A Prediction Model for Clinical Outcomes of COVID-19 Hospitalized Patients: Construction and Accuracy Assessment.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic spread rapidly with considerable morbidity nationwide since China's liberalization in December 2022. Our work has focused on identifying different predictive factors from the laboratory examination of critically ill patients, and forecasting the unfavorable outcome of critically ill patients with COVID-19 through a combined diagnosis of biological markers. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study at the Department of First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, China, from December 24, 2022, to January 10, 2023, where 434 critically ill patients who met the inclusion criteria were involved. Machine analysis was employed to search for the parameters with the highest predictive value to calculate COVID-19 mortality by exploiting 66 typical laboratory results. RESULTS: Combined diagnosis of serum albumin (ALB), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), direct bilirubin (Dbil), ferritin, pulse oxygen saturation (SpO2), and neutrophil count (NEUT#) was evaluated, and the result with the highest predictive value (NEUT#) was selected as the predictor for COVID-19 mortality with a sensitivity of 89.2% and a specificity of 77.4%. CONCLUSIONS: The increased levels of LDH, Dbil, ferritin, and NEUT#, along with lowered ALB and SpO2 levels are the most decisive variables for forecasting the mortality for COVID-19 according to our machine-learning-based model. The combined diagnosis could be used to improve further diagnostic performance.

Expert consensus on difficulty assessment of endodontic therapy.

Endodontic diseases are a kind of chronic infectious oral disease. Common endodontic treatment concepts are based on the removal of inflamed or necrotic pulp tissue and the replacement by gutta-percha. However, it is very essential for endodontic treatment to debride the root canal system and prevent the root canal system from bacterial reinfection after root canal therapy (RCT). Recent research, encompassing bacterial etiology and advanced imaging techniques, contributes to our understanding of the root canal system's anatomy intricacies and the technique sensitivity of RCT. Success in RCT hinges on factors like patients, infection severity, root canal anatomy, and treatment techniques. Therefore, improving disease management is a key issue to combat endodontic diseases and cure periapical lesions. The clinical difficulty assessment system of RCT is established based on patient conditions, tooth conditions, root canal configuration, and root canal needing retreatment, and emphasizes pre-treatment risk assessment for optimal outcomes. The findings suggest that the presence of risk factors may correlate with the challenge of achieving the high standard required for RCT. These insights contribute not only to improve education but also aid practitioners in treatment planning and referral decision-making within the field of endodontics.

Assessment of the glymphatic function in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVES: Whether the alternation of the glymphatic system exists in neurodevelopmental disease still remains unclear. In this study, we investigated structural and functional changes in the glymphatic system in the treatment-naïve attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) children by quantitatively measuring the Virchow-Robin spaces (VRS) volume and diffusion tensor image-analysis along the perivascular space (DTI-ALPS). METHODS: Forty-seven pediatric ADHD patients and 52 age- and gender-matched typically developing (TD) children were recruited in this prospective study. The VRS volume was calculated using a semi-automated approach in axial T2-weighted images. Diffusivities along the x-, y-, and z-axes in the projection, association, and subcortical neural fiber areas were measured. The ALPS index, a ratio that accentuated water diffusion along the perivascular space, was calculated. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the quantitative parameters; Pearson's correlation was used to analyze the correlation with clinical symptoms. RESULTS: The cerebral VRS volume (mean, 15.514 mL vs. 11.702 mL) and the VRS volume ratio in the ADHD group were larger than those in the TD group (all p < 0.001). The diffusivity along the x-axis in association fiber area and ALPS index were significantly smaller in the ADHD group vs. TD group (mean, 1.40 vs.1.59, p < 0.05 after false discovery rate adjustment). Besides, the ALPS index was related to inattention symptoms of ADHD (r = - 0.323, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that the glymphatic system alternation may participate in the pathogenesis of ADHD, which may be a new research direction for exploring the mechanisms of psycho-behavioral developmental disorders. Moreover, the VRS volume and ALPS index could be used as the metrics for diagnosing ADHD. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: Considering the potential relevance of the glymphatic system for exploring the mechanisms of attention deficit/hyperactivity, the Virchow-Robin spaces volume and the analysis along the perivascular space index could be used as additional metrics for diagnosing the disorder. KEY POINTS: • Increased Virchow-Robin space volume and decreased analysis along the perivascular space index were found in the treatment-naïve attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder children. • The results of this study indicate that the glymphatic system alternation may have a valuable role in the pathogenesis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. • The analysis along the perivascular space index is correlated with inattention symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder children.

