Treatment of a patient with severe cerebral malaria during the COVID-19 pandemic in China: A case report.

BACKGROUND: On June 30, 2021, China received certification from the World Health Organization for malaria elimination. However, this certification does not signify the absence of malaria within China. Due to the increasing frequency of international exchanges and collaborations, the threat of imported malaria persists in China. Consequently, the prevention and control of imported malaria have become a primary focus for our country to maintain its malaria elimination status. CASE SUMMARY: Herein, we present a case report of a 53-year-old Chinese man who worked in Africa for nearly two years. He was diagnosed with malaria in the Democratic Republic of the Congo between November 19 and November 23, 2022. After receiving effective treatment with oral antimalarial drugs, his condition improved, allowing him to return to China. He was later admitted to our hospital on January 12, 2023, during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in Huangshi, China. Through a thorough evaluation of the patient's symptoms, clinical signs, imaging and laboratory test results, and epidemiological data, he was rapidly diagnosed with severe cerebral malaria. The patient underwent successful treatment through a series of intensive care unit interventions. CONCLUSION: The successful treatment of this imported case of severe cerebral malaria provides a valuable reference for managing patients with similar malaria infections and has significant clinical implications.

Effects of thermophilic and acidophilic microbial consortia on maize wet-milling steeping.

To understand the ecology of species and promote biotechnology through beneficial strain selection for improving starch yield in maize wet-milling steeping, bacterial diversity and community structure during the counter-current steeping process in a commercial steeping system were characterized and investigated. The microbial diversity in the steeping liquor, which consisted of 16 phyla, 131 families, and 290 genera, was more abundant compared to those present on the surface of unsteeped maize. As the counter-current steeping progressed, exposing newer maize to the older steepwater, Lactobacillus dominated, replacing Rahnella, Pseudomonas, Pantoea, and Serratia. The thermophilic and acidophilic microbial consortia were enriched through adaptive evolution engineering and employed to improve starch yield. Several steeping strategies were evaluated, including water alone, SO2 alone, mono-culture of B. coagulans, microbial consortia, and a combination of consortium and SO2. Combining the microbial consortium with SO2 significantly increased the starch yield to, about 66.4 ± 0.5%, a 22% and 46% increase over SO2 alone and the consortium alone, respectively. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) of steeped maize structure indicated that the combination of consortium and SO2 disrupted the protein matrix and widened gaps between starch granules in maize endosperm. This released proteins into the steepwater and left starch granules in the aleurone layer. The steeping strategy of using thermophilic and acidophilic microbial consortium as additives shows potential application as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional maize steeping procedures.

Correlational analysis of sarcopenia and multimorbidity among older inpatients.

BACKGROUND: Sarcopenia and multimorbidity are common in older adults, and most of the available clinical studies have focused on the relationship between specialist disorders and sarcopenia, whereas fewer studies have been conducted on the relationship between sarcopenia and multimorbidity. We therefore wished to explore the relationship between the two. METHODS: The study subjects were older patients (aged ≥ 65 years) who were hospitalized at the Department of Geriatrics of the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University between March 2016 and September 2021. Their medical records were collected. Based on the diagnostic criteria of the Asian Sarcopenia Working Group in 2019, the relationship between sarcopenia and multimorbidity was elucidated. RESULTS: 1.A total of 651 older patients aged 65 years and above with 2 or more chronic diseases were investigated in this study, 46.4% were suffering from sarcopenia. 2. Analysis of the relationship between the number of chronic diseases and sarcopenia yielded that the risk of sarcopenia with 4-5 chronic diseases was 1.80 times higher than the risk of 2-3 chronic diseases (OR 1.80, 95%CI 0.29-2.50), and the risk of sarcopenia with ≥ 6 chronic diseases was 5.11 times higher than the risk of 2-3 chronic diseases (OR 5.11, 95% CI 2.97-9.08), which remained statistically significant, after adjusting for relevant factors. 3. The Charlson comorbidity index was associated with skeletal muscle mass index, handgrip strength, and 6-meter walking speed, with scores reaching 5 and above suggesting the possibility of sarcopenia. 4. After adjusting for some covariates among 14 common chronic diseases in older adults, diabetes (OR 3.20, 95% CI 2.01-5.09), cerebrovascular diseases (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.33-3.22), bone and joint diseases (OR 2.04, 95% CI 1.32-3.14), and malignant tumors (OR 2.65, 95% CI 1.17-6.55) were among those that still a risk factor for the development of sarcopenia. CONCLUSION: In the hospitalized older adults, the more chronic diseases they have, the higher the prevalence of sarcopenia. When the CCI is 5, attention needs to be paid to the occurrence of sarcopenia in hospitalized older adults.

