Diagnostic value of tuberculosis-specific antigens ESAT-6 and CFP10 in lymph node tuberculosis.

Objective: To assess the diagnostic value of immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for detecting the tuberculosis-secreted antigens ESAT-6 and CFP10 in lymph node tuberculosis. Methods: Archived, paraffin-embedded lymph node specimens from 72 patients diagnosed with lymph node tuberculosis and 68 patients with lymphoma were retrospectively collected from the Department of Pathology at the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan Province, China between January 2016 and March 2023. These specimens were subjected to acid-fast and immunohistochemical staining to compare the effectiveness of these methods, with their sensitivity and specificity evaluated against a comprehensive reference standard. Results: Acid-fast staining demonstrated a sensitivity of 12.3% and a specificity of 100%. IHC staining for ESAT-6 showed a sensitivity of 87.5% and a specificity of 85.3%, whereas IHC staining for CFP10 exhibited a sensitivity of 75.0% and a specificity of 89.7%. Conclusion: The study indicates that IHC detection of ESAT-6 and CFP10 in paraffin-embedded lymph node tuberculosis tissues has a markedly higher sensitivity compared to acid-fast staining. Thus, IHC staining may serve as a supplementary diagnostic tool for the pathological evaluation of lymph node tuberculosis.

Effect of Mineral Powders on the Properties of Foam Concrete Prepared by Cationic and Anionic Surfactants as Foaming Agents.

Foam concrete is a type of cement mortar in which air bubbles are introduced using an appropriate foaming agent. The complex conditions for the preparation of solid particle stabilized foams limit their wide application in construction. In this study, a method of adding small amounts of calcite (Cal) and muscovite (Mus) to the cement paste matrix is proposed to improve the properties of foam concrete prepared with cationic and anionic surfactants as foaming agents. The effects of mineral powders on the flowability, compressive strength, water absorption, pore characteristics, thermal conductivity and frost resistance of foam concrete were investigated and the enhancement mechanism was revealed by the results of XRD, low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and SEM. The results showed that the mineral powders interacted with anionic and cationic surfactants through physical adsorption. Whether anionic or cationic surfactants were used as foaming agents, the addition of mineral powders promoted the formation of shell-like structures around the foam, thus enhancing the performance of foam concrete. As a result, the fluidity, compressive strength and frost resistance of the foam concrete increased, the water absorption and thermal conductivity decreased, and the average size of the pores decreased.

Dose-response relationship of levodopa with dyskinesia in Parkinson's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Despite existing evidence linking dyskinesia to levodopa, the primary treatment for Parkinson's, the dose-response relationship and risk factors remain uncertain. In this study, the risk for dyskinesia in patients with Parkinson's disease receiving levodopa was evaluated via meta-analysis and meta-regression approaches to examine dyskinesia risk factors more reliably and improve treatment strategies and patient care. The PubMed and Embase databases were searched to identify randomized controlled trials comparing levodopa with other anti-Parkinson's drugs published in English before June 31, 2023. The primary outcome was dyskinesia, and a risk of bias assessment was performed. In total, 24 studies met the inclusion criteria; 21 had a low risk of bias, and 3 had a high risk of bias. These studies included 4698 patients with Hoehn and Yahr Grade I-III Parkinson's disease. Our meta-analysis showed that the risk of dyskinesia was higher for levodopa than for other anti-Parkinson's drugs (odds ratio: 2.52 [95% confidence interval: 1.84-3.46]). Dyskinesia was not related to age (slope coefficient: 0.185 [0.095]; P = 0.061), disease duration (slope coefficient: 0.011 [0.018]; P = 0.566), or treatment duration (slope coefficient: 0.008 [0.007]; P = 0.216). The mean levodopa equivalent dose (slope coefficient: 0.004 [0.001]; P = 0.001) in the experimental group and the differences in drug doses between the experimental and control groups were correlated with the risk of dyskinesia. Results of randomized controlled trials supported an association between the levodopa dose and dyskinesia in patients with Parkinson's disease. Compared with levodopa users, users of other anti-Parkinson's drugs had a lower incidence of dyskinesia. Age, disease duration, and treatment duration were not correlated with dyskinesia. These findings suggest that anti-Parkinson's drugs other than levodopa, particularly in cases of early-stage Parkinson's disease, should be considered to reduce the risk of dyskinesia.

Computer-assisted image analysis of preexisting histological patterns of the cephalic vein to predict wrist arteriovenous fistula non-maturation.

