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Introduction: Myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) exhibits immunosuppressive functions and affects cancer progression, but its relationship with prostate cancer remains unclear. We elucidated the association of polymorphonuclear MDSC (PMN-MDSC) and monocytic MDSC (M-MDSC) levels of the total peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with prostate cancer progression and evaluated their roles as prognostic indicators. Methods: We enrolled 115 patients with non-metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (nmHSPC, n = 62), metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC, n = 23), and metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC, n = 30). Subsequently, the proportions of MDSCs in each disease progression were compared. Log-rank tests and multivariate Cox regression analyses were performed to ascertain the associations of overall survival. Results: The patients with mCRPC had significantly higher PMN-MDSC percentage than those with nmHSPC and mHSPC (P = 7.73 × 10-5 and 0.0014). Significantly elevated M-MDSC levels were observed in mCRPC patients aged <70 years (P = 0.016) and with a body mass index (BMI) <25 kg/m2 (P = 0.043). The high PMN-MDSC group had notably shorter median survival duration (159 days) than the low PMN-MDSC group (768 days, log-rank P = 0.018). In the multivariate analysis including age, BMI, and MDSC subset, PMN-MDSC was significantly associated with prognosis (hazard ratios, 3.48; 95% confidence interval: 1.05-11.56, P = 0.042). Discussion: PMN-MDSC levels are significantly associated with mCRPC prognosis. Additionally, we highlight the remarkable associations of age and BMI with M-MDSC levels in mCRPC, offering novel insights into MDSC dynamics in prostate cancer progression.
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Células Supressoras Mieloides , Neoplasias de Próstata Resistentes à Castração , Humanos , Masculino , Células Supressoras Mieloides/imunologia , Células Supressoras Mieloides/metabolismo , Neoplasias de Próstata Resistentes à Castração/imunologia , Neoplasias de Próstata Resistentes à Castração/patologia , Neoplasias de Próstata Resistentes à Castração/mortalidade , Neoplasias de Próstata Resistentes à Castração/sangue , Idoso , Prognóstico , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Neutrófilos/imunologia , Progressão da Doença , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Metástase NeoplásicaRESUMO
Low testosterone levels in men have been linked to decreased physical and mental function, as well as a reduced quality of life. Previous prospective observational studies have suggested an association between testosterone and sleep traits, but the causality of this relationship remains unclear. We aimed to explore the potential causal link between genetically determined sleep traits and testosterone levels in men using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis from the UK Biobank dataset. Our exposures were genetic variants associated with sleep traits (chronotype and sleep duration), whereas our outcomes were traits of sex steroid hormones (total testosterone, TT; bioavailable testosterone, BAT; and sex hormone-binding globulin, SHBG). We employed inverse variance weighted (IVW) and weighted median (WM) methods to assess the causal associations. The IVW method offers a robust estimate of causality, whereas the WM method provides reliable results even when some genetic variants are invalid instruments. Our main analysis involving sex steroid hormones and chronotype identified 155 chronotype-related variants. The primary findings from the analysis, which used chronotype as the exposure and sex steroid hormones as the outcomes, showed that a genetically predicted chronotype score was significantly associated with an increased levels of TT (association coefficient ß, 0.08; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.02-0.14; P = 0.008) and BAT (ß, 0.08; 95% CI, 0.02-0.14; P = 0.007), whereas there was no significant association with SHBG (ß, 0.01; 95% CI, -0.02-0.03; P = 0.64). Meanwhile, MR analysis of sex steroid hormones and sleep duration was performed, and 69 variants associated with sleep duration were extracted. There were no significant association between sleep duration and sex steroid hormones (TT, P = 0.91; BAT, P = 0.82; and SHBG, P = 0.95). Our data support a causal association between chronotype and circulating testosterone levels in men. These findings underscore a potential causal relationship between chronotype and testosterone levels in men, suggesting that lifestyle adjustments are crucial for men's health. Recognizing factors that influence testosterone is essential. One limitation of this study is the use of one-sample MR, which can introduce potential bias due to non-independence of genetic associations for exposure and outcome. In conclusion, our findings indicate that a morning preference is correlated with circulating testosterone levels, emphasizing the potential impact of lifestyle habits on testosterone levels in men.
