Comprehensive molecular analyses of a 7-m6A-related lncRNAs signature for prognosis, tumor immunity and therapeutic effect in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common form of liver tumor. m6A modification and noncoding RNA show indispensable roles in HCC. We sought to establish and verify an appropriate m6A-related long noncoding RNA prognostic tool for predicting hepatocellular carcinoma progression. We extracted the RNA expression levels and the clinicopathologic data from GTEx and TCGA databases. Multivariate Cox regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic curves were performed to test the model's predictive ability. We further built a nomogram for overall survival according to the risk score and clinical features. A competing endogenous RNA network and Gene Ontology assessment were implemented to identify related biological mechanisms and processes. By bioinformatics analysis, a risk model comprising GABPB1-AS1, AC025580.1, LINC01358, AC026356.1, AC009005.1, HCG15, and AC026368.1 was built to offer a prognostic prediction for hepatocellular carcinoma independently. The prognostic tool could better prognosticate hepatocellular carcinoma patients' survival than other clinical characteristics. Then, a nomogram with risk score and clinical characteristics was created, which had strong power to calculate the survival probability in hepatocellular carcinoma. The immune-associated processes involving the differentially expressed genes between the two subgroups were displayed. Analyses of prognosis, clinicopathological characteristics, tumor mutation burden, immune checkpoint molecules, and drug response showed significant differences among the two risk subtypes, hinting that the model could appraise the efficacy of immunotherapy and chemotherapy. The tool can independently predict the prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, which benefits drug selection in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

Footprints of total coliforms, faecal coliforms and E. coli in a wastewater treatment plant and the probabilistic assessment and reduction of E. coli infection risks.

Wastewater contains various pathogenic microorganisms, and the disease of workers caused by exposure to wastewater at the wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is a growing concern. The footprints of total coliforms (TC), faecal coliforms (FC) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) in a conventional activated sludge WWTP during 12 consecutive months were clarified. It was found that TC, FC and E.coli in influent were significantly removed (log 4.71, log 4.43 and log 4.62, respectively) by WWTP with sand filtration playing a key role, and excess sludge was a major potential pathway for them flowing to the environment. Through quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA), hand-to-mouth ingestion of untreated wastewater and wastewater in secondary/efficient sedimentation tanks, as well as accidental ingestion of sludge in dewatering workshop presented the highest infection risks of pathogenic E.coli in the WWTP, considerably exceeded the U.S. EPA benchmark (≤1 × 10-4 pppy). PPE application and E.coli concentration reduction in wastewater or sludge were recommended to reduce the infection risks at these stages. Further, partial ozonation and dissolved ozone flotation thickening were investigated able to reduce the infection risks at the stages of secondary and tertiary treatment of wastewater or sludge treatment by 90- 98 %. The findings of this study would assist in selecting appropriate processes for the further sanitation of WWTPs.

New strategy of drinking water sludge as conditioner to enhance waste activated sludge dewaterability: Collaborative disposal.

Drinking water sludge (DWS) and waste activated sludge (WAS) are usually treated separately. With the continuous deepening understanding of the characteristics of two types sludge, the research and application of the collaborative disposal is worth considering. The heated modification DWS (HDWS) rich in inorganic matter and aluminum (Al2O3) can be used as a conditioner to enhance WAS dewaterability using its properties with physical skeleton and chemically catalyzed ozone (O3). The results showed that the minimum values of capillary water time (CST) and specific resistance filtration (SRF) for WAS were 20.9±2.40 s and 1.07±0.19×1013 m/kg at pH=4, O3 dosage=60 mg/g VS and HDWS dosage=700 mg/g VS, corresponding to the reduction of sludge cake water content (Wc) to 60.37±0.97 %. The mechanism of HDWS+O3 enhanced WAS dewaterability was systematically elucidated through pyridine-infrared analysis and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The surface of Al2O3 in HDWS had more Lewis acidic sites, and the oxygen atoms of O3 combined with Al atoms to form Al-O bonds and undergo electron transfer, while O3 molecules dissociated to produce more hydroxyl radicals (·OH). With the oxidation of ·OH, the extra-microcolony/cellular polymers (EMPS/ECPS) structure were destroyed and became looser, promoting the conversion of internal moisture to free moisture. Zeta potential tended to zero, particle size increased, and the surface was more hydrophobic. Correlation analysis revealed that the component content, protein (PN) secondary structure and molecular weight (MW) in ECPS were positively and more strongly correlated with the sludge dewaterability compared to EMPS. The discovery of HDWS+O3 applied to effectively enhance WAS dewaterability provided an inspiring perspective on the emerging DWS and WAS co-processing disposition.