Effect of liraglutide on cardiac function in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review and meta-analysis of double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Liraglutide widely utilized in type 2 diabetes treatment, has elicited conflicting findings regarding its impact on cardiac function in patients with this condition. Therefore, The objective of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the effects of liraglutide on cardiac function in patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: We identified double-blind randomized trials assessing the effects of liraglutide compared to placebo on cardiac function in patients with type 2 diabetes. Data were synthesized with the fixed-effect models to generate standard mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of each outcome for liraglutide versus placebo. The risk of bias would be assessed according to the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool, while meta-analysis would be conducted using Revman 5.3.0 software. The evidence was graded based on the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. RESULTS: The meta-analysis encompassed 5 RCTs including 220 participants. Results revealed that liraglutide exhibited significant enhancements in left ventricular ejection fraction [SMD = -0.38, 95%CI(-0.70, -0.06), P = .02], cardiac index [SMD = -1.05, 95%CI(-1.52, -0.59), P < .0001], stroke volume [SMD = -0.67, 95%CI(-1.02, -0.32), P = .0002] and early diastolic filling velocity/late atrial filling velocity ratio [SMD = -0.52, 95%CI(-0.82, -0.22), P = .0006]. However, no statistically significant impact on cardiac output [SMD = -0.20, 95%CI(-0.53, 0.14), P = .26], early diastolic filling velocity/early diastolic annular velocity (E/Ea) ratio [SMD = -0.34, 95%CI(-0.75, 0.06), P = .10] and early diastolic filling velocity/early diastolic mitral annular velocity ratio [SMD = 0.21, 95%CI(-0.15, 0.56), P = .25] was observed. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation evidence quality ratings indicated that all the outcome measures included in this study were evaluated as having low and very low quality. CONCLUSION: The available evidence suggested that liraglutide may exert a favorable impact on cardiac function in patients with type 2 diabetes. Consequently, the utilization of liraglutide as a preventive measure against heart failure incidents in individuals with type 2 diabetes represents a promising strategy. However, robust evidence support requires the conduct of large-scale, multicenter high-quality RCTs.

Meta-analysis on GLP-1 mediated modulation of autophagy in islet ß-cells: Prospectus for improved wound healing in type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus refers to a significantly challenging health disease due to its high prevalence and risk of other chronic diseases across the world. Notably, GLP-1 has been recognized to enhance the treatment of T2DM, along with this, GLP-1 is also involved in autophagy modulation. However, ineffectiveness of few analogue types can limit the efficacy of this treatment. This study particularly aims to elucidate the influence of GLP-1 receptor analogues on wound infection and patients with type 2 diabetes. To conduct the meta-analysis, an expansive literature survey was conducted to unveil the studies and research conducted on T2DM patients that revealed whether the adoption of any GLP-1 analogue in the form of specific interventions impacts the type 2 diabetes mellitus. The literature was searched using multiple search terms, screened and data were extracted to conduct the meta-analysis and it was conducted using metabin function of R package meta. A total of 800 patients consisting of the both intervention and control groups were employed to carry out the meta-analysis to analyse and evaluate the impact of GLP-1 mediated modulation to improve wound healing in the T2DM patients. The results revealed that GLP-1 mediated modulation considering one type of analogue was an effective intervention to patients suffering from T2DM. The variations in these results depicted insignificant outcomes with the values (risk ratio [RR]: 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.90-1.18, p > 0.05) and enlightened the fact that adopting different GLP-1 analogues may significantly improve the efficacy of wound healing in T2DM patients. Hence, interventions of GLP-1 mediated modulation must be utilized in the clinical practice to reduce the incidence of T2DM patients.