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Análise da Randomização Mendeliana , Sono , Testosterona , Humanos , Masculino , Testosterona/sangue , Sono/genética , Sono/fisiologia , Globulina de Ligação a Hormônio Sexual/genética , Globulina de Ligação a Hormônio Sexual/metabolismo , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Ritmo Circadiano/genética , Polimorfismo de Nucleotídeo Único , Idoso , CronotipoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are associated with aging and the development and progression of cancer. However, the exact nature of this relationship remains unclear. Our study aimed to investigate the potential of LTL and MDSC as diagnostic biomarkers for prostate cancer while also seeking to deepen our understanding of the relationship of these potential biomarkers to each other. METHODS: Our study involved patients undergoing a prostate biopsy. We analyzed the relative LTL in genomic DNA obtained from peripheral blood leukocytes as well as the percentage of MDSC and their subtypes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Our evaluation focused on examining the relationship between LTL and MDSC and pathological diagnoses as well as investigating the correlation between LTL and MDSC levels. RESULTS: In our study of 102 participants, 56 were pathologically diagnosed with localized prostate cancer (cancer group), while 46 tested negative (control group). The cancer group exhibited significantly shorter LTL in comparison to the control group (p = 0.024). Additionally, the cancer group showed a tendency towards a higher percentage of monocytic MDSC (M-MDSC), although this difference did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.056). Our multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that patients with shorter LTL and higher percentages of M-MDSC had a 2.98-fold (95% CI = 1.001-8.869, p = 0.049) and 3.03-fold (95% CI = 1.152-7.977, p = 0.025) increased risk of prostate cancer diagnosis, respectively. There was also a significant negative correlation between LTL and M-MDSC. (r = -0.347, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our research has established a correlation between LTL and MDSC in patients undergoing biopsy for prostate cancer. Notably, we observed that individuals with localized prostate cancer tend to have shorter LTL and a higher percentage of M-MDSC prior to their diagnosis. These findings suggest that LTL and M-MDSC could potentially serve as adjunctive biomarkers for the early diagnosis of prostate cancer.
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Persistent concerns regarding environmental hazards arise from the difficulty in disposing of radioactive plant-based wastes originating from the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) in Japan in 2011. In this study, three anaerobic digestion (AD) strategies were proposed: Sole anaerobic wet fermentation, and wet fermentations with either alkaline-heat or ultrasonic pre-treatment, which were employed for long-term anaerobic treatment of a genuine radioactive grass stemming from the FNPP accident. The objectives of this work are to investigate the effects of pre-treatments on biomass conversion efficiency and to gain insight into the leaching behavior of radiocaesium (Rad-Cs) within AD processes. Experimental results indicate that by introducing alkaline-heat and ultrasonic pre-treatments to AD systems, the removal efficiencies of total solids (TS) from the raw grass increased by 60.8 % and 42.5 %, respectively, compared to sole wet fermentation. Pre-treatments have been shown to enhance the stability of AD systems, both in terms of enhancing methane production and mitigating pH fluctuations triggered by the accumulation of organic acids. Remarkably, even though the Rad-Cs leaching rate was highest when the AD system was fed with the alkaline-heat pre-treated grass, it remained unsatisfactory at only 5.77 %. We inadvertently isolated a soil-like component from the raw grass, and analyzed both its proportion in the raw grass and the radioactivity intensity. The results indicate that although the soil constituted only 9.51 % TS of the raw grass, it accounted for a significant 81.35 % of the total radioactivity. The soil, which has a pronounced affinity for ionic Cs, being mixed into the raw grass, was identified as the primary factor limiting the leaching efficiency of Rad-Cs throughout both the pre-treatment and wet fermentation phases.
