Enhanced nitrogen removal in the treatment of rural domestic sewage using vertical-flow multi-soil-layering systems: Experimental and modeling insights.

Domestic sewage in rural areas is often poorly treated and discharged into waters, resulting in negative impacts on regional environment, natural resources and human health. A cost-efficient decentralized sewage treatment technology is sustainably necessary for rural areas. In this study, a modified multi-soil-layering (MSL) system was developed to specifically treat low C/N ratio domestic sewage in rural areas. The results proved the good performance of MSLs in sewage treatment under complex conditions. The highest degradation rates of COD, TP, NH4+-N, NO3--N, TN among all the devices could reach 98.29%, 100%, 76.60%, 96.15% and 69.86%, respectively. During the operation, MSL5 and MSL6 showed the best overall performance of contaminant removal. The effects of single factors and their interactions on the performance of MSL systems were further revealed through factorial analyses. In order to simulate and predict nitrogen removal of MSL system, a statistical relationship between TN removal rate and operation parameters was also successfully developed based on stepwise cluster analysis. Such modeling of nitrogen removal model can help develop an optimal strategy for the operation of MSL in treating low C/N ratio sewage from rural areas.

Biophysiological and factorial analyses in the treatment of rural domestic wastewater using multi-soil-layering systems.

Multi-soil-layering (MSL) system was developed as an attractive alternative to traditional land-based treatment techniques. Within MSL system, the environmental cleanup capability of soil is maximized, while the soil microbial communities may also change during operation. This study aimed to reveal the nature of biophysiological changes in MSL systems during operation. The species diversity in soil mixture blocks was analyzed using Illumina HiSeq sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The interactive effects of operating factors on species richness, community diversity and bacteria abundance correlated with COD, N and P removal were revealed through factorial analysis. The results indicated the main factors, aeration, bottom submersion and microbial amendment, had different significant effects on microbial responses. The surface area and porosity of zeolites in permeable layers decreased due to the absorption of extracellular polymeric substances. The findings were applied for the design and building of a full-size MSL system in field and satisfied removal efficiency was achieved. The results of this study can help better understand the mechanisms of pollutant reduction within MSL systems from microbial insights. It will have important implications for developing appropriate strategies for operating MSL systems with high efficiency and less risks.

Advances in CAR-T-cell therapy in T-cell malignancies.

Significant advances have been made in chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T)-cell therapy for the treatment of recurrent or refractory B-cell hematologic malignancies. However, CAR-T-cell therapy has not yet achieved comparable success in the management of aggressive T-cell malignancies. This article reviews the challenges of CAR-T-cell therapy in treating T-cell malignancies and summarizes the progress of preclinical and clinical studies in this area. We present an analysis of clinical trials of CAR-T-cell therapies for the treatment of T-cell malignancies grouped by target antigen classification. Moreover, this review focuses on the major challenges encountered by CAR-T-cell therapies, including the nonspecific killing due to T-cell target antigen sharing and contamination with cell products during preparation. This review discusses strategies to overcome these challenges, presenting novel therapeutic approaches that could enhance the efficacy and applicability of CAR-T-cell therapy in the treatment of T-cell malignancies. These ideas and strategies provide important information for future studies to promote the further development and application of CAR-T-cell therapy in this field.

Case report: The utilization of crizotinib and brentuximab vedotin as a bridge to autologous stem cell transplantation and followed by CD30-directed CAR-T cell therapy in relapsed/refractory ALK+ ALCL.

Background: Anaplastic lymphoma kinase-positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALK+ ALCL) is a rare, mature T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The prognosis of patients with relapsed or refractory ALCL following first-line chemotherapy is extremely poor. NCCN guidelines recommend intensified chemotherapy with or without ASCT consolidation for r/r ALCL, however, this is not an effective treatment for all ALK+ALCL. Case report: Herein, we report a patient with relapsed/refractory ALK+ ALCL who received crizotinib and brentuximab vedotin as bridging therapy, followed by autologous stem cell transplantation and sequential anti-CD30 CAR T cell therapy. Conclusion: The patient achieved complete remission and long-term disease-free survival of months and continues to be followed up. The combination therapy model in this case may provide guidance for the management of relapsed/refractory ALK+ ALCL, and further prospective trials are needed to confirm its effectiveness.

Treatment of decentralized low-strength livestock wastewater using microcurrent-assisted multi-soil-layering systems: performance assessment and microbial analysis.

Discharge of decentralized livestock wastewater without effective treatment has become a common problem in rural areas, threatening the regional water environment. A new microcurrent-assisted multi-soil-layering (MSL) system was developed for treating rural decentralized livestock wastewater. The results showed the highest removal rates of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total phosphorus (TP) in MSL systems reached 95.45% and 92.0%, respectively. The removal rate of total nitrogen (TN) in MSL systems ranged from 60 to 75%. The bacterial diversity changes among MSL systems showed that high-level height of bottom submergence had a positive effect on the abundance of denitrifying bacteria, while low-level height of bottom submergence had a positive impact on the abundance of nitrifying bacteria. The effect of low-level external voltage on bacterial abundance was better than that of high-level external voltage. Both high- and low-level influent C/N ratios had no significant effect on bacterial abundance. The metabolism and activity of microorganisms were promoted with microcurrent stimulation from the perspective of increased bacterial abundance in MSL systems with improved treatment performance.