Rethinking international financing for health to better respond to future pandemics.

International financing for health has been high on the political and global health agenda since COVID-19. The recent launch of the Pandemic Fund represents the first consolidated effort of the international community to mobilise additional voluntary financial resources for the purpose of strengthening global efforts in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR). Against such a dynamic landscape, building on recent critiques and new policy proposals, we propose a new generation of more equitable, effective and coordinated financing arrangements for pandemic PPR and for global health and development more broadly: lessons that could be applied in the ongoing endeavour of the Pandemic Fund. We also explore the principles of Global Public Investment and consider their potential to achieve greater inclusiveness in governance, diversity in financing, and transparency and performance in operations. The Pandemic Fund could become the first example of a global health initiative based on innovative concepts. It needs to be broad based, more flexible, leverage a great variety of funding sources and join forces with multiple stakeholders to maximise the impact.

[Translocation, Accumulation, and Comprehensive Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Soil-Crop Systems in an Old Industrial City, Shizuishan, Ningxia, Northwest China].

In order to explore the environmental geochemistry characteristics of heavy metals (HMs) in soil-crop systems in an old industrial city, the concentration and fraction of HMs in the paddy, wheat, and maize root soil and their seeds were detected and analyzed. Subsequently, statistical methods, risk assessment coding (RAC), the bio-enrichment coefficient factor (BCF), influence index of comprehensive quality (IICQ), and ArcGIS spatial interpolation were used to conduct the translocation, accumulation, and comprehensive risk assessment of HMs in soil-crop systems. The results showed that the average concentrations of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, and Zn in root soil were ranked respectively as follows:12.56, 0.19, 63.48, 23.52, 0.038, 28.86, 21.68, and 69.47 mg·kg-1. HMs in root soil were accumulated to some extent in comparison with the soil background value in Ningxia, especially Cd and Hg, but did not exceed the soil environmental pollution screening value (GB 14618-2018). The average concentrations of the eight aforementioned elements in supporting crop seeds were 0.0149, 0.0112, 0.075, 6.7, 0.0015, 0.67, 0.0427, and 20.48 mg·kg-1 in turn. The over-limit ratio of As, Pb, and Cr in crop seeds was 4%, 3%, and 1%, respectively, relative to the national food safety standards (GB 2762-2017), whereas the other five elements were within the allowable range. In comparison to those in paddy and wheat, HMs hardly tended to translocate to maize seeds from root soil. According to the results of IICQ in soil-crop systems, the cultivated soil was in the state of slight sub-contamination regionally, and only 10% of sampling points showed slight (sub-)contamination-submoderate contamination, where we could replant maize to reduce HMs contamination risk.

Spatio-Temporal Changes in Ecosystem Quality across the Belt and Road Region.