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Acidente Nuclear de Fukushima , Monitoramento de Radiação , Radioatividade , Poaceae , Fermentação , Anaerobiose , Biomassa , Radioisótopos de Césio/análise , Japão , SoloRESUMO
Background: Testosterone is an essential sex hormone that plays a vital role in the overall health and development of males. It is well known that obesity decreases testosterone levels, but it is difficult to determine the causal relationship between body composition and testosterone. Methods: To investigate potential causal associations between body composition and testosterone levels by a first time application of Mendelian randomization methods. Exposure variables in men included body composition (fat mass, fat-free mass, and body mass index). In addition to whole body fat and fat-free mass, we examined fat and fat-free mass for each body part (e.g., trunk, left arm, right arm, left leg and right leg) as exposures. Instrumental variables were defined using genome-wide association study data from the UK Biobank. Outcome variables in men included testosterone levels (total testosterone [TT], bioavailable testosterone [BT], and sex hormone-binding globulin [SHBG]). A one-sample Mendelian randomization analysis of inverse-variance weighted and weighted median was performed. Results: The number of genetic instruments for the 13 exposure traits related to body composition ranged from 156 to 540. Genetically predicted whole body fat mass was negatively associated with TT (ß=-0.24, P=5.2×10-33), BT (ß=-0.18, P=5.8×10-20) and SHBG (ß=-0.06, P=8.0×10-9). Genetically predicted whole body fat-free mass was negatively associated with BT (ß=-0.04, P=2.1×10-4), but not with TT and SHBG, after multiple testing corrections. When comparing the causal effect on testosterone levels, there was a consistent trend that the effect of fat mass was more potent than that of fat-free mass. There were no differences between body parts. Conclusion: These results show that reducing fat mass may increase testosterone levels.
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Análise da Randomização Mendeliana , Testosterona , Masculino , Humanos , Estudo de Associação Genômica Ampla , Composição Corporal/genética , Hormônios Esteroides GonadaisRESUMO
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are effective in treating renal cell carcinoma (RCC) but can also cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs). The relationship between irAEs and the T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire in RCC patients treated with ICIs remains unclear. We analyzed the relationship between the severity and diversity of irAEs and the TCR repertoire in RCC patients who received dual checkpoint inhibitors (ipilimumab + nivolumab). The TCRß (TRB) repertoires were characterized in peripheral blood samples from six patients with RCC before the initiation of ICI therapy. The diversity and clonality of the TCR repertoire were compared between patients with grade 2 and grade 3 irAEs. The median proportion of top 10 unique reads in the TCR repertoire was significantly higher in grade 3 compared with grade 2 irAEs in RCC patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors (grade 2: 0.196%; grade 3: 0.346%; p = 0.0038). We provide insight into the relationship between TCR repertoire and irAEs in RCC patients treated with ICIs. TCR repertoire clonality may be associated with the development of irAEs in RCC patients.
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Biomass-derived biochar is attracting growing interest as an effective additive for anaerobic digestion (AD). To improve energy yield and digestion performance through an integrated process of biochar production and AD, biochar upgrading using biomass fly ash leachate as a sustainable metal catalyst was investigated. The results indicate that the bark soaked in the leachate improved the pyrolysis reactivity of biomass with CO2 and reduced the temperature at which the reaction rate reached its maximum from 943 °C to 801 °C. This resulted in a doubling of CO production during CO2-assisted pyrolysis at 800 °C. In addition, the combined use of fly ash leachate and CO2 in bark pyrolysis improved not only the porosity of the resulting biochar but also its wettability and liming potential. Moreover, biochar amended with fly ash leachate and CO2 significantly reduced the lag time in the anaerobic digestion of grease trap waste.
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Monóxido de Carbono , Cinza de Carvão , Anaerobiose , Biomassa , Pirólise , Dióxido de Carbono , Carvão VegetalRESUMO
Background: Genomic instability is a significant hallmark of aging and has a major impact on aging biology. Mosaic loss of chromosome Y (mLOY) in blood cells is a common chromosomal abnormality in aging men and is considered an indicator of genomic instability. Previous studies have indicated a connection between mLOY and prostate cancer risk, but the causal relationship has not been fully established. Methods: To determine the causal effect of mLOY on prostate cancer, we conducted a Mendelian Randomization (MR) study in two ancestral groups. We utilized 125 and 42 mLOY-associated variants as instrumental variables (IVs) in European and East Asian GWAS of prostate cancer, respectively. Summary-level data on prostate cancer was obtained from the PRACTICAL consortium (79,148 cases and 61,106 controls of European ancestry) and the Biobank Japan consortium (5,408 cases and 103,939 controls of East Asian ancestry). A single population was used to assess the causal relationship in East Asian ancestry. Our main method for obtaining MR results was inverse-variance weighted (IVW), and we conducted sensitivity analyses to confirm the robustness of our results. Finally, we combined the estimates from both sources using a fixed-effects meta-analysis. Results: Our MR analysis using the IVW method showed that a one-unit increase in genetically predicted mLOY was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer in the PRACTICAL consortium (OR = 1.09%, 95% CI: 1.05-1.13, p = 1.2 × 10-5), but not in the Biobank Japan consortium (OR = 1.13%, 95% CI: 0.88-1.45, p = 0.34). Sensitivity analyses robustly indicated increased odds ratios for prostate cancer with every one-unit increase in genetically predicted mLOY for the PRACTICAL consortium. Furthermore, mLOY was found to be associated with prostate cancer risk in a meta-analysis of both sources (OR = 1.09%, 95% CI: 1.05-1.13, p = 8.0 × 10-6). Conclusion: Our MR study provides strong evidence that higher mLOY increases the risk of prostate cancer. Preventing mLOY may be a means of reducing the risk of developing prostate cancer.
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This study investigated oleate inhibition concentration on mesophilic and thermophilic sludge by utilizing acetate and H2/CO2 (80:20, v/v) as substrate, respectively. In addition, another batch experiment was carried out to explore the influence of oleate loads (mM-oleate/g-VS) on methane production. Generally, the mesophilic anaerobic system was more stable than the thermophilic system, which embodied higher microbial abundance, higher methane yield, and higher oleate tolerance. Furthermore, this study provides a possible methanogenic pathway impacted by oleate under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions according to functional microbial composition. Lastly, this paper provides noticeable and avoidable oleate concentrations and loads under different experimental conditions as a guide for future anaerobic bioreactors of lipidic waste biodegradation.
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Acetatos , Ácido Oleico , Anaerobiose , Temperatura , Esgotos , Metano , Reatores BiológicosRESUMO
Background: Ductal carcinoma of the prostate (DCP) is a rare type of prostate cancer (PCa) with a higher degree of infiltration and worse prognosis than acinar adenocarcinoma of the prostate (ACP). Previous reports comparing DCP and ACP have not been very reliable and involved small sample sizes. Objective: To assess differences in mortality between ACP and DCP in a large-scale study. Design setting and participants: Data were downloaded from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database in June 2022. Data for 823 939 patients diagnosed with PCa from 2004 to 2019 were examined, excluding cases with survival data missing or pathological types other than DCP and ACP. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: Prognostic and risk factors for DCP were analyzed by generating a propensity score-matched cohort of DCP and ACP cases (1:5). Adjusted Cox models were constructed to determine hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for cancer-specific mortality (CSM) and overall mortality (OM). Results and limitations: A total of 822 607 cases (99.8%) has ACP and 1332 (0.2%) had DCP. In comparison to ACP, age at diagnosis was significantly lower for DCP (≤66 yr: 38.0% vs 50.7%; p < 0.001) and a higher proportion of DCP patients distant metastases (13.7% vs 5.1%; p < 0.001). In comparison to the ACP group, significantly higher proportions of the DCP group underwent surgery (66.1% vs 38.1%; p < 0.001), radiotherapy (13.7% vs 3.1%; p < 0.001), or systemic therapy (18.2% vs 3.3%; p < 0.001). However, the median overall survival time was significantly shorter for DCP patients (44.0 vs 73.0 mo; p < 0.001). DCP patients also had higher risk of CSM (HR 2.07, 95% CI 1.68-2.56; p < 0.001) and OM (HR 2.73 95% CI 2.42-3.08; p < 0.001) after propensity score matching to adjust for the influence of baseline variables. Subgroup analysis showed that DCP patients who had surgical treatment had better CSM than those without surgery, while DCP patients with regional and lower stage had better OM than those with distant stage (both p < 0.05 for interaction). Conclusions: The risk of CSM and OM is significantly higher for DCP than for ACP. Earlier detection (lower stage) and surgical treatment are beneficial factors for DCP prognosis. Patient summary: We studied survival rates for two different types of prostate cancer. We found that survival is worse for the rarer ductal carcinoma of the prostate (DCP) than for the more common acinar adenocarcinoma of the prostate. Both early diagnosis when the cancer is at a lower stage and surgical treatment are beneficial for survival in patients with DCP.
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Engineered biochar production and utilization in anaerobic digestion (AD) potentially overcome its limited application to the treatment of slowly degradable or inhibitory substrates. Here an attempt was made to develop an optimized biochar production procedure for use in AD to stimulate palmitic acid biodegradation via direct interspecies electron transfer (DIET). The electrical conductivity of biochar was greatly increased with an elevated pyrolysis temperature and K2CO3 activation, and the conductivity reached a comparable level (0.6-1.4 S/cm) to that of carbon black at 800 °C. In addition, the K2CO3 activation greatly improved biochar wettability. When using K2CO3-activated biochar produced at 800 °C, the maximum methane production rate from palmitic acid was 1.3 times that of a control without biochar addition.
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Reatores Biológicos , Metano , Anaerobiose , Carvão Vegetal , Ácido PalmíticoRESUMO
Tar generated as a by-product during biomass gasification contains a high concentration of refractory organic matters. In this study, a hybrid upflow anaerobic sludge-biochar bed reactor was established for tar treatment, and the methane yield was 120-154 NmL-CH4/g-CODinf, 20-30% higher than the control reactor. COD removal and methane production significantly decreased in both reactors when the influent tar concentration was doubled from 4954 mg-COD/L to 9964 mg-COD/L. When the influent concentration was reduced, the biochar packed reactor showed a faster recovery. Batch tests confirmed that higher tar concentration inhibited methane production and induced longer lagphase. Biochar addition effectively relieved the inhibition and prolonged the retention of organic matters. SEM observation and 16S rRNA analysis suggested that biochar also acted as the microbe's carrier, and promoted the growth of some microbes. The results of this study provide new ideas for tar treatment.