Comprehensive evaluation of adsorption performances of carbonaceous materials for sulfonamide antibiotics removal.

Sulfonamide antibiotics have highly toxic effects on humans and other organisms within the food chain. Adsorption by various carbonaceous materials is an effective method for removing them from the aqueous environment. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted between adsorbents and sulfamethoxazole (SMX) by studies of characterization, isotherm model, and kinetic model. The adsorption performances and mechanism of fifteen carbonaceous materials to remove SMX have been comprehensively evaluated. Results of the characterization showed that not only porosity, but also surface chemistry plays an important role in the adsorption process. Changes in the type and quantity of functional groups before and after adsorption are positive for the recyclability of carbonaceous materials. Moreover, kinetic studies showed that the adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-kinetic model and the intra-particle diffusion model. Four adsorbents (i.e., W-GAC, 3M-GAC, GP, and PAC) in this study have the best performance in each corresponding category in terms of the adsorption of SMX. Therefore, the results provide an indispensable reference for evaluating the adsorption performances of a variety of carbonaceous materials, and thus can support the selection of adsorbents for different applications. Graphical abstract.

Evaluating the added values of regional climate modeling over China at different resolutions.

Previous studies have suggested that dynamical downscaling to global climate models can produce improved climate simulations at regional and local scales. However, the expensive computational requirements of dynamical downscaling inevitably add a limit to the spatial resolution of the resulting regional climate simulations. In order to find a balance between computational requirements and simulation improvements, it is extremely important to investigate how the spatial resolution of regional climate simulation affects the added values of dynamical downscaling; yet, it is still not well understood. Therefore, in this study, we conduct long-term climate simulations for the entire country of China with the PRECIS regional climate model at two different spatial resolutions (i.e., 25 and 50 km). The purpose is to evaluate whether a fine-resolution model simulation, given its considerable requirements for computational resources, would add more valuable information for understanding regional climatology than a coarse-resolution model simulation. Our results show that the PRECIS can reasonably reproduce the spatial distribution of seasonal and monthly mean temperature and precipitation over the most of regions in China. However, in the process of downscaling, RCM with higher resolution cannot always produce more accurate output. In regard to precipitation simulations, compared with the host GCM, it is difficult to determine exactly a homogeneous improvement of performance in downscaling, both in terms of spatial patterns as well as magnitude of errors. For interannual variability, variations in temperature are closer to observation than precipitation and the high-resolution R25 has better skills over the northwest than R50. Moreover, except for the west, it is shown that PRECIS is able to better reproduce the probability distribution function of precipitation and some impact-relevant indices such as the number of consecutive wet days and simple precipitation intensity index in spatial distribution.

Treatment of rural domestic wastewater using multi-soil-layering systems: Performance evaluation, factorial analysis and numerical modeling.

The discharge of wastewater in rural areas without effective treatment may result in contamination of surrounding surface water and groundwater resources. This study explored the wastewater treatment performance of multi-soil-layering (MSL) systems through interactive factorial analysis. MSL systems showed good performances under various operating conditions. The COD and BOD5 removal rates in MSL systems could reach 98.53 and 93.66%, respectively. The performances of MSL systems in TP removal stayed at high levels ranged from 97.97 to 100% throughout the experiments. The NH4+ - N removal rates of the well performed MSL systems reached highest levels ranging from 89.96 to 100%. The TN removal rates of aerated MSL systems ranged from 51.11 to 64.44% after 72 days of operation. The independent effects of bottom submersion, microbial amendment and aeration, as well as most interactions were significant. The performance of MSL systems was mainly affected by bottom submersion and aeration as well as their interactions. Aeration was the most positive factor for the removal of organic matter, TP and NH4+ - N. However, oxygenated environment was unfavorable for NO3- - N removal. In the submerged area with limited oxygen, the microbial transformation of NO3- - N still occurred. A stepwise-cluster inference model was developed for tackling the multivariate nonlinear relationships in contaminant removal processes. The results can help obtain a better understanding of the complicated processes among contaminant removal in MSL systems.

Removal of phenol from synthetic waste water using Gemini micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (GMEUF).

Comprehensive studies were conducted on the phenol wastewater ultrafiltration (UF) with the help of various concentrations of cationic Gemini surfactant (N1-dodecyl-N1,N1,N2,N2-tetramethyl-N2-octylethane-1,2-diaminium bromide, CG), conventional cationic surfactant (dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide, DTAB), anionic surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) and nonionic surfactant ((dodecyloxy)polyethoxyethanol, Brij35). A flat sheet module with polyethersulfone (PES) membrane was employed in this investigation. The effects of feed concentration (phenol and surfactant) on the retention of phenol and surfactant, permeate flux and membrane fouling by micelles were evaluated. The distribution coefficient (D), the loading of the micelles (L(m)) and the equilibrium distribution constant (K) were also utilized to estimate the micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration ability for phenol. Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer with attenuated total reflectance accessory (ATR-FTIR) and mercury porosimeter were applied to analyze membrane surface morphology, membrane material characteristics and membrane fouling for the original and fouled membranes. Based on the above analysis, the performance of the selected Gemini surfactant was proved superior in the following aspects: retention of phenol/surfactant (peak value is 95.8% for phenol retention), permeate flux and membrane fouling with respect to other conventional surfactants possessing equal alkyl chain length. These results demonstrated that CG surfactant with exceptional structure has favorable prospects in the treatment of phenol wastewater by the micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration.