A hybrid system for Nickel ions removal from synthesized wastewater using adsorption assisted with electrocoagulation.

The presence of heavy metal ions in water environments has raised significant concerns, necessitating practical solutions for their complete removal. In this study, a combination of adsorption and electrocoagulation (ADS + EC) techniques was introduced as an efficient approach for removing high concentrations of nickel ions (Ni2+) from aqueous solutions, employing low-cost sunflower seed shell biochar (SSSB). The combined techniques demonstrated superior removal efficiency compared to individual methods. The synthesized SSSB was characterized using SEM, FT-IR, XRD, N2-adsorption-desorption isotherms, XPS, and TEM. Batch processes were optimized by investigating pH, adsorbent dosage, initial nickel concentration, electrode effects, and current density. An aluminum (Al) electrode electrocoagulated particles and removed residual Ni2+ after adsorption. Kinetic and isotherm models examined Ni2+ adsorption and electrocoagulation coupling with SSSB-based adsorbent. The results indicated that the kinetic data fit well with a pseudo-second-order model, while the experimental equilibrium adsorption data conformed to a Langmuir isotherm under optimized conditions. The maximum adsorption capacity of the activated sunflower seed shell was determined to be 44.247 mg.g-1. The highest nickel ion removal efficiency of 99.98% was observed at initial pH values of 6.0 for ADS and 4.0 for ADS/EC; initial Ni2+ concentrations of 30.0 mg/L and 1.5 g/L of SSSB; initial current densities of 0.59 mA/cm2 and 1.32 kWh/m3 were also found to be optimal. The mechanisms involved in the removal of Ni2+ from wastewater were also examined in this research. These findings suggest that the adsorption-assisted electrocoagulation technique has a remarkable capacity for the cost-effective removal of heavy metals from various wastewater sources.

GLP-1 signaling-regulated SNAP25 is involved in improved insulin secretion in diabetic GK rats after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery.

BACKGROUND: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB) improves glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients. SNAP25 plays an essential role in GSIS. Clinical studies indicate that enhanced GLP-1 signaling is an important contributor to the improved ß-cell function in T2D. We aimed to explore whether GLP-1-regulated SNAP25 is involved in the enhanced secretory function of ß-cells in diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats after RYGB. METHODS AND RESULTS: RYGB or sham surgery was conducted in GK rats. mRNA and protein expression of SNAP25 was assessed by qPCR and Western blot, respectively. Occupancy of CREB and acetyltransferase CBP and acetylation of histone H3 (ACH3) at the Snap25 promoter were determined using ChIP assay. RYGB led to increased SNAP25 expression and CREB phosphorylation in islets from GK rats. Increased SNAP25 improved GSIS in ß-cells cultured in high glucose conditions. Consistent with increased plasma GLP-1 after RYGB, GLP-1R agonist exendin4 increased SNAP25 expression and CREB phosphorylation in ß-cells. Mechanistically, exendin4 promoted the recruitment of CREB and CBP, thereby increasing ACH3 at the Snap25 promoter. Consistently, inhibition of CBP attenuated the effect of exendin4 on SNAP25 expression. Furthermore, the knockdown of SNAP25 diminished the increase of GSIS potentiated by chronic GLP-1 culture in INS-1 832/13 cells. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings unravel the novel mechanisms of RYGB-enhanced SNAP25 expression in ß-cells, and SNAP25 may contribute to the improved ß-cell secretory function induced by RYGB.

Anti-inflammatory protein TSG-6 secreted by BMSCs attenuates silica-induced acute pulmonary inflammation by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome signaling in macrophages.

