Multi-scale nested UNet with transformer for colorectal polyp segmentation.

BACKGROUND: Polyp detection and localization are essential tasks for colonoscopy. U-shape network based convolutional neural networks have achieved remarkable segmentation performance for biomedical images, but lack of long-range dependencies modeling limits their receptive fields. PURPOSE: Our goal was to develop and test a novel architecture for polyp segmentation, which takes advantage of learning local information with long-range dependencies modeling. METHODS: A novel architecture combining with multi-scale nested UNet structure integrated transformer for polyp segmentation was developed. The proposed network takes advantage of both CNN and transformer to extract distinct feature information. The transformer layer is embedded between the encoder and decoder of a U-shape net to learn explicit global context and long-range semantic information. To address the challenging of variant polyp sizes, a MSFF unit was proposed to fuse features with multiple resolution. RESULTS: Four public datasets and one in-house dataset were used to train and test the model performance. Ablation study was also conducted to verify each component of the model. For dataset Kvasir-SEG and CVC-ClinicDB, the proposed model achieved mean dice score of 0.942 and 0.950 respectively, which were more accurate than the other methods. To show the generalization of different methods, we processed two cross dataset validations, the proposed model achieved the highest mean dice score. The results demonstrate that the proposed network has powerful learning and generalization capability, significantly improving segmentation accuracy and outperforming state-of-the-art methods. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed model produced more accurate polyp segmentation than current methods on four different public and one in-house datasets. Its capability of polyps segmentation in different sizes shows the potential clinical application.

The applications of miniprobe endoscopic ultrasonography in the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal submucosal lesions.

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of miniprobe endoscopic ultrasonography for the diagnosis and adjuvant treatment of patients with colorectal submucosal lesions. METHODS: The retrospective study was conducted at the Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, China, and comprised data from January 1, 2016, to July 31, 2021, related to patients of either gender with colorectal submucosal lesions who underwent miniprobe endoscopic ultrasonography. The findings were compared with biopsy specimens and clinical diagnoses. Diagnostic features of miniprobe endoscopic ultrasonography were assessed along with its accuracy. Data was analysed using R 4.1.2. RESULTS: Of the 237 patients, 121(51.1%) were female and 116(48.9%) were male. The overall mean age was 55.6±12.9 years. Miniprobe endoscopic ultrasonography successfully imaged all 237(100%) colorectal submucosal lesions, and 188(79.3%) had consistent results compared to histopathological findings. The majority of lesions were <10mm 102(43.4%) or 10-19mm 84(35.7%) in size. Those detected with high echogenicity were 126(53.2%) and those with low/low-medium echogenicity were 83(35.0%). Tumour size 10-19mm and uneven echo quality significantly increased the accuracy of miniprobe endoscopic ultrasonography (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Miniprobe endoscopic ultrasonography was able to provide precise information about the size, layer of origin, echogenicity and border of colorectal submucosal lesions, and had a high accuracy in the differential diagnosis of such lesions.

Downregulation of connexin 43-based gap junctions underlies propofol-induced excessive relaxation in hypertensive vascular smooth muscle cells.

