by PFC without PMS (0.014 mW cm^-2). Correspondingly, adding PMS (1.0 mM) increased overall removal efficiency of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) from 39.8% to 96.8%, accounting for the first-order kinetic constant (k=0.056 min^-1) being 6.67 times of that in the absence of PMS (k=0.0084 min^-1). Radical quenching and electron spin-resonance (ESR) results suggested the contribution of free radicals (•OH and SO₄^•-) and non-radical pathway associated with direct activation of PMS by Cu₂O photocathode. Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) analysis confirmed the strong non-radical interaction between Cu₂O photocathode and PMS, resulting in 4-CP removal via activation of PMS by surface complex on Cu₂O. The proof-in-concept complete solar-driven dual-photoelectrode fuel cell may offer an effective manner to realize water purification and power generation, making wastewater treatment more economical and more sustainable.

Effect of Fe3+ on the sludge properties and microbial community structure in a lab-scale A2O process

During biological wastewater treatment, ferric salt (Fe³⁺) usually serves as an inorganic flocculant to improve the agglomeration and sedimentation of suspended solids, and thus the removal efficiency of pollutants to meet the increasing strictly regulated wastewater discharge standards. In this study, we investigated the effects of Fe³⁺ on the removal efficiencies of pollutants, sludge properties, dominant flora and metabolic pathways of bacterial community in a classical anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (A²O) process. The results showed that a Fe³⁺ concentration lower than 10 mg·L^-1 could improve the removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total nitrogen (TN), while an inhibition effect was exerted at concentration higher than 10 mg·L^-1. The maximum removal efficiencies of COD and TN were 97% and 89%, respectively, under the critical Fe³⁺ concentration of 10 mg·L^-1. Total phosphorous (TP) removal was constantly positively correlated with Fe³⁺ concentration, due to the enhanced adsorption of phosphorus on activated sludge with the increase of surface roughness. Thauera displayed the highest relative abundance, and certain bacteria in Proteobacteria, Dehloromonas and Candidatus-Competibacter exhibited good adaptability to high concentration of Fe³⁺. In the context of metabolic collaterals, the most abundant functional gene families were identified to be Carbohydrate Metabolism, Amino Acid Metabolism, Cell Motility, Membrane Transport, and Replication and Repair. This study provides an extensive mechanistic insight into the impact of Fe³⁺ on the A²O process, which is of fundamental significance to exploit the contributions of inorganic salts to biological wastewater treatment.

A tubular electrode assembly reactor for enhanced electrochemical wastewater treatment with a Magnéli-phase titanium suboxide (M-TiSO) anode and in situ utilization

The electrochemical oxidation technology has been widely used for the waste water treatment and water reuse because of its easy-to-operate nature, an effective removal of pollutants and non-secondary pollution. However, the price of electrode materials, the limitation of mass transfer and the associated effects on contaminant degradation hamper its application. Within this context, an in situ utilization tubular electrode assembly reactor (TEAR) was proposed, in which a stainless steel pipe (SSP) was used as the cathode, and a tubular Magnéli-phase titanium suboxide (M-TiSO) anode was posited in the center of that pipe. Besides the cathode and anode, an integral electrochemical system to treat water pollutants was constituted with a spiral static mixer made from three-dimensional (3D) printing. A spiral static mixer was pushed into the interspace of electrodes to minimize the adverse effect caused by inhomogeneous distribution of pollutants. Here, the effects of current density and resident time on the removal of methylene blue (MB) and total organic carbon (TOC) were investigated, the corresponding hydrodynamics was studied using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and the long-term stability of removing MB by the reactor was discussed. The results indicated that the MB and TOC removal rate was enhanced at specific current density with a static mixer and the velocity distribution tended to be more homogeneous. Moreover, the anode surface shear force and heat transfer were increased by improving the fluid state. This study proposed an in situ utilization concept and provided a potential value for feasible and efficient water treatment.