BACKGROUND: We used computer-assisted image analysis to determine whether preexisting histological features of the cephalic vein influence the risk of non-maturation of wrist fistulas. METHODS: This study focused on patients aged 20-80 years who underwent their first wrist fistula creation. A total of 206 patients participated, and vein samples for Masson's trichrome staining were collected from 134 patients. From these, 94 patients provided a complete girth of the venous specimen for automatic image analysis. Maturation was assessed using ultrasound within 90 days after surgery. RESULTS: The collagen to muscle ratio in the target vein, measured by computer-assisted imaging, was a strong predictor of non-maturation in wrist fistulas. Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed an area under the curve of 0.864 (95% confidence interval of 0.782-0.946, p < 0.001). The optimal cut-off value for the ratio was 1.138, as determined by the Youden index maximum method, with a sensitivity of 89.0% and specificity of 71.4%. For easy application, we used a cutoff value of 1.0; the non-maturation rates for patients with ratios >1 and ≤ 1 were 51.7% (15 out of 29 patients) and 9.2% (6 out of 65 patients), respectively. Chi-square testing revealed significantly different non-maturation rates between the two groups (X2 (1, N = 94) = 20.9, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Computer-assisted image interpretation can help to quantify the preexisting histological patterns of the cephalic vein, while the collagen-to-muscle ratio can predict non-maturation of wrist fistula development at an early stage.

Dynamic microbiome disassembly and evolution induced by antimicrobial methylisothiazolinone in sludge anaerobic fermentation for volatile fatty acids generation.

In the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, various antimicrobials have emerged and concentrated in waste-activated sludge (WAS), affecting the biological treatment of WAS. However, there is still a knowledge gap in the dynamic response and adaptive mechanism of anaerobic microbiome under exogenous antimicrobial stress. This study found that methylisothiazolinone (MIT, as a typic antimicrobial) caused an interesting lag effect on the volatile fatty acids (VFAs) promotion in the WAS anaerobic fermentation process. MIT was effective to disintegrate the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), and those functional anaerobic microorganisms were easily exposed and negatively impacted by the MIT interference after the loss of protective barriers. Correspondingly, the ecological interactions and microbial metabolic functions related to VFA biosynthesis (e.g., pyruvate metabolism) were downregulated at the initial stage. The syntrophic consortia gradually adapted to the interference and attenuated the MIT stress by activating chemotaxis and resistance genes (e.g., excreting, binding, and inactivating). Due to the increased bioavailable substrates in the fermentation systems, the dominant microorganisms (i.e., Clostridium and Caloramator) with both VFAs production and MIT-tolerance functions have been domesticated. Moreover, MIT disrupted the syntrophic interaction between acetogens and methanogens and totally suppressed methanogens' metabolic activities. The VFA production derived from WAS anaerobic fermentation was therefore enhanced due to the interference of antimicrobial MIT stress. This work deciphered dynamic changes and adaptive evolution of anaerobic syntrophic consortia in response to antimicrobial stress and provided guidance on the evaluation and control of the ecological risks of exogenous pollutants in WAS treatment.

Novel calcium oxide activated peroxymonosulfate system for methylene blue removal: Identification of key influencing factors, transformation pathway and toxicity assessment.

The activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) has gained significant interest in the removal of organic pollutants. However, traditional methods usually suffer from drawbacks such as secondary contamination and high energy requirements. In this study, we propose a green and cost-effective approach utilizing calcium oxide (CaO) to activate PMS, aiming to construct a simple and reliable PMS based advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). The proposed CaO/PMS system achieved fast degradation of methylene blue (MB), where the degradation rate of CaO/PMS system (0.24 min-1) was nearly 2.67 times that of PMS alone (0.09 min-1). Under the optimized condition, CaO/PMS system exhibited remarkable durability against pH changes, co-exists ions or organic matters. Furthermore, singlet oxygen (1O2) was identified as the dominant reactive oxygen species by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and quenching tests. Accordingly, the degradation pathways of MB are proposed by combing the results of LC/MS analysis and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and the predicted ecotoxicity of the generated byproducts evaluated by EOCSAR could provide systematic insights into the fates and environmental risks of MB. Overall, the study provides an eco-friendly and effective strategy for treating dyeing wastewater, which should shed light on the application of PMS based AOPs.

Revealing the intrinsic nature of Ni-, Mn-, and Y-doped CeO2 catalysts with positive, additive, and negative effects on CO oxidation using operando DRIFTS-MS.