Insights into the effect mechanism of back-mixing inoculation on sewage sludge biodrying process: Biodrying characteristics and microbial community succession.

Back mixing was frequently used to replace conventional bulking agenting, however, however, the internal effect mechanism was unclear. This study compared four bulking agents: mushroom residue (MR), MR + primary BM (BM-P), BM-P, and secondary BM (BM-S). The effect mechanism of back mixing (BM) inoculation was assessed based on biodrying performance and microbial community succession. Four trials (Trial A, Trial B, Trial C, and Trial D) reached maximum temperatures of 61.9, 68.8, 73.7, and 69.9 °C on days 6, 3, 2, and 2, respectively. Application of BM increased pile warming rate and resulted in higher temperatures. Temperature changes and microbial competition lead to decline in microbial diversity and richness during the biodrying process. Microbial diversity increased of four biodried products. The number of microorganisms shared by Trial A, Trial B, Trial C, and Trial D were 90, 119, 224, and 300, respectively. The addition of BM improved microbial community stability, and facilitating the initiation of biodrying process. Microbial genera that played an important role in the biodrying process included Ureibacillus, Bacillus, Sphaerobacter, and Tepidimicrobium. Based on these results, it was concluded that BM was efficient method to enhanced the microbial activity and reduced the usage of bulking agent.

Life-cycle assessment of two sewage sludge-to-energy systems based on different sewage sludge characteristics: Energy balance and greenhouse gas-emission footprint analysis.

Anaerobic digestion and incineration are widely used sewage sludge (SS) treatment and disposal approaches to recovering energy from SS, but it is difficult to select a suitable technical process from the various technologies. In this study, life-cycle assessments were adopted to compare the energy- and greenhouse gas- (GHG) emission footprints of two sludge-to-energy systems. One system uses a combination of AD with incineration (the AI system), whereas the other was simplified by direct incineration (the DI system). Comparison between three SS feedstocks (VS/TS: 57.61 -73.1 ds.%) revealed that the AI system consistently outperformed the DI system. The results of sensitivity analyses showed that the energy and GHG emission performances were mainly affected by VS content of the SS, AD conversion efficiency, and the energy consumption of sludge drying. Furthermore, the energy and GHG emission credit of the two systems increased remarkably with the increase in the VS content of the SS. For the high-organic-content sludge (VS/TS: 55%-80%), the energy and GHG emission credit of the AI system increase with the increase of AD conversion efficiency. However, for the low organic content sludge (VS/TS: 30%-55%), it has the opposite effect. In terms of energy efficiency and GHG performance, the AI system is a good choice for the treatment of high-organic-content sludge (VS/TS>55%), but DI shows superiority over AI when dealing with low organic content sludge (VS/TS<55%).

[In-situ Sludge Reduction Technology Based on Ozonation].