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Oryza , Esgotos , Anaerobiose , Reatores Biológicos , Carvão Vegetal , Metano , RNA Ribossômico 16S/genética , Eliminação de Resíduos LíquidosRESUMO
In this pilot-scale study, an innovative mainstream treatment process that couples the anaerobic membrane reactor (AnMBR) with a one-stage PN/A system was proposed for advancing the concept of carbon neutrality in the municipal wastewater treatment plant. This work demonstrates the start-up procedure of a pilot-scale one-stage PN/A system for mainstream treatment. The 255-day start-up of the one-stage PN/A system involved the cultivation of ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) from the activated sludge, suppression of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), investigation of in-situ growth kinetics of anammox bacteria (AnAOB), and the 50-day operation of the pilot-scale AnMBR-PN/A process for natural mainstream treatment. It is verified in the pilot-scale system for the first time that the in-situ free ammonia (FA) and free nitrous acid (FNA) exposure could effectively eliminate the Nitrospira (the NOB genus) while retaining the Nitosonomas (the AOB genus) community in the suspended sludge. NOB community rebounding was not detected even at the mainstream conditions with low nitrogen concentrations (Influent ammonium concentration=38±6 mg-NH4+-N/L) by intermittent aeration to control the system dissolved oxygen (DO) below 0.5 mg/L. The results of the mainstream treatment showed that the average effluent total nitrogen (TN) in the coupled process was generally lower than 10 mg-N/L, which meets the discharge limits of most prefectures in Japan. The investigated results of the in-situ anammox bacteria (AnAOB) growth kinetics suggested that the promoted start-up strategy of taking advantage of the warm months with higher mainstream temperature to achieve the rapid in-situ growth of the AnAOB is applicable in the investigated regions. From the perspective of the removal performance of the TN and organic substance, the AnMBR-PN/A process has great potential as the layouts of the carbon-neutral mainstream wastewater treatment plants.
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Compostos de Amônio , Nitritos , Oxidação Anaeróbia da Amônia , Anaerobiose , Bactérias , Reatores Biológicos , Cinética , Nitrogênio , Oxirredução , Esgotos , Águas ResiduáriasRESUMO
Anaerobic digestion of decabromodiphenyl ether was carried out and compared in two continuously stirred anaerobic bioreactors for 210 days under thermophilic and mesophilic conditions. Results show that the degradation of decabromodiphenyl ether followed the first-order reaction kinetics, which exhibited a higher removal rate in the thermophilic reactor when compared to the mesophilic one, reaching its maximum of 1.1 µg·day-1. The anaerobic digestion of decabromodiphenyl ether was found to involve the replacement of bromines from polybrominated diphenyl ether by hydrogen atoms, gradually forming nona-, octa- and hepta-brominated diphenyl ether, respectively. Under the thermophilic condition, the reactors were dominated by Bacillus sp. and Methanosarcina sp. with high bioactivity and high concentrations of debromination microorganisms.
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Reatores Biológicos , Éteres Difenil Halogenados , Anaerobiose , Hidrogênio , TemperaturaRESUMO
Mosaic loss of chromosome Y (mLOY) in leukocytes has attracted much attention as an emerging biomarker of aging and aging-related diseases. We evaluated the usefulness of saliva for mLOY analysis and showed that saliva-derived mLOY is significantly associated with aging and increased physical activity, but not with smoking. While these data support the robust association between saliva-derived mLOY and aging, caution is required when comparing data from saliva-derived and blood-derived mLOY.
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Deleção Cromossômica , Cromossomos Humanos Y/genética , Saliva/química , Adulto , Idoso , Idoso de 80 Anos ou mais , Envelhecimento/genética , Fumar Cigarros/genética , Exercício Físico/genética , Humanos , Japão , Leucócitos/metabolismo , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Mosaicismo , Saliva/citologiaRESUMO
Poor processing stability has been cited as the fatal shortcoming of the up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor treating starch wastewater (SW). In this study, the SW treatment performance in a one-stage UASB reactor and a pre-acidification equipped UASB process were evaluated together with the microbial dynamics. The results revealed that the pre-acidification provided improvements in terms of the substrate utilization diversity and the stability of the microbial community structure on the UASB reactor. Anaerolineaceae/Methanosaeta was the core functional microbiota in the pre-acidification equipped UASB reactor, indicated the superior abilities on the acetogenic methanogenesis of granules. The genus of Methanobacterium, a hydrogenotrophic methanogen was dominant in the archaeal community in the one-stage UASB reactor. The granules performed very strong hydrogen affinity in methane production, a small amount of propionate was detected in the effluent. These were abnormal, which suggested the high hydrogen turn-over rate in the one-stage UASB reactor.