Effects of Exogenous Isosteviol on the Physiological Characteristics of Brassica napus Seedlings under Salt Stress.

In this paper, the effect of isosteviol on the physiological metabolism of Brassica napus seedlings under salt stress is explored. Brassica napus seeds (Qinyou 2) were used as materials, and the seeds were soaked in different concentrations of isosteviol under salt stress. The fresh weight, dry weight, osmotic substance, absorption and distribution of Na+, K+, Cl-, and the content of reactive oxygen species (ROS) were measured, and these results were combined with the changes shown by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results showed that isosteviol at an appropriate concentration could effectively increase the biomass and soluble protein content of Brassica napus seedlings and reduce the contents of proline, glycine betaine, and ROS in the seedlings. Isosteviol reduces the oxidative damage to Brassica napus seedlings caused by salt stress by regulating the production of osmotic substances and ROS. In addition, after seed soaking in isosteviol, the Na+ content in the shoots of the Brassica napus seedlings was always lower than that in the roots, while the opposite was true for the K+ content. This indicated that under salt stress the Na+ absorbed by the Brassica napus seedlings was mainly accumulated in the roots and that less Na+ was transported to the shoots, while more of the K+ absorbed by the Brassica napus seedlings was retained in the leaves. It is speculated that this may be an important mechanism for Brassica napus seedlings to relieve Na+ toxicity. The spectroscopy analysis showed that, compared with the control group (T1), salt stress increased the absorbance values of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, etc., indicating structural damage to the plasma membrane and cell wall. The spectra of the isosteviol seed soaking treatment group were nearly the same as those of the control group (T1). The correlation analysis shows that under salt stress the Brassica napus seedling tissues could absorb large amounts of Na+ and Cl- to induce oxidative stress and inhibit the growth of the plants. After the seed soaking treatment, isosteviol could significantly reduce the absorption of Na+ by the seedling tissues, increase the K+ content, and reduce the salt stress damage to the plant seedlings. Therefore, under salt stress, seed soaking with isosteviol at an appropriate concentration (10-9~10-8 M) can increase the salt resistance of Brassica napus seedlings by regulating their physiological and metabolic functions.

Development of a Sustainable Biobased Flame-Retardant Microcapsule and Its Flame-Retarding Mechanism on Asphalt Combustion.

To develop an efficient, sustainable, and eco-friendly biobased flame-retardant microcapsule suitable for the working environments of tunnel asphalt pavement and reveal its flame-retarding mechanism on asphalt combustion, microencapsulated amylopectin (MAMP) was first prepared using an in situ polymerization method. Changes in the basic properties of amylopectin (AMP) and its compatibility with asphalt after microencapsulation were studied. Then, the flame retarding efficiency and improvement effects of MAMP on the flame retardancy of asphalt were investigated. Results show that melamine formaldehyde (MF) resin is evenly coated on the AMP surface without changing the chemical composition of AMP, increasing the thermal stability of AMP and the compatibility between AMP and asphalt. MAMP reacts with ammonium polyphosphate (APP) to release a number of incombustible gases to delay asphalt combustion at early stages and subsequently dehydrates to form a stable starch-based charring layer to suppress heat and mass transfer during asphalt combustion, improving the fire safety of asphalt materials. The added 3% MAMP can reduce the total enthalpy value of all exothermic peaks of the 10% APP-modified asphalt by 43.6%. As a carbonization agent, MAMP produces a charring layer with higher heat capacity during asphalt combustion, exerting an excellent inhibition effect on heat release. This study provides a reference for the application of biobased materials in flame-retarded asphalt pavements.

Suppressing Actions of Inorganic Flame Retardants on the Pyrolysis Behavior of Asphalt.