The process parameters and sludge properties of an in-situ sludge ozone-reduction system were investigated under different ozone dosages and sludge ages. Subsequently, 75 mg·g-1 (as O3/MLVSS) was selected as the appropriate ozone dosage to satisfy the wastewater treatment capacity and in-situ sludge ozone-reduction. The calibration coefficient results of the sludge yield formula indicated that Yh was reduced from 0.331 g·g-1 to 0.326 g·g-1 (to MLVSS/COD m) by ozone treatment and Kd was increased from 0.046 d-1 to 0.050 d-1 at 75 mg·g-1. The effluent quality of the SBR system was satisfactory when the sludge age was 10 d. The ozone dosage of 75 mg·g-1 and sludge age of 10 d were selected as the appropriate process conditions, at which the excess sludge was reduced by 12%. The high-throughput sequencing results concluded that the microorganisms in the excess sludge after ozonation were different in phylum and genus. After ozone treatment, the abundance of Bacteroidetes increased by 1.2 times and the relative abundance of Proteobacteria with nitrification and denitrification ability decreased from 24% to 18%. The reduction in the abundance of nitrobacteria affected the denitrification capacity of the sewage treatment system, but the total effluent nitrogen still met the I B discharge standard of pollutants for municipal wastewater treatment plants. The relative abundance of Lactococcus increased from 0.4% to 21.6%. Simultaneously, the concentration of macromolecular organic substances in the EPS of the excess sludge increased from 40.6 mg·g-1 to 54.6 mg·g-1, while the CST increased from 15 s to 17 s after ozone treatment. The zeta potential decreased from -10.04 mV to -15.20 mV and the SVI of the excess sludge increased from 54 mL·g-1 to 62 mL·g-1, thereby indicating that the sedimentation performance and dewaterability were affected to some extent. However, the SS of the effluent and the solids content of the sludge cake after extraction did not change significantly, the system could still operate stably, and the subsequent dewaterability of the excess sludge was not significantly affected.

Identification of a novel CpG methylation signature to predict prognosis in lung squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: DNA methylation plays a vital role in modulating genomic function and warrants evaluation as a biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment of lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC). OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aimed to identify effective potential biomarkers for predicting prognosis and drug sensitivity in LUSC. METHODS: A univariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis, a random survival forests-variable hunting (RSFVH) algorithm, and a multivariate Cox regression analysis were adopted to analyze the methylation profile of patients with LUSC included in public databases: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), and the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). RESULTS: A methylated region consisting of 3 sites (cg06675147, cg07064331, cg20429172) was selected. Patients were divided into a high-risk group and a low-risk group in the training dataset. High-risk patients had shorter overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.72, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.82-4.07, P< 0.001) compared with low-risk patients. The accuracy of the prognostic signature was validated in the test and validation cohorts (TCGA, n= 94; GSE56044, n= 23). Gene set variation analysis (GSVA) showed that activity in the cell cycle/mitotic, ERBB, and ERK/MAPK pathways was higher in the high-risk compared with the low-risk group, which may lead to differences in OS.Interestingly, we observed that patients in the high-risk group were more sensitive to gemcitabine and docetaxel than the low-risk group, which is consistent with results of the GSVA. CONCLUSION: We report novel methylation sites that could be used as powerful tools for predicting risk factors for poorer survival in patients with LUSC.

Passivation of lead and cadmium and increase of the nutrient content during sewage sludge composting by phosphate amendments.

As an efficient and cost-effective biological treatment method for sewage sludge, composting has been widely used worldwide. To passivate heavy metals and enhance the nutrient content in compost, in the present study, phosphate rock, calcium magnesium phosphate, and monopotassium phosphate were added to the composting substrate. According to the Community Bureau of Reference sequential extraction procedure, phosphate rock and monopotassium phosphate amendments exhibit a good passivation effect on Cd and Pb. The X-ray diffraction patterns proved the formation of Pb3(PO4)2 and Cd5(PO4)2SiO4 crystals, and X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy illustrated the change in P speciation after phosphate amendment. Furthermore, phosphate amendment increased the contents of total P and available P, and it reduced the loss of N during sewage sludge composting. The germination index showed that the target phosphate amendments in sewage sludge compost had no negative effects on seed germination, and this method has great potential to be used as a soil amendment.

Perlite as the partial substitute for organic bulking agent during sewage sludge composting.