Silicosis is a severe occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of silica particles. Unfortunately, there are currently limited treatment options available for silicosis. Recent advances have indicated that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) have a therapeutic effect on silicosis, but their efficacy and underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this study, we focused on the early phase of silica-induced lung injury to investigate the therapeutic effect of BMSCs. Our findings demonstrated that BMSCs attenuated silica-induced acute pulmonary inflammation by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome pathways in lung macrophages. To further understand the mechanisms involved, we utilized RNA sequencing to analyze the transcriptomes of BMSCs co-cultured with silica-stimulated bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs). The results clued tumor necrosis factor-stimulated gene 6 (TSG-6) might be a potentially key paracrine secretion factor released from BMSCs, which exerts a protective effect. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory and inflammasome pathway inhibition effects of BMSCs were attenuated when TSG-6 expression was silenced, both in vivo and in vitro. Additionally, treatment with exogenous recombinant mouse TSG-6 (rmTSG-6) demonstrated similar effects to BMSCs in attenuating silica-induced inflammation. Overall, our findings suggested that BMSCs can regulate the activation of inflammasome in macrophages by secreting TSG-6, thereby protecting against silica-induced acute pulmonary inflammation both in vivo and in vitro.

Enforcing energy consumption promotes microbial extracellular respiration for xenobiotic bioconversion.

Extracellular electron transfer (EET) empowers electrogens to catalyse the bioconversion of a wide range of xenobiotics in the environment. Synthetic bioengineering has proven effective in promoting EET output. However, conventional strategies mainly focus on modifications of EET-related genes or pathways, which leads to a bottleneck due to the intricate nature of electrogenic metabolic properties and intricate pathway regulation that remain unelucidated. Herein, we propose a novel EET pathway-independent approach, from an energy manipulation perspective, to enhance microbial EET output. The Controlled Hydrolyzation of ATP to Enhance Extracellular Respiration (CHEER) strategy promotes energy utilization and persistently reduces the intracellular ATP level in Shewanella oneidensis, a representative electrogenic microbe. This approach leads to the accelerated consumption of carbon substrate, increased biomass accumulation and an expanded intracellular NADH pool. Both microbial electrolysis cell and microbial fuel cell tests exhibit that the CHEER strain substantially enhances EET capability. Analysis of transcriptome profiles reveals that the CHEER strain considerably bolsters biomass synthesis and metabolic activity. When applied to the bioconversion of model xenobiotics including methyl orange, Cr(VI) and U(VI), the CHEER strain consistently exhibits enhanced removal efficiencies. This work provides a new perspective and a feasible strategy to enhance microbial EET for efficient xenobiotic conversion.

Comparative study on the removal of organic pollutants by magnetic composite and pre-magnetized zero-valent iron activated persulfate.

The rapid development of global logistics has led to the overuse of packaging cartons, causing problems for municipal solid waste disposal. Diverse methods of exploiting the potential value of waste cartons are needed. Herein, we fabricated a magnetic composite (MC) from waste cartons via a one-step hydrothermal treatment and characterized. Using methylene blue (MB) as a model organic pollutant, tests of the activation of persulfate (PS) via the MC for the removal of MB were performed. Meanwhile, a comparison with activation with pre-magnetized zero-valent iron (Pre-ZVI/PS) was made. The comparative results show that the removal of MB was successfully accomplished with both Pre-ZVI/PS and MC/PS. Specifically, MC/PS could remove almost 100 % of MB, with the COD removal efficiency reaching over 70 % when the MB concentration was 50 mg/L at 80 min under different pH conditions. Even when reused twice, the MC still displayed robust activation performance. Additionally, we evaluated the lifetime of magnetic memory for Pre-ZVI, and first found its consecutive loss of pre-magnetization over 30 days, corresponding to the incremental attenuation of reaction rate constants in the Pre-ZVI-activated PS process. Overall, activating PS using the MC is a promising advanced oxidation technology and also provides a valuable reference on the valorization of lignocellulosic biomass.

Healthy lifestyle behaviours and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among 0.9 million Chinese adults.