BACKGROUND: Postinduction hypotension caused by propofol remains a non-negligible problem for anesthesiologists, and is especially severe in chronic hypertensive patients with long-term vasoconstriction and decreased vascular elasticity. The functional change in gap junctions composed of Cx43 (Cx43-GJs) is reported as the biological basis of synchronized contraction or relaxation of blood vessels. Thus, we investigated the role of Cx43-GJs in propofol-induced dramatic blood pressure fluctuations in chronic hypertensive patients, and their internal mechanisms. METHODS: Human umbilical artery smooth muscle cells (HUASMCs) were pretreated with long-term angiotensin II (Ang II), with or without propofol, to simulate the contraction and relaxation of normal and hypertensive VSMCs during anesthesia induction. The levels of F-actin polymerization and MLC2 phosphorylation were used as indicators to observe the contraction and relaxation of HUASMCs. Different specific activators, inhibitors and siRNAs were used to explore the role of Cx43-GJs and Ca2+ as well as the RhoA/ LIMK2/cofilin and RhoA/MLCK signaling pathways in the contraction and relaxation of normal and hypertensive HUASMCs. RESULTS: Both F-actin polymerization and MLC2 phosphorylation were significantly enhanced in Ang II-pretreated HUASMCs, along with higher expression of Cx43 protein and stronger function of Cx43-GJs than in normal HUASMCs. However, with propofol administration, similar to Gap26 and Cx43-siRNA, the function of Cx43-GJs in Ang II-pretreated HUASMCs was inhibited compared with that in normal HUASMCs, accompanied by a larger decrease in intracellular Ca2+ and the RhoA/LIMK2/cofilin and RhoA/MLCK signaling pathways. Eventually F-actin polymerization and MLC2 phosphorylation were more dramatically decreased. However, these effects could be reversed by RA with enhanced Cx43-GJ function. CONCLUSION: Long-term exposure to Ang II significantly enhanced the expression of the Cx43 protein and function of Cx43-GJs in HUASMCs, resulting in the accumulation of intracellular Ca2+ and the activation of its downstream RhoA/LIMK2/cofilin and RhoA/MLCK signaling pathways, which maintained HUASMCs in a state of excessive-contraction. With inhibition of Cx43-GJs by propofol in Ang II-pretreated HUASMCs, intracellular Ca2+ and its downstream signaling pathways were dramatically inhibited, which ultimately excessively relaxed HUASMCs. This is the reason why the blood pressure fluctuation of patients with chronic hypertension was more severe after receiving propofol induction. Video Abstract.

Identification of TLN1 as a prognostic biomarker to effect cell proliferation and differentiation in acute myeloid leukemia.

The protein Talin1 encoded by the TLN1 gene is a focal adhesion-related protein that binds to various cytoskeletal proteins and plays an important role in cell adhesion and movement. Recent studies have shown that it is overexpressed in prostate cancer, liver cancer, and oral squamous cell carcinoma, and is closely related to tumor progression and metastasis. This study integrated bioinformatics and functional analysis to reveal the prognosis and potential functions of TLN1 in AML. The results showed that the expression level of TLN1 was abnormally increased in AML and localized in the cell membrane and cytoplasm, and TLN1 is a significant prognostic indicator of overall survival (OS). Enrichment analysis of related genes showed that TLN1 is related to neutrophil mediated immunity, neutrophil activation and may regulate important signal pathways in hematological tumors including tyrosine kinase receptor, FLT3 and PIK3/AKT. The PPI network shows that TLN1 and MYH9 may be involved in the process of AML tumors together with PIP5K1C, ROCK1, S100A4, MY01A and WAC. Immune infiltration analysis explains that TLN1 is associated with multiple immune cells and may be an important immune marker in AML. Furthermore, molecular biology experiments confirmed that TLN1 is related to the proliferation, differentiation and cycle of AML cells. Silencing TLN1 can inhibit the proliferation of AML cells and promote differentiation through the Talin1/P-AKT/CREB signaling pathway.

Improvement of Asia-Pacific colorectal screening score and evaluation of its use combined with fecal immunochemical test.

BACKGROUND: The Asia-Pacific Colorectal Screening (APCS) score is effective to screen high-risk groups of advanced colorectal neoplasia (ACN) patients but needs revising and can be combined with the fecal immunochemical test (FIT). This paper aimed to improve the APCS score and evaluate its use with the FIT in stratifying the risk of ACN. METHODS: This prospective and multicenter study enrolled 955 and 1201 asymptomatic Chinese participants to form the derivation and validation set, respectively. Participants received the risk factor questionnaire, colonoscopy and FIT. Multiple logistic regression was applied, and C-statistic, sensitivity and negative predictive values (NPVs) were used to compare the screening efficiency. RESULTS: A modified model was developed incorporating age, body mass index (BMI), family history, diabetes, smoking and drinking as risk factors, stratifying subjects into average risk (AR) or high risk (HR). In the validation set, the HR tier group had a 3.4-fold (95% CI 1.8-6.4) increased risk for ACN. The C-statistic for the modified score was 0.69 ± 0.04, and 0.67 ± 0.04 for the original score. The sensitivity of the modified APCS score combined with FIT for screening ACN high-risk cohorts was 76.7% compared with 36.7% of FIT alone and 70.0% of the modified APCS score alone. The NPVs of the modified score combined with FIT for ACN were 98.0% compared with 97.0% of FIT alone and 97.9% of the modified APCS score alone. CONCLUSIONS: The modified score and its use with the FIT are efficient in selecting the HR group from a Chinese asymptomatic population.