To understand the suppressing actions of inorganic compound flame retardant (CFR) on the pyrolysis behavior of asphalt, five halogen-free flame retardants, such as expanded graphite, aluminum hydroxide, magnesium hydrate, calcium hydroxide, and microencapsulated red phosphorus, were selected to match the pyrolysis temperature ranges of four asphalt components, respectively. The pyrolysis behaviors, volatile emissions, and pyrolysis residues from asphalt and CFR-modified asphalt (FR asphalt) were compared. Also, the effects of CFR on the microscopic morphology, microstructures, and micromechanical performance of asphalt were analyzed. The high-temperature stability of asphalt is increased by the presence of CFR, and there is a flame-retardant constituent in CFR that suppresses the pyrolysis of each component in the overall asphalt pyrolysis process. Additionally, the FR asphalt pyrolysis process is endothermic. The added CFR retards the asphalt pyrolysis process. The formation of the surface carbon layer impedes heat transfer. Also, the volatile emissions during asphalt pyrolysis are reduced by the presence of CFR. The added CFR promotes an increase in the size of the asphalt microstructure. The surface of FR asphalt becomes rougher and more rugged than that of asphalt. Finally, the elastic modulus, deformation resistance, and micromechanical performance of asphalt are increased as the level of FR presence is increased. FR asphalt has a higher adhesive force, which is conducive to increasing the adhesivity of FR asphalt with mineral aggregate in the FR asphalt mixture.

Engineering Corynebacterium glutamicum for de novo production of 2-phenylethanol from lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysate.

BACKGROUND: 2-Phenylethanol is a specific aromatic alcohol with a rose-like smell, which has been widely used in the cosmetic and food industries. At present, 2-phenylethanol is mainly produced by chemical synthesis. The preference of consumers for "natural" products and the demand for environmental-friendly processes have promoted biotechnological processes for 2-phenylethanol production. Yet, high 2-phenylethanol cytotoxicity remains an issue during the bioproduction process. RESULTS: Corynebacterium glutamicum with inherent tolerance to aromatic compounds was modified for the production of 2-phenylethanol from glucose and xylose. The sensitivity of C. glutamicum to 2-phenylethanol toxicity revealed that this host was more tolerant than Escherichia coli. Introduction of a heterologous Ehrlich pathway into the evolved phenylalanine-producing C. glutamicum CALE1 achieved 2-phenylethanol production, while combined expression of the aro10. Encoding 2-ketoisovalerate decarboxylase originating from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the yahK encoding alcohol dehydrogenase originating from E. coli was shown to be the most efficient. Furthermore, overexpression of key genes (aroGfbr, pheAfbr, aroA, ppsA and tkt) involved in the phenylpyruvate pathway increased 2-phenylethanol titer to 3.23 g/L with a yield of 0.05 g/g glucose. After introducing a xylose assimilation pathway from Xanthomonas campestris and a xylose transporter from E. coli, 3.55 g/L 2-phenylethanol was produced by the engineered strain CGPE15 with a yield of 0.06 g/g xylose, which was 10% higher than that with glucose. This engineered strain CGPE15 also accumulated 3.28 g/L 2-phenylethanol from stalk hydrolysate. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we established and validated an efficient C. glutamicum strain for the de novo production of 2-phenylethanol from corn stalk hydrolysate. This work supplied a promising route for commodity 2-phenylethanol bioproduction from nonfood lignocellulosic feedstock.

Descriptive and associated risk factors analysis of mental disorders among adolescents in Huangshi, China.

Descriptive analysis of adolescent mental disorders in Huangshi was performed to explore the gender differences, influencing factors, and abnormal illness behaviors. A total of 674 patients in Huangshi Mental Health Center from 2017 to 2022 were collected. A rising trend of mental disorders has been observed since 2018, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. More young cases led to suicidal attempts and self-harm, which reflects the severity of mental health in adolescents. This study aims to draw the attention of government, society, families, and schools to care about adolescents, which also provides guidance and references for clinical treatment of mental disorders.

Determination of Hepatic Iron Deposition in Drug-Induced Liver Fibrosis in Rats by Confocal Micro-XRF Spectrometry.

