Enhanced sequestration of Pb2+ and Cu2+ by Artemia cyst shell supported nano-Mg composite and the potential photocatalytic performance of carbonized exhausted-adsorbent.

This study reported a new strategy for enhanced Pb2+ and Cu2+ sequestration by Artemia cyst shell (shell) supported nano-Mg from aqueous solutions and the carbonated exhausted-adsorbents sequenced potential application in photo-catalyst, which obtained two expected results. One is that the immobilization of nano-Mg onto Artemia cyst shell (shell-Mg) can greatly strengthen the adsorption effect of the neat cyst shell on Pb2+ and Cu2+. The adsorption capacities of shell-Mg for both metal ions reached to 622.01 and 313.91 mg/g, which was 10-15 and 30-50 times that of the neat shell respectively. And shell-Mg has strong selectivity, which was approximately 2-4 times that of shell. The shell-Mg can be used to retrieve Pb2+ and Cu2+ from aqueous solutions efficiently. Another is that the carbonated exhausted-adsorbents (C-shell-Mg-Pb and C-shell-Mg-Cu) showed their potential photocatalytic degradation effects on congo red under pH = 4 condition, the decolorization rate reached to 61.19% and 80.39% respectively. Reuse of exhausted adsorbents can avoid the secondary pollution caused by the regeneration, extend the utilization value of exhausted adsorbents, and provide a new viewpoint for the reuse of spent bio-nanomaterial adsorbents.

Enhancing humification and microbial interactions during co-composting of pig manure and wine grape pomace: The role of biochar and Fe2O3.

Phenol-rich wine grape pomace (WGP) improves the conversion of pig manure (PM) into humic acid (HA) during composting. However, the impact of using combinations of Fe2O3 and biochar known to promote compost maturation remains uncertain. This research explored the individual and combined influence of biochar and Fe2O3 during the co-composting of PM and WGP. The findings revealed that Fe2O3 boosts microbial network symbiosis (3233 links), augments the HA yield to 3.38 by promoting polysaccharide C-O stretching, and improves the germination index to 124.82 %. Limited microbial interactions, increased by biochar, resulted in a lower HA yield (2.50). However, the combination weakened the stretching of aromatics and quinones, which contribute to the formation of HA, resulting in reduced the humification to 2.73. In addition, Bacillus and Actinomadura were identified as pivotal factors affecting HA content. This study highlights Fe2O3 and biochar's roles in phenol-rich compost humification, but combined use reduces efficacy.

Efficient Iodine Removal by Porous Biochar-Confined Nano-Cu2O/Cu0: Rapid and Selective Adsorption of Iodide and Iodate Ions.

Iodine is a nuclide of crucial concern in radioactive waste management. Nanomaterials selectively adsorb iodine from water; however, the efficient application of nanomaterials in engineering still needs to be developed for radioactive wastewater deiodination. Artemia egg shells possess large surface groups and connecting pores, providing a new biomaterial to remove contaminants. Based on the Artemia egg shell-derived biochar (AES biochar) and in situ precipitation and reduction of cuprous, we synthesized a novel nanocomposite, namely porous biochar-confined nano-Cu2O/Cu0 (C-Cu). The characterization of C-Cu confirmed that the nano-Cu2O/Cu0 was dispersed in the pores of AES biochar, serving in the efficient and selective adsorption of iodide and iodate ions from water. The iodide ion removal by C-Cu when equilibrated for 40 min exhibited high removal efficiency over the wide pH range of 4 to 10. Remarkable selectivity towards both iodide and iodate ions of C-Cu was permitted against competing anions (Cl-/NO3-/SO42-) at high concentrations. The applicability of C-Cu was demonstrated by a packed column test with treated effluents of 1279 BV. The rapid and selective removal of iodide and iodate ions from water is attributed to nanoparticles confined on the AES biochar and pore-facilitated mass transfer. Combining the advantages of the porous biochar and nano-Cu2O/Cu0, the use of C-Cu offers a promising method of iodine removal from water in engineering applications.

Risk assessment of Artemia egg shell-Mg-P composites as a slow-release phosphorus fertilizer during its formation and application in typical heavy metals contaminated environment.

Artemia egg shell loaded with nano-magnesium (shell-Mg) can be used to recover phosphorus from wastewater. The exhausted Artemia egg shell-Mg (denoted as shell-Mg-P) can be used as a slow-release fertilizer for phosphorus reuse. However, due to the coexistence of heavy metal ions in the environment, the application of slow-release fertilizer for phosphorus removal and reuse may have potential risks. In this paper, the potential risks of Pb2+, Cd2+, Zn2+ and Cu2+ in phosphorus wastewater and soil were studied from the formation and application process of shell-Mg-P. The result showed that shell-Mg adsorbed Pb2+, Cd2+, Zn2+ and Cu2+ in phosphate wastewater during the formation of shell-Mg-P and became shell-Mg-P-metal hybrid biomaterial. Although the experiment proved that the existence of heavy metal ions did not affect the phosphorus slow-release behavior of slow-release fertilizer, but the heavy metal ions in the shell-Mg-P-metal were also slow released. The pot experiment results confirmed that the slow-release phosphorus fertilizers (shell-Mg-P and shell-Mg-P-metal) in the soil polluted in low concentration of heavy metals can reduce the amount of heavy metals in whole wheat seedlings and promote wheat seedling growth. However, the application of slow-release fertilizers increased the translocation efficiency (TFR to SL) of metal from root (R) to aboveground part (stem and leaves, SL), promoted the transportation of heavy metals from roots to the stems and leaves, and increased the safety risk of the wheat seedling edible. Therefore, besides the positive role of slow-release fertilizers in retaining heavy metals and reducing the amount of heavy metals in whole seedlings, the risk that it may aggravate the translocation of heavy metals to stems and leaves should be paid more attention, so as to ensure the safe and reliable application of slow-release fertilizers.

Increasing the hydrophyte removal rate of dissolved inorganic phosphorus using a novel Fe-Mg-loaded activated carbon hydroponic substrate with adsorption-release dual functions.

At present, the plant floating bed is mostly used to remediate aquaculture tail water since its obvious advantage of eco-friendly. However, there is still the problem of low phosphorus removal efficiency due to the balance between the floating bed coverage area and the aquaculture area, as well as the phosphorus content fluctuation in water. To solve this problem, a phosphorus-controlling hydroponic substrate prepared from granular activated carbon loaded with nanoiron-magnesium hydroxide (AC-Fe-Mg) was prepared, and the phosphorus adsorption and slow-release performance of AC-Fe-Mg were evaluated. Moreover, the effect of the combination of AC-Fe-Mg and I. pseudacorus L. on phosphorus purification was studied. AC-Fe-Mg exhibited superior adsorption and release ability for phosphorus without substantial interference from coexisting substances such as Cl-, NO3-, HCO3- and humic acid (HA) within the pH range of 5-9. Finally, the phosphorus removal rate reached 98.66% under the combined effect of I. pseudacorus L. and AC-Fe-Mg at the initial P concentration of 20 mg L-1. At a high P-level, phosphorus was sequestered by AC-Fe-Mg and consumed as a growth nutrient by I. pseudacorus L. At a low P-level, phosphorus was released from AC-Fe-Mg and provided to I. pseudacorus L. The regulatory ability of AC-Fe-Mg can provide plants with continuous and stable phosphorus, and maintain the nitrogen-phosphorus ratio for plant demand. Thus, the dissolved inorganic phosphorus was controlled and efficiently removed. Accordingly, the novel AC-Fe-Mg with adsorption and slow-release dual functions can be used as a hydroponic substrate of emergent plants to improve water purification.

Efficient and sustainable phosphate removal from water by small-sized Al(OH)3 nanocrystals confined in discarded Artemia Cyst-shell: Ultrahigh sorption capacity and rapid sequestration.

We reported a new strategy for efficient phosphate removal from wastewaters, it relies on the discarded Artemia Cyst-shell in-situ growth of Al(OH)3 nanocluster, the charged amino-acids components of skeleton make available for the small size of Al(OH)3 formation (< 10 nm) with high activity, and the three-dimensional porous structure of discarded matrix provides fast kinetics and efficient Al(OH)3 nanoparticles utilization. These hybrid adsorbents exhibit ultrahigh capacity (850.5 mg/g) and fast kinetics (~2 min) by recent ten-years (2011-2020) survey, the superior selectivity against various foreign ions, with a distribution coefficient (Kd) as high as 4820 mL/g, the porous structure and fast kinetics also accelerate the phosphate accessibility, yielding a satisfactory capacity of ~3000 L/kg sorbent (Artemia CS-Al) for the application, even varying at high feeding-speeds. The saturated adsorbent can be readily regenerated and reused without decrease in performance, this technology is promising for mitigating the contamination problem of excess phosphate worldwide.