Composting is an efficient and cost-effective technology for sewage sludge treatment, and bulking agents are essential in sewage sludge composting. In this study, perlite was chosen as inorganic bulking agent to partially substitute for the organic bulking agent. Variations in the temperature, bulk density, moisture content, pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium were detected during sewage sludge composting. The treatment with a mass ratio of spent mushroom substrate to perlite at 3:1 exhibited the highest pile temperature and the best effect on reducing bulk density and moisture content. In addition, Fourier transform infrared spectra showed that perlite promotes the degradation of organic matter during the composting process, and the germination index showed that the compost from all treatments was safe for agricultural application. When the mass ratios of spent mushroom substrate and perlite at 3:1 and 2:2 were chosen as bulking agents, the sewage sludge compost product could be used to produce plant cultivation substrate, and economic benefits could be obtained from sewage sludge composting according to comprehensive cost analysis.

Preservation of nitrogen and sulfur and passivation of heavy metals during sewage sludge composting with KH2PO4 and FeSO4.

Composting is an effective method for treating sewage sludge. The aim of this work was to study preservation of nitrogen and sulfur and passivation of heavy metals during sewage sludge composting with KH2PO4 and FeSO4. The results show the loss rate of N decreased by 27.5% while that of S was increased by 32.1% compared with the control treatment during composting when KH2PO4 and FeSO4 were added. X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectra show that S was converted to a highly oxidizable state during sewage sludge composting with added KH2PO4. The mobility factors of Cu, Zn, and Pb after composting were found to decrease by 13.6%, 21.6%, and 3.8%, respectively, compared with those before composting when KH2PO4 was added. Adding these two materials to Cu and Zn inhibits Zn3(PO4)2(H2O)4 and Cu5(PO4)2(OH)4 from transforming into more mobile forms, while adding these materials to Pb promotes Pb3(PO4)2 formation.

Emission characteristics of VOCs and potential ozone formation from a full-scale sewage sludge composting plant.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are the major components of the odor emitted from sewage sludge composting plants and are generally associated with odorous nuisances and health risks. However, few studies have considered the potential ozone generation caused by VOCs emitted from sewage sludge composting plants. This study investigated the VOC emissions from a full-scale composting plant. Five major treatment units of the composting plant were chosen as the monitoring locations, including the dewatered room, dewatered sludge, blender room, fermentation workshop, and product units. The fermentation workshop units displayed the highest concentration of VOC emissions at 2595.7 ±â€¯1367.3 µg.m-3, followed by the blender room, product, dewatered sludge, and dewatered room units, whose emissions ranged from 142.2 ±â€¯86.8 µg.m-3 to 2107.6 ±â€¯1045.6 µg.m-3. The detected VOC families included oxygenated compounds, alkanes, alkenes, sulfide compounds, halogenated compounds, and aromatic compounds. Oxygenated compounds, particularly acetone, were the most abundant compounds in all samples. Principal component analysis revealed that the dewatered room and dewatered sludge units clustered closely, as indicated by their similar component emissions. The product units differed from the other sampling units, as their typical compounds were methanethiol, styrene, carbon disulfide, and hexane, all of which were the products of the latter stages of composting. Among the treatment units, the fermentation workshop units had the highest propylene equivalent (propy-equiv) concentration. Dimethyl disulfide and limonene were the major contributors. Limonene had the highest propy-equiv concentration, which contributed to the increased atmospheric reactivity and ozone formation potential in the surrounding air. To control the secondary environmental pollution caused by the VOC emissions during sewage sludge composting, the emission of limonene and dimethyl disulfide must be controlled from the blender room and fermentation workshop units.

Effect of phosphate amendments on improving the fertilizer efficiency and reducing the mobility of heavy metals during sewage sludge composting.