The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative (BRI) proposed in 2013 by China has greatly accelerated the social and economic development of the countries along the Belt and Road (B&R) region. However, the international community has questioned its impact on the ecological environment and a comprehensive assessment of ecosystem quality changes is lacking. Therefore, this study proposes an objective and automatic method to assess ecosystem quality and analyzes the spatiotemporal changes in the B&R region. First, an ecosystem quality index (EQI) is established by integrating the vegetation status derived from three remote sensing ecological parameters including the leaf area index, fractional vegetation cover and gross primary productivity. Then, the EQI values are automatically categorized into five ecosystem quality levels including excellent, good, moderate, low and poor to illustrate their spatiotemporal changes from the years 2016 to 2020. The results indicate that the spatial distributions of the EQIs across the B&R region exhibited similar patterns in the years 2016 and 2020. The regions with excellent levels accounted for the lowest proportion of less than 12%, while regions with moderate, low and poor levels accounted for more than 68% of the study area. Moreover, based on the EQI pattern analysis between the years 2016 and 2020, the regions with no significant EQI change accounted for up to 99.33% and approximately 0.45% experienced a significantly decreased EQI. Therefore, this study indicates that the ecosystem quality of the B&R region was relatively poor and experienced no significant change in the five years after the implementation of the "Vision and Action to Promote the Joint Construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road". This study can provide useful information for decision support on the future ecological environment management and sustainable development of the B&R region.

Refined assessment of space-time changes, influencing factors and socio-economic impacts of the terrestrial ecosystem quality: A case study of the GBA.

The terrestrial ecosystem is the cradle of energy and material basis for human survival and development. However, there are large research deficits in accurately and finely depicting the quality of the terrestrial ecosystem (QTE) and assessing its changing triggers' contribution. Here, we summarized three major principles for selecting image sources in remote sensing data fusion. A continuous 30-m net vegetation productivity (NPP) dataset during 2000-2019 for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) was derived by using the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford approach model and pre-fused normalized difference vegetation index. The factors' contributions to the QTE changes were quantitatively assessed. The role of the QTE in affecting the socio-economic and its behind mechanisms was quantitatively investigated. The results showed that: (1) High-quality images sources are the preference for spatio-temporal fusion of remote sensing data. Images with close month, the same season and year, and sensors should be then selected. Images of different sensors with similar spectral bandwidth, the ones from adjacent years and seasons, can be alternately considered. (2) Fine-resolution NPP has higher accuracy than coarse-resolution NPP and has marked advantages in finely characterizing the QTE. In the past 20 years, the QTE in the GBA has shown a fluctuating increasing trend (0.20 Tg C/yr). (3) Human activities contributed 54.19% of the QTE changes in the GBA, and dominates the QTE changes in the central rapidly urbanizing areas. Residual factors accounted for an overall contribution ratio of 35.71%. Climate change dominants the peripheral forest variations in the GBA. (4) In the GBA, the improvement of QTE has a significant positive socio-economic impact, it contributes to the GDP increment firstly then the GDP aggregate indirectly. Our results highlight that it is of great urgent to estimate long-term continuous NPP with high spatio-temporal resolution globally. Controlling strategies should be implemented to reduce factitious impacts on QTE. High level of ecological and environmental protection promotes the sustainable development.

Cationic Conjugated Polymer Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer for DNA Methylation Assessment to Discriminate the Geographical Origins of Lonicerae japonicae flos.

The flavor and taste of Lonicerae japonicae flos (LJF) products are heavily influenced by geographical origin. Tracing the geographical origin is an important aspect of LJF quality assessment. Here, DNA methylation analysis coupled with chemometrics revealed that, in 10 CpG islands upstream of genes in the chlorogenic acid and iridoid biosynthetic pathways, DNA methylation differences appear close association with LJF geographical origin. DNA methylation status in these CpG islands was determined using the cationic conjugated polymer fluorescence resonance energy transfer method. As a result, LJFs from 39 geographical origins were classified into four groups corresponding to Northern China, Central Plain of China, Southeast China, and Western China, according to cluster analysis and principal component analysis. Our findings contribute to an understanding of the modulation of LJF taste and can assist in understanding how DNA methylation in LJF varies with geographical origin.

Evolving market-shaping strategies to boost access to essential medical products in developing countries with HIV self-testing as a case study.