A review of biopolymer (Poly-ß-hydroxybutyrate) synthesis in microbes cultivated on wastewater.

The large quantities of non-degradable single use plastics, production and disposal, in addition to increasing amounts of municipal and industrial wastewaters are among the major global issues known today. Biodegradable plastics from biopolymers such as Poly-ß-hydroxybutyrates (PHB) produced by microorganisms are potential substitutes for non-degradable petroleum-based plastics. This paper reviews the current status of wastewater-cultivated microbes utilized in PHB production, including the various types of wastewaters suitable for either pure or mixed culture PHB production. PHB-producing strains that have the potential for commercialization are also highlighted with proposed selection criteria for choosing the appropriate PHB microbe for optimization of processes. The biosynthetic pathways involved in producing microbial PHB are also discussed to highlight the advancements in genetic engineering techniques. Additionally, the paper outlines the factors influencing PHB production while exploring other metabolic pathways and metabolites simultaneously produced along with PHB in a bio-refinery context. Furthermore, the paper explores the effects of extraction methods on PHB yield and quality to ultimately facilitate the commercial production of biodegradable plastics. This review uniquely discusses the developments in research on microbial biopolymers, specifically PHB and also gives an overview of current commercial PHB companies making strides in cutting down plastic pollution and greenhouse gases.

STAT4-mediated down-regulation of miR-3619-5p facilitates stomach adenocarcinoma by modulating TBC1D10B.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) as the subtype of non-coding RNAs are revealed to be crucial players in cellular activities. It has been reported that miR-3619-5p functions as a tumor inhibitor in several cancers. However, the connection between miR-3619-5p and stomach adenocarcinoma (STAD) remains to be discovered. AIM OF THE STUDY: The purpose of the study is to figure out the role and molecular regulation mechanism of miR-3619-5p in STAD. METHODS: The expression of miR-3619-5p was evaluated via qRT-PCR analysis. Gain-of-function experiments demonstrated the effects of miR-3619-5p on cellular functions. The upper-stream transcription factor STAT4 and downstream target gene TBC1D10B of miR-3619-5p were identified by bioinformatic analysis. The binding and interaction between the indicated molecules were verified by RNA pull-down and luciferase reporter assays. RESULTS: The expression of miR-3619-5p was prominently down-regulated in STAD cells and tissues. MiR-3619-5p suppresses cell proliferation, migration, invasion and tumor growth in STAD. Further, STAT4 bound with miR-3619-5p promoter and inhibited its transcription. MiR-3619-5p was also recognized to modulate STAD progression through the regulation of downstream target gene TBC1D10B. CONCLUSION: STAT4-mediated miR-3619-5p controls STAD carcinogenesis and progression through modulating TBC1D10B expression, which may provide a novel insight for researching the STAD-related molecular mechanism.

Variation of pCO2 concentrations induced by tropical cyclones "Wind-Pump" in the middle-latitude surface oceans: A comparative study.

The Bermuda Testbed Mooring (BTM) and Bay of Bengal Ocean Acidification (BOBOA) mooring measurements were used to identify changes in the partial pressure of CO2 at the sea surface (pCO2sea) and air-sea CO2 fluxes (FCO2) associated with passage of two tropical cyclones (TCs), Florence and Hudhud. TC Florence passed about 165 km off the BTM mooring site with strong wind speeds of 24.8 m s-1 and translation speed of 7.23 m s-1. TC Hudhud passed about 178 km off the BOBOA mooring site with wind speeds of 14.0 m s-1 and translation speed of 2.58 m s-1. The present study examined the effect of temperature, salinity, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), total alkalinity (TA), air-sea CO2 flux, and phytoplankton chlorophyll a change on pCO2sea as a response to TCs. Enhanced mixed layer depths were observed due to TCs-induced vertical mixing at both mooring sites. Decreased pCO2sea (-15.16±5.60 µatm) at the BTM mooring site and enhanced pCO2sea (14.81±7.03 µatm) at the BOBOA mooring site were observed after the passage of Florence and Hudhud, respectively. Both DIC and TA are strongly correlated with salinity in the upper layer of the isothermal layer depth (ILD). Strong (weak) vertical gradient in salinity is accompanied by strong (weak) vertical gradients in DIC and TA. Strong vertical salinity gradient in the upper layer of the ILD (0.031 psu m-1), that supply much salinity, dissolved inorganic carbon and total alkalinity from the thermocline was the cause of the increased pCO2sea in the BOBOA mooring water. Weak vertical salinity gradient in the upper layer of the ILD (0.003 psu m-1) was responsible for decreasing pCO2sea in the BTM mooring water. The results of this study showed that the vertical salinity gradient in the upper layer of the ILD is a good indicator of the pCO2sea variation after the passages of TCs.