A stainless steel pipe (SSP) was used as a cathode. A tubular Magnéli-phase titanium suboxide (M-TiSO) anode was posited in the center. A spiral static mixer was used to process intensification.

Impact of fungal pellets dosage on long-term stability of aerobic granular sludge

The effects of fungal pellets (FPs) dosage on both structural and functional stability of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) were investigated during 200-day operation. Results showed that the AGS induced by low (a dry mass ratio of FPs to seed sludge, 30%) and high FPs dosage (60%) exhibited good morphology integrity during the entire phase of operation, while the filamentous overgrowth and AGS breakup were observed in the control reactor (0% FPs). Moreover, the granules developed at high FPs dosage demonstrated excellent nutrients removal (COD: 93%; NH4⁺-N: 100%; TN: 77%) and stable bioactivity with a maximum specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) of 52.6 ± 2.6 mg O₂/(gVSS·h), a value being 12.2% and 26.7% higher than that of 30% and 0% dosage. The microbial community analysis revealed 60% FPs dosage enriched various functional bacteria involved in nutrients removal. This study suggests a sustainable strategy for improving structural and functional stability of AGS.

Corn Stalk-Derived Carbon Quantum Dots with Abundant Amino Groups as a Selective-Layer Modifier for Enhancing Chlorine Resistance of Membranes

Low permeability and chlorine resistance of normal thin-film composite (TFC) membranes restrict their practical applications in many fields. This study reports the preparation of a high chlorine-resistant TFC membrane for forward osmosis (FO) by incorporating corn stalk-derived N-doped carbon quantum dots (N-CQDs) into the selective polyamide (PA) layer to construct a polydopamine (PDA) sub-layer (PTFC_CQD). Membrane modification is characterized by surface morphology, hydrophilicity, Zeta potential, and roughness. Results show that TFC_CQD (without PDA pretreatment) and PTFC_CQD membranes possess greater negative surface charges and thinner layer-thickness (less than 68 nm). With N-CQDs and PDA pretreatment, the surface roughness of the PTFC_CQD membrane decreases significantly with the co-existence of microsized balls and flocs with a dense porous structure. With the variation of concentration and type of draw solution, the PTFC_CQD membrane exhibits an excellent permeability with low J_{(reverse salt flux)}/J_{(water flux)} values (0.1-0.25) due to the enhancement of surface hydrophilicity and the shortening of permeable paths. With 16,000 ppm·h chlorination, reverse salt flux of the PTFC_CQD membrane (8.4 g m^-2 h^-1) is far lower than those of TFC_CQD (136.2 g m^-2 h^-1), PTFC (127.6 g m^-2 h^-1), and TFC (132 g m^-2 h^-1) membranes in FO processes. The decline of salt rejection of the PTFC_CQD membrane is only 8.2%, and the normalized salt rejection maintains 0.918 in the RO system (16,000 ppm·h chlorination). Super salt rejection is ascribed to the existence of abundant N-H bonds (N-CQDs), which are preferentially chlorinated by free chlorine to reduce the corrosion of the PA layer. The structure of the PA layer is stable during chlorination also due to the existence of various active groups grafted on the surface. This study may pave a new direction for the preparation of durable biomass-derivative (N-CQD)-modified membranes to satisfy much more possible applications.

Stable CuO with variable valence states cooperated with active Co2+ as catalyst/co-catalyst for oxygen reduction/methanol oxidation reactions