The catalytic activity of a transition metal (host) oxide can be influenced by doping with a second cation (dopant), but the key factors dominating the activity of the doped catalyst are still controversial. Herein, CeO2 doped with Ni, Mn, and Y catalysts prepared using aerosol pyrolysis were used to demonstrate the positive, negative, and additive effects on CO oxidation as a model reaction. Various characterization results indicated that Ni, Mn, and Y had been successfully doped into the CeO2 lattice. The catalytic activities of each catalyst for CO conversion were in the order of Ni-CeO2 > Mn-CeO2 > CeO2 > Y-CeO2. Operando DRIFTS-MS and various characterization methods were applied to reveal the intrinsic nature of the doping effects. The accumulation rate of the surface bidentate carbonates determined the CO oxidation. A definition to evaluate the doping effect was proposed, which is anticipated to be useful for developing a rational catalyst with a high CO oxidation activity. The CO oxidation reactivities displayed strong correlations with the surface factors obtained from operando DRIFTS-MS analysis and the structure factors from XPS and Raman analyses.

Insight into the Metal-Support Interaction of Pt and ß-MnO2 in CO Oxidation.

Pt-based catalysts exhibit unique catalytic properties in many chemical reactions. In particular, metal-support interactions (MSI) greatly improve catalytic activity. However, the current MSI mechanism between platinum (Pt) and the support is not clear enough. In this paper, the interaction of 1 wt% Pt nanoparticles (NPs) on ß-MnO2 in carbon monoxide (CO) oxidation was studied. The Pt on ß-MnO2 inhibited CO oxidation below 210 °C but promoted it above 210 °C. A Pt/ß-MnO2 catalyst contains more Pt4+ and less Pt2+. The results of operando DRIFTS-MS show that surface-terminal-type oxygen (M=O) plays an important role in CO oxidation. When the temperature was below 210 °C, Mn=O consumption on Pt/ß-MnO2 was less than ß-MnO2 due to Pt4+ inhibition on CO oxidation. When the temperature was above 210 °C, Pt4+ was reduced to Pt2+, and Mn=O consumption due to CO oxidation was greater than ß-MnO2. The interaction of Pt and ß-MnO2 is proposed.

Unveiling the Surface Chemical Reactions during Multi-Phase Catalytic Oxidation of Soot on Nanoengineering/Interfacing/Doping-Prepared Mn-CeO2 Catalysts Using TG-MS and Operando DRIFTS-MS.

The aerosol pyrolysis method from nitrate precursors was used to prepare the Mn-CeO2 catalyst containing Mn2O3, CeO2, and Mn-doped CeO2 nanoparticles for catalyzing carbonous soot oxidation. The prepared Mn-CeO2 catalysts have high specific surface areas, Ce3+ ratio, and oxygen vacancy defects; these are a benefit for soot oxidation. The T50 for soot oxidation on the 0.57Mn-CeO2 catalyst is as low as 355 °C, which is 329 °C lower than that for soot oxidation without a catalyst. The catalysts were characterized using XRD, SEM-EDS, HRTEM, XPS, Raman spectroscopy, H2-TPR-MS, O2-TPD-MS, soot-TPR-MS, and operando DRIFTS-MS. The functions of Mn2O3, CeO2, and Mn-doped CeO2 in the 0.57Mn-CeO2 catalyst are unveiled. Mn-doped CeO2 plays a key role and CeO2 participates in soot oxidation, while Mn2O3 is used to enhance higher ratios of Ce3+, via the reaction of Mn3+ + Ce4+ = Mn4+ + Ce3+. The mechanism of soot oxidation on Mn-CeO2 was proposed.

Distinct effects of chemical- and bio- flocculants on the sludge acidogenic fermentation for volatile fatty acids production by affecting the acidogenic steps, microbial community structure and metabolic functions.

Flocculants play crucial roles in sludge treatment, while the specific impact of chemical and bio-flocculants on sludge anaerobic fermentation was unknown. This study unveiled the contrasting effects of chitosan (CTS) and poly­aluminum chloride (PAC) on volatile fatty acids (VFAs) generation during sludge fermentation. CTS supplementation resulted in 17.2 % increase in VFAs production, while PAC exposure led to 7.6 % reduction compared to the control. Further investigation revealed that CTS facilitated sludge solubilization and hydrolysis, thus providing sufficient organic substrates for VFAs generation. Additionally, environmental-friendly CTS exposure positively influenced the abundance and activity of functional anaerobes, as well as the expression of genes associated with VFAs biosynthesis. In contrast, PAC exposure resulted in the formation of larger sludge flocs, which hindered WAS solubilization and hydrolysis. Meanwhile, its potential microbial toxicity also impeded the microbial metabolic activity (i.e., genetic expressions), resulting in unsatisfactory VFAs production.