Natural iron embedded hierarchically porous carbon with thin-thickness and high-efficiency microwave absorption properties.

The traditional strategy for fabricating transition metal/carbon composite microwave absorbing materials (MAMs) is to combine different metallic salts and carbon precursors via various techniques, in which raw material waste and environmental pollution are inevitable. In this work, without addition of any metallic salts, natural iron embedded hierarchically porous carbon (HPC) composites are synthesized for the first time via facile pyrolysis and subsequent "reductive activation" with KOH. Using KOH to react with carbon to generate H2 can not only generate abundant nanoscale structures in the composites, but also in situ reduce the natural iron present in the bio-precursor to Fe nanoparticles, which facilitates the interfacial polarization and conductive loss of samples considerably. In turn, the modulation of graphitization degree could be realized by simply adjusting the ingredient ratio. Due to the synergistic effect between porosity and graphitization degree, the impedance matching of composites can be well regulated. The reflection loss of HPC-1 achieves -53.6 dB and the effective absorption bandwidth can cover the whole X and Ku bands with a thickness of only 1.4-2.4 mm. This study may pave a way to research on using bio-precursors rich in iron to synthesize high-efficiency and thin-thickness microwave absorbers and promote the diversified development of bio-derived materials in a gentle and facile way.

Facile preparation of a self-assembled Artemia cyst shell-TiO2-MoS2 porous composite structure with highly efficient catalytic reduction of nitro compounds for wastewater treatment.

The catalytic reduction of nitro compounds is currently a hot research area, how to efficiently and stably degrade such toxic and harmful substances has become the research goal of many researchers. In this work, an Artemia cyst shell (ACS)-TiO2-MoS2 ternary porous structure was proposed and prepared as a catalyst for the reduction of 2-nitroaniline (2-NA) and 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). The ACS has a large number of porous structures, exhibits a good binding ability with TiO2 and MoS2, and provides a large number of active sites for the catalytic reduction process. The obtained composite material has a good reduction effect on 4-NP and 2-NA, with a good stability and recyclability, which is obviously higher than the reduction effect of ACS-TiO2 and MoS2 under the same conditions. This work provides ideas for the design of porous catalytic materials.

Efficiency of Nannochloropsis oculata and Bacillus polymyxa symbiotic composite at ammonium and phosphate removal from synthetic wastewater.

Many issues, such as, DO accumulation, N2 fixation obstacle, and carbon dioxide diffusion, hamper the application of microalgae-alginate immobilization in wastewater treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the microalgae Nannochloropsis oculata immobilized with the bacterium Bacillus polymyxa in alginate on ammonium and phosphate removal from synthetic wastewater. Results show that the co-immobilized Bacillus-Nannochloropsis can exploit ammonium and phosphate from wastewater more effectively than the immobilized Nannochloropsis, and immobilized Bacillus alone. A significantly higher ammonium and phosphate removal efficiency was found in co-immobilized Bacillus-Nannochloropsis (59.85%, 90.44%) than of that in immobilized Nannochloropsis (49.56%, 77.36%), and Bacillus immobilized (31.46%, 29.66%) alone. Additionally, the most effective co-immobilization mixture ratio for wastewater treatment was found to contain equal suspension (108 cell/ml) volume of the Nannochloropsis and Bacillus. Nannochloris and Bacillus can coexist harmoniously with the symbiotic and synergistic relationship, and the Nannochloropsis oculata- Bacillus polymyxa combination can be useful as a potential method to develop novel wastewater treatment.

Benchmarking Toronto wastewater treatment plants using DEA window and Tobit regression analysis with a dynamic efficiency perspective.

The environmental-economic focus of wastewater treatment and management attracts growing attentions in recent years. The static efficiencies and their dynamic changes are helpful to systematically assess the environmental performance of the water agencies and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Additionally, identifying key factors of efficiencies is critical to improve the operation of WWTPs. In this study, the window method of data envelopment analysis (DEA) was applied to estimate the annual efficiency for four Canadian WWTPs and to explore the variations of annual efficiency under different window lengths. Meanwhile, the Tobit regression analysis was developed to determine the driving forces for WWTPs' efficiency. The empirical results showed that: (i) the selected DEA window length remarkably affected both the average efficiency and the variations; however, it had no impact on the ranking of plants' efficiency; (ii) lower efficiencies were observed in plants with larger capacities due to higher infrastructure and operation investments involved; (iii) both the influent total phosphorus concentrations and influent flow rates had significant effects on the WWTPs' performance. Moreover, the staff and utility expenditures should be reduced to generate greater potential cost savings and efficiency improvement given the treatment technologies employed.