Catalysts/co-catalysts for cathodic oxygen reduction and anodic methanol oxidation reactions (ORR/MOR) play the major roles in promoting the commercialization of direct methanol fuel cells. Herein, bimetallic zeolite-imidazolate-frameworks (CoZn-ZIFs) is used as precursor to synthesize Co₃O₄@NPC/CuO composites as catalysts for ORR and Pt supports/co-catalysts for MOR. The ORR activity (E_1/2 = 0.83 V) and long-term stability (activity retention of 85.5% after 30,000 s) of Co₃O₄@NPC/CuO-400 (400 °C) dodecahedron are better than those of commercial Pt/C (10 wt%) in alkaline electrolytes. The surface CuO with variable valence states (Cu⁰ and Cu²⁺) can be used as both the active component for ORR and the protective layer for Co₃O₄ to enhance catalytic stability. Partial removal of CoO_x from carbon framework promotes the exposure of highly active sites (Co²⁺) on the Co₃O₄. For MOR, the mass activity of Pt-Co₃O₄@NPC/CuO-400 (5 wt%) (1947 mA mg_Pt^-1) is much higher than that of Pt/C (751 mA mg_Pt^-1), mainly attributing to that the Pt active sites are uniformly dispersed on Co₃O₄@NPC/CuO support. The strong interaction between Pt and CuO can reduce the bond strength of Pt-CO to enhance CO resistance. Co₃O₄ can activate H₂O molecules to provide sufficient OH^- species to promote MOR. This study provides a new idea for preparation of active ORR catalysts and MOR co-catalyst from bimetallic ZIFs.

Higher Serum Lysophosphatidic Acids Predict Left Ventricular Reverse Remodeling in Pediatric Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Background: The prognosis of pediatric dilated cardiomyopathy (PDCM) is highly variable, ranging from death to cardiac function recovery. Left ventricular reverse remodeling (LVRR) represents a favorable prognosis in PDCM. Disturbance of lipid metabolism is associated with the change of cardiac function, but no studies have examined lipidomics data and LVRR. Methods: Discovery analyses were based on 540 targeted lipids in an observational, prospective China-AOCC (An Integrative-Omics Study of Cardiomyopathy Patients for Diagnosis and Prognosis in China) study. The OPLS-DA and random forest (RF) analysis were used to screen the candidate lipids. Associations of the candidate lipids were examined in Cox proportional hazards regression models. Furthermore, we developed a risk score comprising the significant lipids, with each attributed a score of 1 when the concentration was above the median. All significant findings were replicated in a validation set of the China-AOCC study. Results: There were 59 patients in the discovery set and 24 patients in the validation set. LVRR was observed in 27 patients (32.5%). After adjusting for age, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), and left ventricular end-diastolic dimension (LVEDD) z-score, lysophosphatidic acids (LysoPA) 16:0, LysoPA 18:2, LysoPA 18:1, and LysoPA 18:0 were significantly associated with LVRR in the discovery set, and hazard ratios (HRs) were 2.793 (95% CI, 1.545-5.048), 2.812 (95% CI, 1.542-5.128), 2.831 (95% CI, 1.555-5.154), and 2.782 (95% CI, 1.548-5.002), respectively. We developed a LysoPA score comprising the four LysoPA. When the LysoPA score reached 4, LVRR was more likely to be observed in both sets. The AUC increased with the addition of the LysoPA score to the LVEDD z-score (from 0.693 to 0.875 in the discovery set, from 0.708 to 0.854 in the validation set) for prediction of LVRR. Conclusions: Serum LysoPA can predict LVRR in PDCM patients. When the LysoPA score was combined with the LVEDD z-score, it may help in ascertaining the prognosis and monitoring effects of anti-heart failure pharmacotherapy.

Effective in-situ reduction of Cr(VI) from leather wastewater by advanced reduction process based on CO2·- with visible-light photocatalyst