BACKGROUND: Healthy lifestyle behaviours are effective means to reduce the burden of diseases. This study was aimed to fill the knowledge gaps on the distribution, associated factors, and potential health benefits on mortality of four healthy lifestyle behaviours in China. METHODS: During 2015-2019, participants aged 35-75 years from 31 provinces were recruited by the China PEACE Million Persons Project. Four healthy lifestyle behaviours were investigated in our study, including non-smoking, none or moderate alcohol use, sufficient leisure time physical activity (LTPA), and healthy diet. RESULTS: Among 903,499 participants, 74.1% were non-smokers, 96.0% had none or moderate alcohol use, 23.6% had sufficient LTPA, 11.1% had healthy diet, and only 2.8% had all the four healthy lifestyle behaviours. The adherence varied across seven regions; the highest median of county-level adherence to all the four healthy lifestyle behaviours was in North China (3.3%) while the lowest in the Southwest (0.8%) (p < 0.05). Participants who were female, elder, non-farmers, urban residents, with higher income or education, hypertensive or diabetic, or with a cardiovascular disease (CVD) history were more likely to adhere to all the four healthy lifestyle behaviours (p < 0.001). County-level per capital Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was positively associated with sufficient LTPA (p < 0.05 for both rural and urban areas) and healthy diet (p < 0.01 for urban areas), while negatively associated with none or moderate alcohol use (p < 0.01 for rural areas). Average annual temperature was negatively associated with none or moderate alcohol use (p < 0.05 for rural areas) and healthy diet (p < 0.001 for rural areas). Those adhering to all the four healthy lifestyle behaviours had lower risks of all-cause mortality (HR 0.64 [95% CI: 0.52, 0.79]) and cardiovascular mortality (HR 0.53 [0.37, 0.76]) after a median follow-up of 2.4 years. CONCLUSIONS: Adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviours in China was far from ideal. Targeted health promotion strategies were urgently needed.

Hydrothermal conversion of waste cartons into a magnetic carbon-iron composite for use as an efficient and recyclable dye adsorbent.

Disposal of large quantities of waste cartons aggravates the burden of municipal solid waste treatment. Exploitation of the potential value of waste cartons and conversion of this waste stream into available materials is a hot research topic with practical application prospects. In this study, we successfully fabricated a magnetic carbon-iron composite from waste cartons via hydrothermal treatment and investigated its application as an efficient adsorbent for the removal of a disperse blue dye (DB 56) and reactive yellow dye (RY 3) from aqueous solution. The fabricated product was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis. The effects of the composite dose, initial dye concentration, and solution pH on the dye removal efficiency were investigated. Under acidic conditions at pH 2, the removal efficiencies of DB 56 and RY 3 reached 81.53% and 96.77%, respectively. The adsorption processes followed pseudo-second-order kinetics and the Freundlich isotherm. The magnetic carbon-iron composite could be easily separated from the aqueous solution because of its magnetism, and could be regenerated by the Fenton reaction. After re-use in three cycles, the removal efficiencies for both dyes were still above 70%. The magnetic carbon-iron composite produced from waste cartons shows promise for application to effluent that contains dyes because of its low cost, high efficiency, and simple application.

Environmental factors shaping the archaeal community structure and ether lipid distribution in a subtropic river and estuary, China.

Archaea are widespread and abundant in aquatic and terrestrial habitats and play fundamental roles in global biogeochemical cycles. Archaeal lipids, such as isoprenoid glycerol diakyl glycerol tetraethers (iGDGTs), are important biomarkers tracing changes in archaeal community structure and biogeochemical processes in nature. However, the linkage between the archaeal populations and the GDGT distribution in the natural environment is poorly examined, which hindered the application and interpretation of GDGT-based climate or environmental proxies. We addressed this question by investigating changes in archaeal lipid composition and community structure in the context of environmental variables along the subtropical Jiulong River Watershed (JRW) and Jiulong River Estuary (JRE) in southern China. The results showed that both the archaeal cells and the polar GDGTs (P-GDGTs) in the JRW and JRE were mostly autochthonous rather than exogenous input from surrounding soils. We further found that only five (Methanobacteriales, Ca. Bathyarchaeota, Marine Benthic Groups A (MBGA), Marine Benthic Groups B (MBGB), and Marine Benthic Groups D (MBGD)) out of sixteen lineages showed significant impacts on the composition of P-GDGTs, suggesting the significant contribution of those archaea to the changes of P-GDGT compositions. Salinity and total phosphorus (TP) showed significant impact on the distribution of both genetic and P-GDGTs compositions of archaea; whereas, sand and silt contents only had significant impact on the P-GDGTs. MBGD archaea, which occur widely in marine sediments, showed positive correlations with P-TEX86 in the JRW and JRE, suggesting that uncultivated MBGD might also contribute to the variations in TEX86 signals in marine sediments. This study provided insight into the sources of P-GDGTs and the factors controlling their distributions in river-dominated continental margins, which has relevance to applications of GDGT-based proxies in paleoclimate studies.