Extended Fenton's process: toward improving biodegradability of drilling wastewater.

In this study, an extended Fenton process was used to improve biodegradability of the waste drilling mud containing bio-refractory polymers. Variation of biodegradability and organics with different molecular weights with the oxidation time were investigated during the Fenton oxidation process. Although the residual total organic carbon (TOC) arrived at a stable level soon after oxidation reaction, organics with the lower molecular weight increased and its biodegradability was improved significantly in the extended oxidation process, which originated from decomposition of residual H2O2 catalyzed by transformation of the Fe3+/Fe2+ and organoradicals. Under the conditions that follow: pH 3.0, H2O2 500 mg L-1, Fe2+ 250 mg L-1, oxidation time 120 min, further TOC removal of 35.9% and biochemical oxygen demand and total organic carbon (BOD/TOC) ratio of 0.83 was achieved. At the biological test, a substantial increase in TOC degradation by biological treatment with extension of Fenton oxidation time was observed. Finally, more than 90% biological removal of the TOC was achieved for the 120 min oxidation treatment. The experimental results highlight that an extended process can be adopted to improve the biodegradability of wastewater by utilization of the slow reaction of hydrogen peroxide with Fe3+ and organoradicals.

Rapid removal of polyacrylamide from wastewater by plasma in the gas-liquid interface.

Due to the severe restrictions imposed by legislative frameworks, the removal of polyacrylamide (PAM) rapidly and effectively from produced wastewater in offshore oilfields before discharge is becoming an urgent challenge. In this study, a novel advanced oxidation process based on plasma operated in the gas-liquid interface was used to rapidly decompose PAM, and multiple methods including viscometry, flow field-flow fractionation multi-angle light scattering, UV-visible spectroscopy, and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize the changes of PAM. Under a discharge voltage of 25 kV and pH 7.0, the PAM concentration decreased from 100 to 0 mg/L within 20 min and the total organic carbon (TOC) decreased from 49.57 to 1.23 mg/L within 240 min, following zero-order reaction kinetics. Even in the presence of background TOC as high as 152.2 mg/L, complete removal of PAM (100 mg/L) was also achieved within 30 min. The biodegradability of PAM improved following plasma treatment for 120 min. Active species (such as O3 and H2O2) were produced in the plasma. Hydroxyl radical was demonstrated to play an important role in the degradation of PAM due to the inhibitory effect observed after the addition of an ·OH scavenger, Na2CO3. Meanwhile, the release of ammonia and nitrate nitrogen confirmed the cleavage of the acylamino group. The results of this study demonstrated that plasma, with its high efficiency and chemical-free features, is a promising technology for the rapid removal of PAM.

Pretreatment of spiramycin fermentation residue using hyperthermophilic digestion: quick startup and performance.

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of hyperthermophilic anaerobic digestion at 70 °C in the pretreatment of spiramycin fermentation residue. By feeding municipal excess sludge under a solid retention time of 5 days, the hyperthermophilic digester was successfully started up within 3 days from mesophilic digestion by a one-step temperature increase from 35 to 70 °C. MiSeq sequencing showed the fast establishment of thermophilic fermenting bacterial communities in 3 days immediately after the temperature increase, with increases in abundance of Coprothermobacter, Spirochaetaceae_uncultured and Fervidobacterium from <0.001%, 1.06% and <0.001% to 33.77%, 11.65% and 3.42%, respectively. The feasibility of hyperthermophilic digestion for spiramycin residue was evaluated in batch experiments for 7 days. Hyperthermophilic digestion considerably reduced antibiotic concentrations, with removal efficiencies of 55.3% and 99.0% for the spiramycin residue alone and its mixture with hyperthermophilic sludge, respectively. At the same time, the abundances of four macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin resistance genes were also reduced within 7 days, due to the decrease of their corresponding hosts. These results suggest that hyperthermophilic digestion could easily be started up from mesophilic digestion and might be a suitable pretreatment approach for spiramycin residue.

Characteristics of microbial community functional structure of a biological coking wastewater treatment system.

Nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds are key pollutants in coking wastewater; however, the functional potential of microbial communities for biodegradation of such contaminants during biological treatment is still elusive. Herein, a high throughput functional gene array (GeoChip 5.0) in combination with Illumina HiSeq2500 sequencing was used to compare and characterize the microbial community functional structure in a long run (500days) bench scale bioreactor treating coking wastewater, with a control system treating synthetic wastewater. Despite the inhibitory toxic pollutants, GeoChip 5.0 detected almost all key functional gene (average 61,940 genes) categories in the coking wastewater sludge. With higher abundance, aromatic ring cleavage dioxygenase genes including multi ring1,2diox; one ring2,3diox; catechol represented significant functional potential for degradation of aromatic pollutants which was further confirmed by Illumina HiSeq2500 analysis results. Response ratio analysis revealed that three nitrogenous compound degrading genes- nbzA (nitro-aromatics), tdnB (aniline), and scnABC (thiocyanate) were unique for coking wastewater treatment, which might be strong cause to increase ammonia level during the aerobic process. Additionally, HiSeq2500 elucidated carbozole and isoquinoline degradation genes in the system. These findings expanded our understanding on functional potential of microbial communities to remove organic nitrogenous pollutants; hence it will be useful in optimization strategies for biological treatment of coking wastewater.

Performance and microbial community composition in a long-term sequential anaerobic-aerobic bioreactor operation treating coking wastewater.

The combined anaerobic-aerobic biosystem is assumed to consume less energy for the treatment of high strength industrial wastewater. In this study, pollutant removal performance and microbial diversity were assessed in a long-term (over 300 days) bench-scale sequential anaerobic-aerobic bioreactor treating coking wastewater. Anaerobic treatment removed one third of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and more than half of the phenols with hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 42 h, while the combined system with total HRT of 114 h removed 81.8, 85.6, 99.9, 98.2, and 85.4 % of COD, total organic carbon (TOC), total phenols, thiocyanate, and cyanide, respectively. Two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry showed complete removal of phenol derivatives and nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds (NHCs) via the combined system, with the anaerobic process alone contributing 58.4 and 58.6 % removal on average, respectively. Microbial activity in the bioreactors was examined by 454 pyrosequencing of the bacterial, archaeal, and fungal communities. Proteobacteria (61.2-93.4 %), particularly Betaproteobacteria (34.4-70.1 %), was the dominant bacterial group. Ottowia (14.1-46.7 %), Soehngenia (3.0-8.2 %), and Corynebacterium (0.9-12.0 %), which are comprised of phenol-degrading and hydrolytic bacteria, were the most abundant genera in the anaerobic sludge, whereas Thiobacillus (6.6-43.6 %), Diaphorobacter (5.1-13.0 %), and Comamonas (0.2-11.1 %) were the major degraders of phenol, thiocyanate, and NHCs in the aerobic sludge. Despite the low density of fungi, phenol degrading oleaginous yeast Trichosporon was abundant in the aerobic sludge. This study demonstrated the feasibility and optimization of less energy intensive treatment and the potential association between abundant bacterial groups and biodegradation of key pollutants in coking wastewater.

Occurrences and behaviors of naphthenic acids in a petroleum refinery wastewater treatment plant.

Naphthenic acids (NAs) are one class of compounds in wastewaters from petroleum industries that are known to cause toxic effects, and their removal from oilfield wastewater is an important challenge for remediation of large volumes of petrochemical effluents. The present study investigated occurrences and behaviors of total NAs and aromatic NAs in a refinery wastewater treatment plant, located in north China, which combined physicochemical and biological processes. Concentrations of total NAs were semiquantified to be 113-392 µg/L in wastewater from all the treatment units, and the percentages of aromatic NAs in total NAs was estimated to be 2.1-8.8%. The mass reduction for total NAs and aromatic NAs was 15±16% and 7.5±24% after the physicochemical treatment, respectively. Great mass reduction (total NAs: 65±11%, aromatic NAs: 86±5%) was observed in the biological treatment units, and antiestrogenic activities observed in wastewater from physicochemical treatment units disappeared in the effluent of the activated sludge system. The distributions of mass fractions of NAs demonstrated that biodegradation via activated sludge was the major mechanism for removing alicyclic NAs, aromatic NAs, and related toxicities in the plant, and the polycyclic NA congener classes were relatively recalcitrant to biodegradation, which is a complete contrast to the preferential adsorption of NAs with higher cyclicity (low Z value). Removal efficiencies of total NAs were 73±17% in summer, which were higher than those in winter (53±15%), and the seasonal variation was possibly due to the relatively high microbial biotransformation activities in the activated sludge system in summer (indexed by O3-NAs/NAs). The results of the investigations indicated that biotransformation of NA mixtures by the activated sludge system were largely affected by temperature, and employing an efficient adsorbent together with biodegradation processes would help cost-effectively remove NAs in petroleum effluents.