The COVID-9 pandemic has exacerbated health inequities among countries in the Global South with limited access to essential medical products, leading to a higher infection and mortality rate, especially among vulnerable populations. Despite tremendous progress in global health financing, the estimated annual financing gap in developing countries is projected to reach US$371 billion per year by 2030. Therefore, developing market-shaping strategies is of great importance in ensuring adequate supply, affordable prices, and equitable access to essential medical products in low-and middle-income countries. We propose a strategic and appropriate market-shaping intervention framework for governments, international organizations, and NGOs to maximize access to essential medical products in developing countries. In the health field, we believe that market shaping strategy could be defined as a set of purposeful activities that market forces may intervene with to advance the development, production, supply, and distribution of global goods for health, making essential medical products more affordable, accessible, innovative, sustainable and quality assured. We argue that when designing a market-shaping strategy, policy or decision-makers must take full advantage of the key drivers to keep the market dynamic, interactive, and constantly evolving to meet the unmet medical needs. In addition, different forms of market-shaping interventions are determined by objectives and specific issues to be addressed. More comprehensive market shaping strategies, including the strategic use of market expansion, market disruption, market maintenance, and market contraction alone or together, deserve to be explored and key stakeholders are also expected to join forces to make the intervention more efficient and productive.

Angio-based coronary functional assessment predicts 30-day new-onset heart failure after acute myocardial infarction.

AIMS: Suboptimal perfusion leading to heart failure (HF) often occurs after ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), despite restoration of epicardial coronary flow in primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) era. We determined the clinical implications of angio-based coronary functional assessment in evaluation of suboptimal perfusion and further outcomes among STEMI patients after successful PPCI. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study, STEMI patients in the Chinese STEMI PPCI registry trial (NCT04996901) who achieved post-PPCI thrombolysis in myocardial infarction grade 3 flow were retrospectively screened. Post-procedural quantitative flow ratio (QFR), angio-based microvascular resistance (AMR), and coronary flow velocity (CFV) of the infarct-related artery were calculated. QFR and AMR measure epicardial stenosis severity and microvascular resistance, respectively. QFR+ was defined as QFR < 0.90 while QFR- was QFR ≥ 0.90. AMR+ was defined as AMR ≥ 250 mmHg*s/m while AMR- was AMR < 250 mmHg*s/m. The primary outcome was 30-day new-onset HF. The Kaplan-Meier curves were used to establish the associations between QFR, AMR, CFV, and HF incidences. The relationship between CFV and combined QFR and AMR indices was further assessed. Independent predictors were determined using Cox regression analysis. The receiver-operating characteristic curve was used to assess discriminant ability to predict HF. A total of 942 patients (mean age was 57.8 ± 11.7 years and 84.6% were men) were enrolled. Among them, 129 patients had new-onset HF episodes. Patients in the QFR-/AMR- group had a low risk of HF compared with those in the QFR+/AMR+ group (10.5% vs. 27.3%, P = 0.027). A higher CFV ≥ 17.4 cm/s was associated with low HF incidences as compared with CFV < 17.4 cm/s (10.3% vs. 16.8%, P = 0.005), whereas isolated QFR or AMR did not reveal any marked differences in HF incidences (P = 0.150 and 0.079, respectively). The highest and lowest medians of CFV were observed in the QFR-/AMR- and QFR+/AMR+ groups, respectively. CFV correlated well with the QFR/AMR ratio (adjusted R2  = 1, P < 0.001) and post-PPCI CFV was found to be an independent predictor of post-STEMI HF (adjusted hazard ratio: 0.61, 95% confidence interval: 0.41-0.90, P = 0.012). The area under curve estimate of the multivariable regression model was 0.749. CONCLUSIONS: CFV is an integrated coronary physiological assessment approach that incorporates epicardial and microcirculatory contributions. Patients with post-PPCI CFV < 17.4 cm/s were strongly associated with a high risk for post-STEMI HF, even achieving thrombolysis in myocardial infarction grade 3 flow. The immediate angio-based coronary functional assessment is a feasible tool for evaluating suboptimal perfusion and risk stratification.