Altererythrobacter estronivorus sp. nov., an Estrogen-Degrading Strain Isolated from Yundang Lagoon of Xiamen City in China.

A novel gram-negative, non-spore-forming, mobile, estrogen-degrading strain, MH-B5(T), was isolated from Yundang Lagoon in Xiamen city of China. Growth of this strain occurred between 4 and 40 °C (optimum at 35 °C), pH 5.5-10.0 (7.5), 0.0-7 % NaCl (1-2 %). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that strain MH-B5(T) belonged to the genus Altererythrobacter family Erythrobacteraceae, showing the highest sequence similarity (96.6 %) to Altererythrobacter xinjiangensis S3-63(T). The dominant cellular fatty acid was C18:1 ω7c and/or C18:1 ω6c (57.98 %). The major respiratory quinone was ubiquinone 10, and major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, sphingoglycolipid, phospholipid, and phosphatidylcholine. Strain MH-B5(T) did not contain bacteriochlorophyll a. The draft genome sequence of strain MH-B5(T) comprised about 3.67 Mb, with an average G+C content of 60 mol%. On the basis of data from its morphology, chemotaxonomy, 16S rRNA gene sequence and genome sequence, strain MH-B5(T) represents a novel species, for which the name Altererythrobacter estronivorus sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain is MH-B5(T) (=CCTCC AB2012025(T)=DSM 25986(T)).

Enrichment and Characterization of a Psychrotolerant Consortium Degrading Crude Oil Alkanes Under Methanogenic Conditions.

Anaerobic alkane degradation via methanogenesis has been intensively studied under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions. While there is a paucity of information on the ability and composition of anaerobic alkane-degrading microbial communities under low temperature conditions. In this study, we investigated the ability of consortium Y15, enriched from Shengli oilfield, to degrade hydrocarbons under different temperature conditions (5-35 °C). The consortium could use hexadecane over a low temperature range (15-30 °C). No growth was detected below 10 °C and above 35 °C, indicating the presence of cold-tolerant species capable of alkane degradation. The preferential degradation of short chain n-alkanes from crude oil was observed by this consortium. The structure and dynamics of the microbial communities were examined using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) fingerprinting and Sanger sequencing of 16S rRNA genes. The core archaeal communities were mainly composed of aceticlastic Methanosaeta spp. Syntrophaceae-related microorganisms were always detected during consecutive transfers and dominated the bacterial communities, sharing 94-96 % sequence similarity with Smithella propionica strain LYP(T). Phylogenetic analysis of Syntrophaceae-related clones in diverse methanogenic alkane-degrading cultures revealed that most of them were clustered into three sublineages. Syntrophaceae clones retrieved from this study were mainly clustered into sublineage I, which may represent psychrotolerant, syntrophic alkane degraders. These results indicate the wide geographic distribution and ecological function of syntrophic alkane degraders.

Genome sequence of the 17ß-estradiol-utilizing bacterium Sphingomonas strain KC8.

Sphingomonas strain KC8 is known for its ability to utilize 17ß-estradiol, a natural estrogen and an environmental endocrine-disrupting compound, as the sole carbon and energy source. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of the strain KC8 (4,074,265 bp, with a GC content of 63.7%) and major findings from its annotation.