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Microbiota , Esgotos , Anaerobiose , Reatores Biológicos , Concentração de Íons de Hidrogênio , Metano , Amido , Eliminação de Resíduos Líquidos , Águas ResiduáriasRESUMO
This study investigated the effects of the addition of micro- (Fe, Co, Ni, and Mo) and macro-(Sulfur) nutrients on mono-digestion of sorghum under mesophilic conditions. A continuous stirred-tank reactor was operated for more than 420 days under seven different experimental conditions. The experimental results showed poor performance for methane production and process stability without nutrient supplementation. Serious deficiencies in Co and S were confirmed by nutrient analysis of dry sorghum and digestate. Nutrient augmentation efficiently enhanced methane production and volatile fatty acid (VFA) removal. Methane production reached 223 mL-CH4/g-VS, almost matching the yield predicted by biochemical methane potential (BMP) test. S was demonstrated to have a critical effect on metal availability in the digester. Consequently, to maintain stable methane fermentation, suitable supplementations of S and Co are recommended for anaerobic sorghum mono-digestion.
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Biocombustíveis , Sorghum , Anaerobiose , Reatores Biológicos , Metano , NutrientesRESUMO
Cultivation of biomass crops for energy production is a promising land-use for farmland abandoned owing to radionuclide fallout. However, radionuclides in soil are easily taken up in the crop. To understand phase partitioning of radiocesium Cs (RCs) during anaerobic digestion (AD) of crops, semi-continuous AD experiments were carried out using two types of RCs-contaminated crops. Analysis of fractionated digestate effluent revealed that AD of the crops released RCs into the water phase (up to 82 %), and the efficiency of RCs solubilization depended on crop biodegradability. Adsorption treatment for removal of RCs from the water phase of the digestate indicated a water-zeolite partition coefficient of 0.287â¯L/g. The efficiency of removal from the water phase was 90 % at an adsorbent dose of 30â¯g/L.
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Biochar is a carbon rich product made from the biomass pyrolysis process. Recently, biochar addition in anaerobic digestion processes has attracted attention for its possible functions to act as pH stabilizing agent, microbial carrier, and interspecies electron transfer. In this study, the effects of rice husk biochar addition in sorghum anaerobic digestion were investigated in batch tests. Under high F/M (food to microorganism) ratio conditions, obvious pH decreases and volatile fatty acids (VFA) accumulation was observed. Addition of 15 g/L biochar was found effective to increase the sorghum maximum methane production rate by 25 % and shorten the lag phase time by 44 %. Further biochar concentration increase showed little effects. Alkalinity increase brought by biochar addition contributed to the performance enhancement. Moreover, the promotive effects of biochar addition on degradation of acetic acid, propionic and butyric acid were not obvious under neutral pH conditions.
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While anammox is a cost-effective nitrogen treatment process for wastewater with high nutrient strength, phosphorus remains untouched during this process and needs further treatment. In this study, the nitrogen removal and phosphorus recovery were achieved simultaneously at 25 °C using an anammox expanded bed. A stable high nitrogen removal efficiency of 83.7 ± 4.8% at a 1500 mgN/L influent total nitrogen concentration and a phosphorus removal efficiency of 94.2 ± 1.2% at 100 mg P/L influent total phosphorus were obtained during continuous operation. The effects of the nitrogen loading rate, hydraulic retention time (HRT), pH, Ca2+ and PO43- concentration on the phosphorus removal was verified in the long-term operation of the reactor. The sludge produced contained a high content of phosphorus mainly in the form of hydroxyapatite (HAP), and the sludge composition strongly reflected the nitrogen and phosphorus loading. The structure of the anammox-HAP composite granules was illustrated by the use of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and Raman spectroscopic mapping analysis. The results in this study indicate that by controlling the operation parameters, it is possible to integrate a high efficiency phosphorus recovery with the anammox process, and significantly reduce the nutrient loading for further wastewater treatment.