An Exploratory Study on a New Method for Nutritional Status Assessment in Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.

Malnutrition is a risk factor for disease progression and poor prognosis in chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, the complexity of nutritional status assessment limits its clinical application. This study explored a new method of nutritional assessment in CKD (stage 1-5) patients using the Subjective Global Assessment (SGA) as the gold standard and evaluated its applicability. The kappa test was used to analyze the consistency of the Renal Inpatient Nutrition Screening Tool (Renal iNUT) with SGA and protein-energy wasting. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the risk factors of CKD malnutrition and calculate the prediction probability of multiple indicators combined for the diagnosis of CKD malnutrition. The receiver operating characteristic curve of the prediction probability was drawn to evaluate its diagnostic efficiency. A total of 161 CKD patients were included in this study. The prevalence of malnutrition according to SGA was 19.9%. The results showed that Renal iNUT had a moderate consistency with SGA and a general consistency with protein-energy wasting. Age > 60 years (odds ratio, OR = 6.78), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio > 2.62 (OR = 3.862), transferrin < 200 mg/dL (OR = 4.222), phase angle < 4.5° (OR = 7.478), and body fat percentage < 10% (OR = 19.119) were risk factors for malnutrition in patients with CKD. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of multiple indicators for the diagnosis of CKD malnutrition was 0.89 (95% confidence interval: 0.834-0.946, p < 0.001). This study demonstrated that Renal iNUT has good specificity as a new tool for the nutrition screening of CKD patients, but its sensitivity needs to be optimized. Advanced age, high neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, low transferrin level, low phase angle, and low body fat percentage are risk factors for malnutrition in patients with CKD. The combination of the above indicators has high diagnostic efficiency in the diagnosis of CKD malnutrition, which may be an objective, simple, and reliable method to evaluate the nutritional status of patients with CKD.

Spatial Distribution and Risk Assessment of Antibiotics in 15 Pharmaceutical Plants in the Pearl River Delta.

Pharmaceutical plants are an essential source of antibiotics emitted into the aqueous environment. The monitoring of target antibiotics in pharmaceutical plants through various regions is vital to optimize contaminant release. The occurrence, distribution, removal, and ecological risk of 30 kinds of selected antibiotics in 15 pharmaceutical plants in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) were investigated in this study. Lincomycin (LIN) showed the highest concentration (up to 56,258.3 ng/L) in the pharmaceutical plant influents from Zhongshan city. Norfloxacin (NFX) showed a higher detection frequency than other antibiotics. In addition, the spatial distribution of antibiotics in pharmaceutical plants showed significant differences, with higher concentrations of total antibiotics found in pharmaceutical plant influents in Shenzhen City than those of different regions in PRD. The treatment processes adopted by pharmaceutical plants were commonly ineffective in removing antibiotics, with only 26.7% of antibiotics being effectively removed (average removal greater than 70%), while 55.6% of antibiotics had removal rates of below 60%. The anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (AAO)-membrane bioreactor (MBR) combined process exhibited better treatment performance than the single treatment process. Sulfamethoxazole (SMX), ofloxacin (OFL), erythromycin-H2O (ETM-H2O), sulfadiazine (SDZ), sulfamethazine (SMZ), norfloxacin (NFX), and ciprofloxacin (CIP) in pharmaceutical plant effluents posed high or moderate ecological risk and deserve particular attention.

Innovative accumulative risk assessment strategy of co-exposure of As and Pb in medical earthworms based on in vivo-in vitro correlation.