Composting has been globally applied as an effective and cost-efficient process to manage and reuse sewage sludge. In the present study, four different phosphates as well as a mixture of ferrous sulfate and monopotassium phosphate were used in sewage sludge composting. The results showed that these phosphate amendments promoted an increase in temperature and the degradation of organic matter as well as reduction on nitrogen loss during 18 days of composting. In addition, ferrous sulfate and phosphate had a synergistic effect on reducing nitrogen loss. The contents of total phosphorus and available phosphorus in the compost with addition of 1% phosphate were 40.9% and 66.1% higher than the compost with control treatment. Using the BCR (Community Bureau of Reference) sequential extraction procedure, the addition of calcium magnesium phosphate significantly reduced the mobility factor of Cd, Zn and Cu by 24.2%, 1.7% and 18.8%, respectively. The mobility factors of Pb were increased in all samples, but the monopotassium phosphate treated sample exhibited the greatest Pb passivation ability with the lowest mobility factor increase (1.8%) among all treatments. The X-ray diffraction patterns of compost samples indicated that the passivation mechanism of Cu and Zn may be the forming CuFeS2 and ZnCu(P2O7) crystals during sewage sludge composting. The germination index showed that the compost of all treatments was safe for agricultural application; the germination index of the calcium magnesium phosphate treatment was 99.9 ±â€¯11.8%, which was the highest among all treatments.

Application of ceramsite and activated alumina balls as recyclable bulking agents for sludge composting.

Composting is a major sludge-treatment method and bulking agents are very important in sludge composting. In this study, ceramsite and activated alumina balls were chosen as recyclable bulking agents for sludge composting. Variations in the temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter, dissolved organic carbon, moisture content, and heavy metals were detected during composting with different bulking-agent treatments as well as differences in the germination index values. The results showed that both bulking agents could ensure the maturity of the compost; further, ceramsite treatment resulted in the best water removal efficiency. According to the sequential extraction procedure, both ceramsite and activated alumina balls could stabilize Cd but they also increased the mobility of Zn. After comparing the effects of different particle sizes of ceramsite on composting, 20 mm was determined to be the most optimal value. Additionally, the recovery rates of ceramsite and activated alumina balls were 96.9% and 99.9%, respectively.

Oxygen Monitoring Equipment for Sewage-Sludge Composting and Its Application to Aeration Optimization.

Oxygen is an important parameter for organic-waste composting, and continuous control of the oxygen in a composting pile may be beneficial. The oxygen consumption rate can be used to measure the degree of biological oxidation and decomposition of organic matter. However, without having a real-time online device to monitor oxygen levels in the composting pile, the adjustment and optimization of the composting process cannot be directly implemented. In the present study, we researched and developed such a system, and then tested its stability, reliability, and characteristics. The test results showed that the equipment was accurate and stable, and produced good responses with good repeatability. The equilibrium time required to detect oxygen concentration in the composting pile was 50 s, and the response time for oxygen detection was less than 2 s. The equipment could monitor oxygen concentration online and in real time to optimize the aeration strategy for the compost depending on the concentration indicated by the oxygen-measuring equipment.

Layer-by-layer immobilized catalase on electrospun nanofibrous mats protects against oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide.

Catalase, a kind of redox enzyme and generally recognized as an efficient agent for protecting cells against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced cytotoxicity. The immobilization of catalase was accomplished by depositing the positively charged chitosan and the negatively charged catalase on electrospun cellulose nanofibrous mats through electrospining and layer-by-layer (LBL) techniques. The morphology obtained from Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) indicated that more orderly arranged three-dimension (3D) structure and roughness formed with increasing the number of coating bilayers. Besides, the enzyme-immobilized nanofibrous mats were found with high enzyme loading and activity, moreover, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results further demonstrated the successful immobilization of chitosan and catalase on cellulose nanofibers support. Furthermore, we evaluated the cytotoxicity induced by hydrogen peroxide in the Human umbilical vascular endothelial cells with or without pretreatment of nanofibrous mats by MTT assay, LDH activity and Flow cytometric evaluation, and confirmed the pronounced hydrogen peroxide-induced toxicity, but pretreatment of immobilized catalase reduced the cytotoxicity and protected cells against hydrogen peroxide-induced cytotoxic effects which were further demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) images. The data pointed toward a role of catalase-immobilized nanofibrous mats in protecting cells against hydrogen peroxide-induced cellular damage and their potential application in biomedical field.