Surfactant and antibiotic co-occurrence reshaped the acidogenic process for volatile fatty acids production during sludge anaerobic fermentation.

The overuse of surfactants and antibiotics has led to their high concentration in waste activated sludge (WAS), and these exogenous pollutants have been shown to pose various influences on the subsequent anaerobic treatment process. Previous works have primarily concerned the impacts of individual pollutants on WAS anaerobic fermentation process. This work revealed the synergetic effects of sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS) and sulfadiazine (SDZ) co-occurrence in WAS on the biosynthesis of volatile fatty acids (VFAs). The addition of SDBS in the SDZ reactor significantly increased VFAs generation, and this increase was correlated with the concentration of SDZ. The VFAs production exhibited a 200.0-211.9 % and 5.9-20.4 % increase in comparison with the sole SDZ and SDBS reactor, respectively. The SDBS and SDZ co-occurrence facilitated the solubilization, hydrolysis, and acidification stages of WAS fermentation synchronously. SDBS was effectively to disintegrate the cemented structure of extracellular polymeric substances and meanwhile improve the SDZ solubilization, which increase the SDZ bioavailability as well as biotoxicity to the anaerobic species. Herein, the anaerobic consortia structure was evidently reshaped, and the keystone microbes Acetoanaerobium and Fususibacter, as well-tolerated hydrolytic-acidogenic bacteria, were greatly enriched. Furthermore, the functional microbial metabolic traits responsible for the substrate extracellular hydrolysis (e.g., glsA and MAN2C1), intracellular metabolism (e.g., ALDO and asdA), and fatty acid generation (e.g., aarC) were all upregulated in the SDBS/SDZ co-occurrence reactor.

Sensing Method for Wet Spraying Process of Tunnel Wall Based on the Laser LiDAR in Complex Environment.

In tunnel lining construction, the traditional manual wet spraying operation is labor-intensive and can be challenging to ensure consistent quality. To address this, this study proposes a LiDAR-based method for sensing the thickness of tunnel wet spray, which aims to improve efficiency and quality. The proposed method utilizes an adaptive point cloud standardization processing algorithm to address differing point cloud postures and missing data, and the segmented Lamé curve is employed to fit the tunnel design axis using the Gauss-Newton iteration method. This establishes a mathematical model of the tunnel section and enables the analysis and perception of the thickness of the tunnel to be wet sprayed through comparison with the actual inner contour line and the design line of the tunnel. Experimental results show that the proposed method is effective in sensing the thickness of tunnel wet spray, with important implications for promoting intelligent wet spraying operations, improving wet spraying quality, and reducing labor costs in tunnel lining construction.

Boosting short-chain fatty acids production from co-fermentation of orange peel waste and waste activated sludge: Critical role of pH on fermentation steps and microbial function traits.

The anaerobic co-fermentation of orange peel waste (OPW) and waste activated sludge (WAS) for useful short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) generation presents an environmentally friendly and efficient method for their disposal. This study amied to investigate the effects of pH regulation on OPW/WAS co-fermentation, and found that the alkaline pH regulation (pH 9) significantly enhanced the promotion of SCFAs (11843 ± 424 mg COD/L), with a high proportion of acetate (51%). Further analysis revealed that alkaline pH regulation facilitated solubilization, hydrolysis, and acidification while simultaneously inhibiting methanogenesis. Furthermore, the functional anaerobes, as well as the expressions of corresponding gene involved in SCFAs biosynthesis, were generally improved under alkaline pH regulation. Alkaline treatment might played a critical role in alleviating the toxicity of OPW, resulting in improving microbial metabolic activity. This work provided an effective strategy to recover biomass waste as high-value products, and insightful understanding of microbial traits during OPW/WAS co-fermentation.

Reciprocal effects of NOM and solution electrolyte ions on aggregation of ferrihydrite nanoparticles.