Recent studies on risks assessment of heavy metal(loid) are usually based on their total concentrations. Nevertheless, such an analysis does not assess their real amounts absorbed by human body. To scientifically assess the health risks, in this study medical earthworms were analyzed for relative bioavailability (RBA) of arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) using a multiple gavage mouse model with liver, kidneys, brain, and leg bones as biomarkers for the first time. Metal(loid) bioaccessibility was determined using in vitro physiologically based extraction (PBET) assay. We are the first to develop a novel accumulative health risk assessment strategy by combinational analyzing bioavailability of heavy metal(loid) levels to calculate target organ toxicity dose (TTD) modification of the HI and total cancer risk (TCR), which has capacity to evaluate the health risks of co-exposure of Pb and As in medical earthworms. As a result, As-RBA ranged from 7.2% to 45.1%, and Pb-RBA ranged from 16.1% to 49.8%. Additionally, As and Pb bioaccessibility varied from 6.7% to 48.3% and 7.8% to 52.5%, respectively. Moreover, strong in vivo-in vitro correlations (IVIVCs) were observed between metal-RBA and bioaccessibility, indicating the robustness of the in vitro PBET assay to predict metal-RBA in medical earthworms. The refined accumulative assessment strategy revealed that when adjusted by heavy metal(loid) bioavailability, the TTD modification of HI method typically exhibited an acceptable health risk caused by the co-exposure of Pb and As for cardiovascular, hematological, neurological, and renal system. The TCR levels associated with exposure to Pb and As due to the ingestion of medical earthworms were also acceptable after adjustment by bioavailability. Collectively, our innovation on accumulative risk assessment based on in vivo-in vitro correlation provides a novel approach engaging in assessing the risks due to co-exposure of As and Pb in medical earthworms.

Invasiveness assessment by artificial intelligence against intraoperative frozen section for pulmonary nodules ≤ 3 cm.

PURPOSE: To investigate the performance of an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm for assessing the malignancy and invasiveness of pulmonary nodules in a multicenter cohort. METHODS: A previously developed deep learning system based on a 3D convolutional neural network was used to predict tumor malignancy and invasiveness. Dataset of pulmonary nodules no more than 3 cm was integrated with CT images and pathologic information. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to evaluate the performance of the system. RESULTS: A total of 466 resected pulmonary nodules were included in this study. The areas under the curves (AUCs) of the deep learning system in the prediction of malignancy as compared with pathological reports were 0.80, 0.80, and 0.75 for all, subcentimeter, and solid nodules, respectively. Additionally, the AUC in the AI-assisted prediction of invasive adenocarcinoma (IA) among subsolid lesions (n = 184) was 0.88. Most malignancies that were misdiagnosed by the AI system as benign diseases with a diameter measuring greater than 1 cm (26/250, 10.4%) presented as solid nodules (19/26, 73.1%) on CT. In an exploratory analysis involving nodules underwent intraoperative pathologic examination, the concordance rate in identifying IA between the AI model and frozen section examination was 0.69, with a sensitivity of 0.50 and specificity of 0.97. CONCLUSION: The deep learning system can discriminate malignant diseases for pulmonary nodules measuring no more than 3 cm. The AI model has a high positive predictive value for invasive adenocarcinoma with respect to intraoperative frozen section examination, which might help determine the individualized surgical strategy.

Designing a Novel Monitoring Approach for the Effects of Space Travel on Astronauts' Health.

Space exploration and extraterrestrial civilization have fascinated humankind since the earliest days of human history. It was only in the last century that humankind finally began taking significant steps towards these goals by sending astronauts into space, landing on the moon, and building the International Space Station. However, space voyage is very challenging and dangerous, and astronauts are under constant space radiation and microgravity. It has been shown that astronauts are at a high risk of developing a broad range of diseases/disorders. Thus, it is critical to develop a rapid and effective assay to monitor astronauts' health in space. In this study, gene expression and correlation patterns were analyzed for 10 astronauts (8 male and 2 female) using the publicly available microarray dataset E-GEOD-74708. We identified 218 differentially expressed genes between In-flight and Pre-flight and noticed that space travel decreased genome regulation and gene correlations across the entire genome, as well as individual signaling pathways. Furthermore, we systematically developed a shortlist of 32 genes that could be used to monitor astronauts' health during space travel. Further studies, including microgravity experiments, are warranted to optimize and validate the proposed assay.