Effects of osteoarthritis on load transfer after cemented total shoulder arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: Total shoulder arthroplasty is commonly performed to treat glenohumeral osteoarthritis (OA); however, little is understood of the mechanics of the reconstructed OA shoulder. We sought to establish the effects of OA-induced changes in bone density and retroversion angle on load transfer and stress distribution in the bone-implant system of the scapula. METHODS: We developed finite element models of reconstructed healthy and OA scapulas with a virtually implanted glenoid prosthesis design. For the OA scapula, models with uncorrected and corrected retroversion were created. Loads were applied at the center or posteriorly on the glenoid surface. RESULTS: Our results suggest that with reconstruction of the corrected glenoid with a contemporary implant, cement stresses increase and the load transfer pattern changes with eccentric loads. The load transfer and local stresses in the bone-implant system in the retroverted glenoid are less sensitive to changes in loading location. Furthermore, the load transfer in the OA glenoid is less sensitive to the effect of peg proximity to the cortical shell than in the healthy glenoid. CONCLUSION: We provided evidence of how load sharing is altered among healthy, corrected OA, and retroverted OA glenoids. We demonstrated that correction of retroversion in OA glenoids may actually increase the risk for stress shielding and cement failure compared with retroverted glenoids, and OA patients can accommodate shorter pegs because of the higher glenoid bone stiffness in the OA glenoid.

Characteristics of hydrocarbon hydroxylase genes in a thermophilic aerobic biological system treating oily produced wastewater.

Alkane and aromatic hydroxylase genes in a full-scale aerobic system treating oily produced wastewater under thermophilic condition (45-50 °C) in the Jidong oilfield, China, were investigated using clone library and quantitative polymerase chain reaction methods. Rather than the normally encountered integral-membrane non-haem iron monooxygenase (alkB) genes, only CYP153-type P450 hydroxylase genes were detected for the alkane activation, indicating that the terminal oxidation of alkanes might be mainly mediated by the CYP153-type alkane hydroxylases in the thermophilic aerobic process. Most of the obtained CYP153 gene clones showed distant homology with the reference sequences, which might represent novel alkane hydroxylases. For the aromatic activation, the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-ring hydroxylating dioxygenase (PAH-RHD) gene was derived from Gram-negative PAH-degraders belonging to the Burkholderiales order, with a 0.72% relative abundance of PAH-RHD gene to 16S rRNA gene. This was consistent with the result of 16S rRNA gene analysis, indicating that Burkholderiales bacteria might play a key role in the full-scale process of thermophilic hydrocarbon degradation.

Impacts of produced water origin on bacterial community structures of activated sludge.

The purpose of this study was to reveal how activated sludge communities respond to influent quality and indigenous communities by treating two produced waters from different origins in a batch reactor in succession. The community shift and compositions were investigated using Polymerase Chain Reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) and further 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) clone library analysis. The abundance of targeted genes for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) degradation, nahAc/phnAc and C12O/C23O, was tracked to define the metabolic ability of the in situ microbial community by Most Probable Number (MPN) PCR. The biosystem performed almost the same for treatment of both produced waters in terms of removals of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and PAHs. Sludge communities were closely associated with the respective influent bacterial communities (similarity>60%), while one sludge clone library was dominated by the Betaproteobacteria (38%) and Bacteriodetes (30%) and the other was dominated by Gammaproteobacteria (52%). This suggested that different influent and water quality have an effect on sludge community compositions. In addition, the existence of catabolic genes in sludge was consistent with the potential for degradation of PAHs in the treatment of both produced waters.

Nonconforming glenoid increases posterior glenohumeral translation after a total shoulder replacement.