Advanced reduction process (ARP) has drawn an increasing interest as a new manner for removing oxidative pollutants in water. In this paper, we demonstrate the possibility of in-situ reduction of Cr(VI) by CO₂^·- produced from formate originally existing in leather wastewater by visible-light-driven ARP containing black TiO₂ photocatalyst. The prepared black TiO₂ with nanotube structure achieves remarkable enhanced the reduction rate of Cr(VI) as high as 96.2% (k = 0.0114 min^-1) in the presence of formate, which is approximately 4.75 times than that of 56.3% (k = 0.0024 min^-1) in the absence under 120 min visible-light irradiate at unadjusted pH. The results exhibit a distinct contrast with commercial TiO₂ (P25). A series of control experiments are also performed, indicating that formate is able to convert the oxidative environment into a highly reductive one, and the formate concentration, black TiO₂ dosage and pH may greatly impact on the Cr(VI) reduction rate. According to the electron spin resonance (ESR) measurement, CO₂^·- radicals can be directly verified as dominate radical in this system. Moreover, this system appears to be attractive for creating photochemical systems where in-situ production of CO₂^·- radicals may be realized by using formate. Then this in-situ ARP system will provide a new perspective for the Cr(VI) removing, which makes leather wastewater treatment much easier and more sustainable in the future.

Enhanced electrochemical decontamination and water permeation of titanium suboxide reactive electrochemical membrane based on sonoelectrochemistry

Reactive electrochemical membrane (REM) allows electrochemical oxidation (EO) water purification under flow-through operation, which improves mass transfer on the anode surface significantly. However, O₂ evolution reaction (OER) may cause oxygen bubbles to be trapped in small-sized confined flow channels, and thus degrade long-term filterability and treatability of REM. In this study, ultrasound (ultrasonic vibrator, 28 kHz, 180 W) was applied to EO system (i. e. sonoelectrochemistry) containing titanium suboxide-REM (TiSO-REM) anode for enhanced oxidation of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) target pollutant. Both experimental and modeling results demonstrated that ultrasound could mitigate the retention of O₂ bubbles in the porous structures by destructing large-size bubbles, thus not only increasing permeate flux but also promoting local mass transfer. Meanwhile, oxidation rate of 4-CP for EO with ultrasound (EO-US, 0.0932 min^-1) was 216% higher than that for EO without ultrasound (0.0258 min^-1), due to enhanced mass transfer and OH production under the cavitation effect of ultrasound. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirmed the most efficient pathway of 4-CP removal to be direct electron transfer of 4-CP to form [4-CP]⁺, followed by subsequent oxidation mediated by OH produced from anodic water oxidation on TiSO-REM anode. Last, the stability of TiSO-REM could be improved considerably by application of ultrasound, due to alleviation of electrode deactivation and fouling, indicated by cyclic test, scan electron microscopy (SEM) observation and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) characterization. This study provides a proof-of-concept demonstration of ultrasound for enhanced EO of recalcitrant organic pollutants by REM anode, making decentralized wastewater treatment more efficient and more reliable.

Electron Spin Resonance Evidence for Electro-generated Hydroxyl Radicals

Electro-generated hydroxyl radicals (•OH) are of fundamental importance to the electrochemical advanced oxidation process (EAOP). Radical-specific electron spin resonance (ESR) evidence is still lacking in association with the direct electron transfer (DET) reaction of spin trap (e.g., 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide; DMPO) and side reactions of the DMPO-OH adduct in the strongly oxidative environment offered by anodic polarization. Herein, we showed ESR identification of electro-generated •OH in EAOP based on the principle of kinetic selection. Excessive addition of a DMPO agent and fast spin trapping allowed suitable kinetic conditions to be set for effective spin trapping of electro-generated •OH and subsequent ESR identification. Otherwise, interferential triplet signals would emerge due to formation of paramagnetic dimer via dehydrogenation, DET oxidation, and dimerization reactions of the DMPO-OH adduct. The results demonstrate that •OH formation during spin-trapping on the titanium suboxide (TiSO) anode could be quantified as 47.84 ± 0.44 μM at current density of 10 mA cm^-2. This value revealed a positive dependence on electrolysis time, current density, and anode potential. The effectiveness of ESR measurements was verified by the results obtained with the terephthalic acid probe. The ESR identification not only provides direct evidence for electro-generated •OH from a fundamental point of view, but also suggests a strategy to screen effective anode materials.