Reuse of composted food waste from rural China as vermicomposting substrate: effects on earthworms, associated microorganisms, and economic benefits.

ABSTRACTAerobic composting of food waste (FW) from rural China using a composting device results in a substantial financial burden on the government. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of mitigating this cost using vermicomposting of composted FW. The specific aims were to elucidate the effects of composted FW on earthworm growth and reproduction, reveal the changes in the physical and chemical properties of earthworm casts during vermicomposting, identify the microbial community structure associated with vermicomposting, and perform a financial analysis based on the yield of earthworms and earthworm casts. Mixing composted FW and mature cow dung in an equal ratio achieved the highest earthworm reproduction rate, where 100 adult earthworms produced 567 juvenile earthworms and 252 cocoons in 40 d. Earthworms reduce salt content of vermicomposting substrates by assimilating Na+ and promoting humification by transforming humin into humic and fulvic acid, thus producing earthworm casts with a high generation index > 80%. When composted FW was added to a vermicomposting substrate, a distinctive microbial community structure with alkaliphilic, halophilic, and lignocellulolytic microorganisms dominated the microflora. The dominant bacterial species was Saccharopolyspora rectivirgula, and the dominant fungal species changed from Kernia nitida to Coprinopsis scobicola. Furthermore, microbial genes for refractory organic matter and fat degradation were observed in Vibrio cholerae, Kernia nitida, and Coprinopsis scobicola. Financial analysis showed that vermicomposting has the potential to reduce the cost associated with FW disposal from $ 57 to $ 18/t.

Occurrence, fate, and risk assessment of antibiotics in typical pharmaceutical manufactories and receiving water bodies from different regions.

This study aimed to investigate the presence and persistence of antibiotics in wastewater of four typical pharmaceutical manufactories in China and receiving water bodies and suggest the removal of antibiotics by the wastewater treatment process. It also evaluated the environmental impact of antibiotic residues through wastewater discharge into receiving water bodies. The results indicated that thirteen antibiotics were detected in wastewater samples with concentrations ranging from 57.03 to 726.79 ng/L. Fluoroquinolones and macrolides were the most abundant antibiotic classes found in wastewater samples, accounting for 42.5% and 38.7% of total antibiotic concentrations, respectively, followed by sulfonamides (16.4%) and tetracyclines (2.4%). Erythromycin-H2O, lincomycin, ofloxacin, and trimethoprim were the most frequently detected antibiotics; among these antibiotics, the concentration of ofloxacin was the highest in most wastewater samples. No significant difference was found in different treatment processes used to remove antibiotics in wastewater samples. More than 50% of antibiotics were not completely removed with a removal efficiency of less than 70%. The concentration of detected antibiotics in the receiving water bodies was an order of magnitude lower than that in the wastewater sample due to dilution. An environmental risk assessment showed that lincomycin and ofloxacin could pose a high risk at the concentrations detected in effluents and a medium risk in their receiving water bodies, highlighting a potential hazard to the health of the aquatic ecosystem. Overall, The investigation was aimed to determine and monitor the concentration of selected antibiotics in 4 typical PMFs and their receiving water bodies, and to study the removal of these substances in PMFs. This study will provide significant data and findings for future studies on antibiotics-related pollution control and management in water bodies.

A water pricing model for urban areas based on water accessibility.