Liver fibrosis is the intermediate process and inevitable stage of the development of chronic liver disease into cirrhosis. Reducing the degree of liver fibrosis plays an extremely important role in treating chronic liver disease and preventing liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. The formation of liver fibrosis is affected by iron deposition to a certain extent, and excessive iron deposition further induces liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. Herein, confocal microbeam X-ray fluorescence (µ-XRF) was used to determine the intensity and biodistribution of iron deposition at different time points in the process of liver fibrosis induced by thioacetamide (TAA) in rats. To our best knowledge, this is the first study using confocal µ-XRF to analyze hepatic iron deposition in hepatic fibrosis. The results showed that there are minor and trace elements such as iron, potassium, and zinc in the liver of rats. Continuous injection of TAA solution resulted in increasing liver iron deposition over time. The intensity of iron deposition in liver tissue was also significantly reduced after bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) were injected. These findings indicated that confocal µ-XRF can be used as a nondestructive and quantitative method of evaluating hepatic iron deposition in hepatic fibrosis, and iron deposition may play an important role in the progression of hepatic fibrosis induced by TAA.

Coagulants put phosphate-accumulating organisms at a competitive disadvantage with glycogen-accumulating organisms in enhanced biological phosphorus removal system.

Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) process is susceptible to the changed operation condition, which results in an unstable treatment performance. In this work, long-term effect of coagulants addition, aluminum salt for the reactor R1 and iron salt for the reactor R2, on EBPR systems was comprehensively evaluated. Results showed that during the initial 30 days' coagulant addition, effluent chemical oxygen demand and phosphorus can be reduced below 25 and 0.5 mg·L-1, respectively. Further supply of metal salts would stimulate microbial extracellular polymeric substance excretion and induce reactive oxygen species accumulation, which destroyed the cell membrane integrity and deteriorated the phosphorus removal performance. Moreover, coagulants would decrease the relative abundance of Candidatus Accumulibacter while increase the relative abundance of Candidatus Competibacter, leading phosphors accumulating organisms in a disadvantage position. The results of this work might be valuable for the operation of chemical assisted biological phosphorus removal bioreactor.

Inhibitory action of halogen-free fire retardants on combustion and volatile emission of bituminous components.

The objective of this study is to quantitatively evaluate inhibitory action of halogen-free fire retardants (HFR) on combustion properties and volatile emission of such bituminous components as saturates, aromatics, resins, and asphaltenes (SARA). Thermogravimetry-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (TG-FTIR) tests were performed on SARA fractions containing matched fire retardants, respectively, and thermal kinetics parameters based on TG curves and functional and structural indices from FTIR spectra were calculated, respectively. The selected fire retardants have not affected the combustion process of SARA fractions, but the combustion temperature intervals are elevated and combustion progresses are retarded. Also, the char yields of SARA fractions are obviously increased by the matched fire retardants, improving their heat stability. The activation energy is elevated because of the added fire retardants, indicating combustion resistance of SARA fractions become larger. Additionally, the matched fire retardants inhibit the toxic gas emission in the combustion process of SARA fractions, but have few effects on gaseous product constituents. H2O and CO2 are identified as two typical released gases in various combustion phases of each SARA fraction. Finally, the added hydroxide play a role of fire retardants through cooling, dilution, adsorption, and neutralization, and the generated active oxide facilitates the expandable graphite (EG) and matrix to form densified and thick carbon layer. These suppress the volatile emission, and hinder the heat conduction and oxygen supply. Fire retardant composite exhibits the synergistic effect of fire retardancy and smoke inhibition in the combustion process of SARA fractions.

The transfer mechanism of pollution industry in China under multi-factor combination model-based on the perspective of industry, location, and environment.