BACKGROUND: The major complication in nonconforming total shoulder replacement (TSR) is glenoid loosening and is attributed to posteriorly directed humeral head translations. Whether the posterior translations observed clinically are induced by radial mismatch is unclear. The objective of our study was to explain the posterior glenohumeral translations observed clinically after TSR by determining the glenohumeral translation and contact force as a function of radial mismatch. We hypothesized that the posterior direction of glenohumeral translation during scaption would be related to the radial mismatch and that the joint contact force would increase as the radial mismatch increased. METHODS: A 6-degrees-of-freedom computational model of the glenohumeral joint was developed. We determined the muscle forces, joint contact force, and glenohumeral translation for radial mismatches from 1 mm to 20 mm with the shoulder positioned from 20° to 60° of scaption. RESULTS: As the radial mismatch increased, the contact location of the humeral head moved posteriorly and inferiorly. The middle deltoid force decreased by 3%, while the supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscle forces increased by 9% and 11%, respectively. The joint contact force remained relatively constant. CONCLUSIONS: Increased posterior glenohumeral translations were observed with increased radial mismatch. Clinical observations of posterior translation may be attributed to the balancing forces of the middle deltoid, infraspinatus, and supraspinatus muscles. High radial mismatches may lead to eccentric posterior loading on the glenoid component, which could lead to implant loosening and failure.

Load transfer after cemented total shoulder arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: Glenoid loosening is the primary reason for failure after a total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA), but the failure mechanism is not yet known. This study determined how the load transfer and stress distribution are affected by the introduction of a glenoid implant. METHODS: We developed a finite-element model of a scapula with and without a virtually implanted modern glenoid prosthesis design. Two load magnitudes were considered: normal and high. Loading locations were simulated at the center and at 4 eccentric positions on the glenoid. A metal-backed implant was also simulated to understand the effect of fixation stiffness. RESULTS: In the intact glenoid, for both center and eccentric loading, the majority of stress was distributed in the cancellous bone, whereas after a reconstruction, stresses in that region were lower. Metal-backed implants further decreased the joint load carried by the bone. Stresses in the cement layer increased during eccentric and high-magnitude loading. CONCLUSION: This study provided a basic understanding of the load-sharing phenomenon after a TSA that could explain glenoid loosening failure. Our results suggest that with reconstruction of the glenoid with a contemporary implant, the load transfer pattern is significantly altered, with eccentric and high-magnitude loads increasing stresses in the cement indicating potential for failure. The use of a metal-backed implant reduces the load carried by the bone, which may be detrimental to long-term TSA survival.

Mesenchymal stem cells alleviate sepsis-induced acute lung injury by blocking neutrophil extracellular traps formation and inhibiting ferroptosis in rats.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is one of the most serious complications of sepsis, characterized by high morbidity and mortality rates. Ferroptosis has recently been reported to play an essential role in sepsis-induced ALI. Excessive neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) formation induces exacerbated inflammation and is crucial to the development of ALI. In this study, we explored the effects of ferroptosis and NETs and observed the therapeutic function of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on sepsis-induced ALI. First, we produced a cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) model of sepsis in rats. Ferrostain-1 and DNase-1 were used to inhibit ferroptosis and NETs formation separately, to confirm their effects on sepsis-induced ALI. Next, U0126 was applied to suppress the MEK/ERK signaling pathway, which is considered to be vital to NETs formation. Finally, the therapeutic effect of MSCs was observed on CLP models. The results demonstrated that both ferrostain-1 and DNase-1 application could improve sepsis-induced ALI. DNase-1 inhibited ferroptosis significantly in lung tissues, showing that ferroptosis could be regulated by NETs formation. With the inhibition of the MEK/ERK signaling pathway by U0126, NETs formation and ferroptosis in lung tissues were both reduced, and sepsis-induced ALI was improved. MSCs also had a similar protective effect against sepsis-induced ALI, not only inhibiting MEK/ERK signaling pathway-mediated NETs formation, but also alleviating ferroptosis in lung tissues. We concluded that MSCs could protect against sepsis-induced ALI by suppressing NETs formation and ferroptosis in lung tissues. In this study, we found that NETs formation and ferroptosis were both potential therapeutic targets for the treatment of sepsis-induced ALI, and provided new evidence supporting the clinical application of MSCs in sepsis-induced ALI treatment.

Determination and characterization of oxy-naphthenic acids in oilfield wastewater.