Water resource, with properties of scarcity, is one of the vital resource endowments. Like land resources, the prices of these resource endowments should be correlated to their locations to follow fair and reasonable principles. The current water price systems are mainly policy-oriented fixed regimes. And the water use was charged according to the regional-average situation with scarce consideration of the fine-scale geographical water accessibility. With a combination of the water accessibility and the current water pricing regime, this paper first proposed a novel water pricing model, the Water Price at Grid-scale (WPG) model, to dynamically allocate water prices to fine grids for urban residents. The WPG model was examined in the case study of the Han River Basin in the Hubei province of China. The specific results were: (1) the Pgrid of Tier I is between 0.66 and 3.94 yuan/m³, the Pgrid of Tier II is between 0.57 and 5.44 yuan/m³, and the Pgrid of Tier III is between 0.47 and 6.94 yuan/m³ in the study area. (2) the grids with more water acquisition generally have lower water prices than others and vice versa. (3) the average water prices in tiers obtained by the WPG model are generally higher than that derived from the current water pricing system. The results proved that the proposed WPG model spatially allocates the three-tier water prices into grids of urban areas. The WPG framework can be adopted in any society by involving its water price regimes and adjusting the scale of grids and the pricing year. This study provided a new viewpoint of domestic water pricing involving fine-scale water accessibility. The WPG model has great potential to ease water shortage pressure in water-limited societies and can be utilized and loaded into the current smart-city network for efficient and fine-scale water resource management.

Comparison of the caecal microbial community structure and physiological indicators of healthy and infection Eimeria tenella chickens during peak of oocyst shedding.

Eimeria tenella (E. tenella), an important intestinal parasite of chicken caeca, causes coccidiosis and brings large economic losses to the poultry industry annually. Gut microorganismal alterations directly affect the health of the body. To understand how E. tenella affects its host, we analysed the changes in caecal microbial diversity and the physiological and morphological changes during the peak of oocyst shedding. Infected and healthy chickens differed significantly in caecal pathology and blood indicators. At the genus level, the abundances of Faecalibacterium, Clostridium, Lachnoclostridium, Gemmiger, Flavonifractor, Pseudoflavonifractor and Oscillibacter were significantly decreased in the infected samples, whereas Escherichia, Nocardia and Chlamydia were significantly increased. Functional gene pathways related to replication, recombination and repair, and transcription were significantly decreased, and functional genes related to metabolism were highly significantly reduced in the infected samples. Furthermore, in the infected samples, E. tenella reduced the haemoglobin levels and red blood cell counts, greatly reduced the beneficial bacteria and increased the potentially pathogenic bacteria. This study provides a research basis for further understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of E. tenella and provides insight for potential new drug development.RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS First simultaneous description of caecal microbiota and physiological indicators during E. tenella infection.Metagenomics used to explore functional properties of chicken caecal microbiota during E. tenella infection.Caecal microbial compositions and functional genes altered significantly after infection.Blood indicators and caecal morphology were significantly altered in the infected group.

Biodegradation of tylosin in swine wastewater by Providencia stuartii TYL-Y13: Performance, pathway, genetic background, and risk assessment.

Microbial bioremediation offers a solution to the problem of residual antibiotics in wastewater associated with animal farms. Efficient degradation of antibiotic residues depends upon the genetic make-up of microbial degraders, which requires a comprehensive understanding of the degradation mechanisms. In this study, a novel, efficient tylosin (TYL)-degrading bacterium, Providencia stuartii TYL-Y13 (Y13) was isolated, which could completely degrade 100 mg/L TYL within 15 h under optimal operating conditions at 40 â„ƒ, pH 7.0 %, and 1 % (v/v) bacterial inoculation rate. Whole genome sequencing revealed that strain Y13 consists of a circular chromosome and two plasmids. A new biodegradation pathway of TYL including desugarification, hydrolysis, and reduction reactions was proposed through the analysis of biodegradation products. It was demonstrated that strain Y13 gradually decreased the biotoxicity of TYL and its metabolites based on the results of the ecological structural activity relationships (ECOSAR) model analysis and toxicity assessment. Moreover, Y13 promoted the reduction of the target macrolide resistance genes in wastewater and disappeared within 84 h. These results shed new light on the mechanism of TYL biodegradation and better utilization of microbes to remediate TYL contamination.