With the development of industry transfer, the increasing attention of all government levels has been paid to the sustainable development of ecological environment. To highlight the effect of environmental factors on pollution industry transfer, a triangle model with various combination scenarios of industry, location, and environmental factors is adopted to empirically study the transfer mechanism of China's pollution industry according to the panel data of 30 provinces from 2000 to 2018. The obtained results indicate that (1) industrial advantage is the primary factor of improving the transfer of pollution industry in China; especially, the significance of location and environmental indicators is significantly lower than that of industrial indicators. (2) With the increasing promotion of regional coordination strategy and ecological civilization construction, the attraction of location factors to industry transfer is decreasing, and the inhibition of environmental factors to pollution industry is increasing. (3) In addition, it is worth noting that China's pollution industry has not been in "innovation highland" but "environmental depression," which indicates that the phenomenon of "pollution haven hypothesis" is probable in the industry transfer of China. The paper suggests that reasonable industry transfer should be adopted by all government levels to promote industrial transformation and upgrading with considering the environmental capacity.

Serum free culture for the expansion and study of type 2 innate lymphoid cells.

Type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) were discovered approximately ten years ago and their clinical relevance is gaining greater importance. However, their successful isolation from mammalian tissues and in vitro culture and expansion continues to pose challenges. This is partly due to their scarcity compared to other leukocyte populations, but also because our current knowledge of ILC2 biology is incomplete. This study is focused on ST2+ IL-25Rlo lung resident ILC2s and demonstrate for the first time a methodology allowing mouse type 2 innate lymphoid cells to be cultured, and their numbers expanded in serum-free medium supplemented with Interleukins IL-33, IL-2, IL-7 and TSLP. The procedures described methods to isolate ILC2s and support their growth for up to a week while maintaining their phenotype. During this time, they significantly expand from low to high cell concentrations. Furthermore, for the first time, sub-cultures of primary ILC2 purifications in larger 24- and 6-well plates were undertaken in order to compare their growth in other media. In culture, ILC2s had doubling times of 21 h, a growth rate of 0.032 h-1 and could be sub-cultured in early or late phases of exponential growth. These studies form the basis for expanding ILC2 populations that will facilitate the study and potential applications of these rare cells under defined, serum-free conditions.

Universal Method to Fabricate Transition Metal Single-Atom-Anchored Carbon with Excellent Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity.

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have attracted great attention due to their high atom-utilization and catalytic efficiency. However, a universal synthetic route is still lacking, which restricts the SAC-related investigation and application. Here, we report a simple and cost-effective method to fabricate transition metal SACs through ion exchange and annealing procedures. Benefiting from the "egg-box" structure property of alginate, the metal ion can be effectively anchored into the organic center. Using CuCl2 as a representative transition metal ion, the Cu SAC structure was synthesized and identified by aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy and X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. Through optimizing CuCl2 concentration, the obtained Cu SAC exhibited a good oxygen reduction reaction activity, whose onset potential, half wave potential, and limiting current density are all comparable to those of 20 wt % Pt/C. Cu-N4 was identified as the responsible catalytic site. More importantly, other transition metal SACs can be easily synthesized via altering metallic solution, which proves the universality of our proposed method. This work may be valuable for the cost-effective and universal SAC synthetic method development.

Beyond Unconventional: What Do We Really Know about Group 2 Innate Lymphoid Cells?

Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) are a set of effectors that mediate the expulsion of helminthic parasites but also drive allergic lung inflammation. As innate agents, they do not recognize Ag, instead, they are sensitive to alarmin engagement, upon which they produce type 2 cytokines that amplify adaptive immunity. Their lymphoid identity appoints them as an intriguing group of unconventional cells; however, increasing evidence is unraveling a series of unprecedented functions that <5 years ago were unthinkable for ILC2s, such as acquiring a proinflammatory identity that enables them to support TH1 immune responses. Their plastic nature has allowed the characterization of ILC2s in more detail than ever; however, the novelty of ILC2 biology requires constant updates and recapitulations. This review provides an overview of ILC2s and describes memory ILC2, regulatory ILC2, inflammatory ILC2, and type 1 ILC2 subsets based on activation status, tissue environments, and function.

Thermal Characteristics, Kinetic Models, and Volatile Constituents during the Energy Conversion of Bituminous SARA Fractions in Air.