Rationally designed porous polystyrene encapsulated zirconium phosphate nanocomposite for highly efficient fluoride uptake in waters.

Fluoride pollution in waters has engulfed worldwide regions and an excess of fluoride intake always causes skeletal fluorosis. Herein, a novel hybrid nanomaterial ZrP-MPN was fabricated for fluoride retention by encapsulating nano-ZrP onto macroporous polystyrene materials modified with quaternary ammonium groups. The as-obtained materials exhibited favorable removal of fluoride ions from aqueous solution in presence of common anions (SO4(2-)/NO3(-)/Cl(-)) at high contents. Moreover outstanding sorption properties were also detected by involving series of commercial adsorbents (AA/magnetite/GFH/manganese sands) as references. Such satisfactory performances might be ascribed to the structural design of nanocomposite. (1) the CH2N(+)(CH3)3Cl groups enhances sorption diffusion and preconcentration in sorbent phase theoretically based on Donnan membrane principle; (2) the embedded ZrP nanoparticles also devotes to the efficient adsorption capacities due to its size-dependent specific properties. Additionally, the exhausted ZrP-MPN could be regenerated readily by alkaline solution. Thus, ZrP-MPN was a promising material for fluoride retention in waters.

SnO2@Poly(HEMA-co-St-co-VPBA) core-shell nanoparticles designed for selectively enriching glycopeptides followed by MALDI-MS analysis.

The core-shell boronic-acid functionalized nanoparticles SnO(2)@Poly(HEMA-co-St-co-VPBA) are designed for selectively enriching glycopeptides, followed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) analysis. Such 60 nm sized core-shell nanoparticles are prepared by means of copolymerization between 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) grafted on SnO(2) nanoparticles, styrene, and 4-vinylphenylboronic acid (VPBA). All of the synthesis procedures are completed within 3 h. Cyclic boronate esters form between boronic-acid groups on the polymer chains and cis-diol groups on glycopeptides, and thus almost all intact glycopeptides from low-abundant horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and bovine asialofetuin (ASF) are enriched with high selectivity and efficiency. After enrichment, both intact N- and O-glycopeptides are characterized by multistage MS. Furthermore, we successfully apply this method to the human serum sample for characterizing the target glycoproteins haptoglobin and alpha-1-acid-glycoprotein. The present selective enriching method followed by multistage-MS analysis is proven to be a good choice for routine glycopeptide characterization.

Comparative observations on the cyst shells of seven Artemia strains from China.

The quiescent Artemia cysts of seven geographical origins in China were examined with scanning and transmission electron microscopes. SEM observations on cysts of these Artemia strains showed that the surface topography of cyst shells could be categorized into 6 types: complete smooth surface; smooth surface with sparsely distributed glabrate humps; surface with densely arranged wart-like humps that are composed of packed minute tubercles; rugged surface, with densely arranged tubercles not piling up to form larger humps; shallow-pocked surface; and surface with numerous and densely spaced pore-like fossulae. Some of the patterns were strain specific [e.g., cysts from Ga Hai (GH) are characterized by having a surface with wart-like ornaments that are composed of packed minute tubercles, rugged surface is only found in Chengkou (CK) cysts], and apparent intrastrain variation of cyst surface topography was found in Xizang (XZ), Jingyu Hu, and Xie Chi (SIN) strains. TEM studies on the ultrastructure of cyst shells revealed an apparent divergence in the structure of outer cuticular membrane (OCM) among Artemia strains. In CK, Aqqikkol Hu (AQK), SIN, and GH strains, it is a normal, asymmetrical, and multi-layered structure similar to those described in previous works. In XZ, JYH, and Lagkor Co (LGC) strains, however, the OCM is not obviously multi-layered and the borderlines between OCM and adjacent layers seem indistinct. The present results suggest that the diversity of the surface topography of Artemia cysts may be an available tool for identifying certain Artemia strains as well as for tracking the origins of some Artemia cysts, and the hypoplastic OCM may be a characteristic of the species A. tibetiana.