Oxy-naphthenic acids (oxy-NAs) are one of the major components of NA mixtures in wastewaters from petroleum industries. The limited available data indicated that oxy-NAs were considered as a potential marker for the degradation of NAs, and some oxy-NAs exhibited endocrine disrupting activities. However, the lack of information on the structures and occurrences of oxy-NAs in oilfield wastewaters limited the interpretations of the biotransformation pathways of NAs and structure-specific toxicity. A sensitive method for simultaneous determination of oxy-NAs together with NAs was developed by combining MAX extraction column and UPLC-ESI(-)-QTOF-MS. The 2000-fold SPE preconcentration step was highly specific for acids and the prewash solvent greatly reduced matrix effects in the UPLC-ESI(-)-QTOF-MS analysis, resulting in an increase in sensitivity down to detection limits in the ng/L range. To provide structural information within each oxy-NA isomer class, a new method was developed by derivatizing oxy-NAs with dansyl chloride by UPLC-ESI(+)-QTOF-MS. The molecular ion dansyl derivatives from the corresponding oxy-NAs and characteristic fragmentation ions, not detected before derivatization, were observed in the extracts of oilfield wastewater, providing evidence that O3-NAs and O4-NAs were mainly composed of OH-NAs and (OH)2-NAs, respectively. Semiquantification of oxy-NAs and NAs in various oilfield wastewaters revealed NAs, O3-NAs, and O4-NAs present at concentrations of 187-397, 44-146, and 40-108 µg/L, respectively. Significantly different profiles of NA mixtures were observed in petroleum refinery wastewater and oil sands extraction water, but the profile of oxy-NAs was similar to NAs in different wastewaters suggesting the existence of biotransformation between NAs and oxy-NAs in the environment, and hydroxylation could be one of the major biotransformation pathways of NAs.

Response of activated sludge to the treatment of oxytetracycline production waste stream.

To investigate how the microbial community in activated sludge responded to high antibiotic levels, a bench-scale aerobic wastewater treatment system was used to treat oxytetracycline (OTC) mother liquor (OTC-ML). Removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand decreased from 64.9 to 51.0 % when the OTC level increased from 191.6 to 620.5 mg/L, respectively. According to the cloning results, Psychrobacter and Cryptophyta were the dominant bacterium and eukaryote in the inoculated sludge, respectively, both of which related to low temperature. After OTC exposure, Alphaproteobacteria and Betaproteobacteria became the dominant bacteria, with a small proportion of Firmicutes, Actinobacteria appeared, and fungi (mainly Saccharomycotina) became the dominant eukaryotes, indicating the possible functions of these microorganisms in the wastewater treatment of OTC-ML. The relative abundance of nine tetracycline resistance genes and four mobile elements (class 1 integron, class 2 integron, transposon Tn916/1545, and pattern 1 insertion sequence common region) significantly increased from undetectable to 2.1 × 10(-3) in the inoculated sludge to 1.7 × 10(-4)-9.8 × 10(-1) in sludge exposed to 620.5 mg/L OTC by using real-time PCR. The variety of gene cassette arrays of class 1 integron in the sludge samples increased with increasing OTC exposure concentration.

Identifying the critical activated carbon properties affecting the adsorption of effluent organic matter from bio-treated coking wastewater.

Activated carbon is widely used to remove effluent organic matter (EfOM) from bio-treated coking wastewater. However, the critical carbon properties affecting adsorption performance are still unclear. Nine commercial powdered activated carbons (PACs) with different pore structures, surface functional groups, and surface charges were used to adsorb EfOM from bio-treated coking wastewater, which was fractionated according to their molecular weight (MW) and hydrophobicity. Good correlations were observed between the adsorption of biopolymers (MW > 20,000 Da, 7 %) and macropore volume (>50 nm), as well as between the adsorption of humics (MW = 1000 ~ Da, 36 %) and mesopore volume (2-50 nm), suggesting that the adsorption sites of EfOM depended on their molecular size. Higher isoelectric points and fewer acidic groups promoted the adsorption of the most negatively charged hydrophobic acids (HPOA, 39.5 %). According to variation partitioning analysis (VPA), mesopore-macropore greatly contributed to the adsorption capacities of EfOM (71.3 %), whereas the sum of phenolic hydroxyl and carboxyl (26.3 %) and isoelectric point (12.2 %) affected the normalized adsorption capacities of EfOM. In conclusion, PAC with a higher mesopore volume, fewer acidic groups, and a higher isoelectric point was desirable for removing EfOM from bio-treated coking wastewater. This study provides guidance for the selection of PAC for the removal of EfOM from bio-treated coking wastewater.