To understand the thermal characteristics, nonisothermal kinetic models, and volatile constituents during the energy conversion of bituminous materials at the fraction level, differential scanning calorimetry-mass spectrometry tests were performed on bituminous four fractions, including saturates, aromatics, resins, and asphaltenes (SARA). Then, three-dimensional (3D) nonisothermal kinetic models of SARA fractions were established and volatile constituents of SARA fractions were discussed. Results indicate that when the heating rate is increased, the decomposition temperature ranges in each stage increase and the initial decomposition, peak, and burn-out temperatures of each SARA fraction all shift to high temperatures. Also, the whole energy conversion processes of SARA fractions are mainly exothermic reactions. Additionally, the energy conversion mechanism in each stage of saturates and aromatics accords with different nonisothermal kinetic models. However, the energy conversion mechanisms of resins and asphaltenes are similar and both accord with the 3D diffusion models. Further, the established nonisothermal kinetic models in each decomposition stage of SARA fractions are feasible to describe the energy conversion processes of SARA fractions. The released small molecular volatiles from saturates and aromatics increase when the heating rate is increased, but the macromolecular volatiles are decreased. The opposite is true for resins, but all volatiles emitted from asphaltenes are increased. Finally, the heating rate has little influence on the constituents of emitted gaseous products from SARA fractions but shows an effect on the release amount of volatiles from SARA fractions. The main common volatiles of SARA fractions are CO2, H2O, methanol, hydrazine, propyne, acetaldehyde, and propane. This study contributes to further reveal the energy conversion mechanisms of bituminous materials.

Exogenous extracellular polymeric substances as protective agents for the preservation of anammox granules.

The preservation of anammox granules is of great significance for the rapid start-up of the anammox process and improvement of performance stability. Therefore, it is necessary to explore an economical and stable preservation strategy. Exogenous extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) were used as protective agents for the preservation of anammox granules in this study. In brief, EPS from anammox sludge (A-EPS) and denitrifying sludge (D-EPS) were added to preserve anammox sludge at 4 °C and room temperature (15-20 °C). The results showed that A-EPS addition at 4 °C was the optimal condition for the preservation of anammox granules. After 90 days of preservation, the specific anammox activity (SAA) of the anammox granules remained at 92.7 ± 2.2 mg N g-1 VSS day-1 (remaining ratio of 33.4%), while that of the sludge with D-EPS addition at the same temperature was only 77.1 ± 3.2 mg N g-1 VSS day-1 (remaining ratio of 27.8%). The nitrogen removal efficiency of the experimental group with D-EPS at room temperature was 85.9%, and that of the A-EPS group reached 90.6% under the same temperature conditions. The abundance of the functional genes hzsA, hdh and nirS of the sludge (4 °C; A-EPS addition) after recovery were 138.5%, 317.1%, and 375.9%, respectively, of those of sludge from the D-EPS-added group at the same temperature. RDA revealed the contribution of proteins to the preservation process. Overall, this study provides an economical and robust strategy for the preservation of anammox granules.

Polyphenol-metal network derived nanocomposite to catalyze peroxymonosulfate decomposition for dye degradation.

Persulfate based advanced oxidation process is a promising technology for refractory contaminants removal. Cobalt is considered as the most efficient metal in catalyzing peroxymonosulfate decomposition. Although different cobalt based nanomaterials have been developed, easy aggregation and metal ion leaching during catalytic reaction would result in its deficiency. To address the above issue, in this work, carbon supported Co/CoO core-shell nanocomposite was in-situ fabricated by using polyphenol-metal coordinate as precursor. Results indicated that cobalt nanoparticle with size of 10 nm was successfully prepared and well dispersed within the carbon matrix. By using as-prepared material as catalyst, 50 mg/L orange II was completely removed under the condition of 0.2 g/L peroxymonosulfate, 0.05 g/L catalyst, pH = 4.0-10.0. Both sulfate and hydroxyl radicals were formed during peroxymonosulfate decomposition, while sulfate radical dominated the pollutant removal. Mechanism study revealed that the cobalt was the key site for catalyzing peroxymonosulfate decomposition. This work might provide valuable information in designing and fabricating metal anchored carbon composite catalyst for efficiently and cost-effectively activate peroxymonosulfate.