The effects of natural organic matter (NOM) types and electrolyte ions are crucial to the aggregation of ferrihydrite nanoparticles (Fh NPs) in the environment. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) was employed for the aggregation kinetics of Fh NPs (10 mg/L as Fe) in the present study. The critical coagulation concentration (CCC) values of Fh NPs aggregation in NaCl were obtained in the presence of 15 mg C/L NOM as SRHA (857.4 mM) > PPHA (752.3 mM) > SRFA > (420.1 mM) > ESHA (141.0 mM) > NOM-free (125.3 mM), indicating Fh NPs aggregation was inhibited as the above order. Comparatively in CaCl2, the CCC values were measured in ESHA (0.9 mM), PPHA (2.7 mM), SRFA (3.6 mM), SRHA (5.9 mM), NOM-free (76.6 mM), implying NPs aggregation was enhanced following the order of ESHA > PPHA > SRFA > SRHA. To investigate the dominant mechanisms, the aggregation of Fh NPs was comprehensively studied under the effects of NOM types, concentrations (0-15 mg C/L) and electrolyte ions (NaCl/CaCl2 beyond CCC). In NaCl/CaCl2, the low concentration of NOM (<7.5 mg C/L) could accelerate NPs aggregation mainly due to patch-charge attraction. When NOM concentration was high (> 7.5 mg C/L), the inhibition effect on NPs aggregation occurred in NaCl due to steric repulsion, whereas the enhancement effect in CaCl2 of aggregation was dominated by the bridging effect. The results indicated that the effects of NOM types, concentration and electrolyte ions should be carefully considered for the environmental behavior of NPs.

Identifying Influential Nodes in Social Networks: Exploiting Self-Voting Mechanism.

The influence maximization (IM) problem is defined as identifying a group of influential nodes in a network such that these nodes can affect as many nodes as possible. Due to its great significance in viral marketing, disease control, social recommendation, and so on, considerable efforts have been devoted to the development of methods to solve the IM problem. In the literature, VoteRank and its improved algorithms have been proposed to select influential nodes based on voting approaches. However, in the voting process of these algorithms, a node cannot vote for itself. We argue that this voting schema runs counter to many real scenarios. To address this issue, we designed the VoteRank* algorithm, in which we first introduce the self-voting mechanism into the voting process. In addition, we also take into consideration the diversities of nodes. More explicitly, we measure the voting ability of nodes and the amount of a node voting for its neighbors based on the H-index of nodes. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is experimentally verified on 12 benchmark networks. The results demonstrate that VoteRank* is superior to the baseline methods in most cases.

DRIFTS-MS Investigation of Low-Temperature CO Oxidation on Cu-Doped Manganese Oxide Prepared Using Nitrate Aerosol Decomposition.

Cu-doped manganese oxide (Cu-Mn2O4) prepared using aerosol decomposition was used as a CO oxidation catalyst. Cu was successfully doped into Mn2O4 due to their nitrate precursors having closed thermal decomposition properties, which ensured the atomic ratio of Cu/(Cu + Mn) in Cu-Mn2O4 close to that in their nitrate precursors. The 0.5Cu-Mn2O4 catalyst of 0.48 Cu/(Cu + Mn) atomic ratio had the best CO oxidation performance, with T50 and T90 as low as 48 and 69 °C, respectively. The 0.5Cu-Mn2O4 catalyst also had (1) a hollow sphere morphology, where the sphere wall was composed of a large number of nanospheres (about 10 nm), (2) the largest specific surface area and defects on the interfacing of the nanospheres, and (3) the highest Mn3+, Cu+, and Oads ratios, which facilitated oxygen vacancy formation, CO adsorption, and CO oxidation, respectively, yielding a synergetic effect on CO oxidation. DRIFTS-MS analysis results showed that terminal-type oxygen (M=O) and bridge-type oxygen (M-O-M) on 0.5Cu-Mn2O4 were reactive at a low temperature, resulting in-good low-temperature CO oxidation performance. Water could adsorb on 0.5Cu-Mn2O4 and inhibited M=O and M-O-M reaction with CO. Water could not inhibit O2 decomposition to M=O and M-O-M. The 0.5Cu-Mn2O4 catalyst had excellent water resistance at 150 °C, at which the influence of water (up to 5%) on CO oxidation could be completely eliminated.

Zinc pyrithione induced volatile fatty acids promotion derived from sludge anaerobic digestion: Interrelating the affected steps with microbial metabolic regulation and adaptive responses.

The massive use of zinc pyrithione (ZPT, as broad-spectrum bactericides) resulted in its high levels in waste activated sludge (WAS) and affected subsequent WAS treatment. This work revealed the effects of ZPT on the volatile fatty acids (VFAs) during WAS anaerobic digestion, in which VFAs yield was enhanced by approximately 6-9 folds (from 353 mg COD/L in control to 2526-3318 mg COD/L with low level of ZPT (20-50 mg/g TSS)). The ZPT occurred in WAS enabled the acceleration of solubilization, hydrolysis and acidification processes while inhibited the methanogenesis. Also, the low ZPT contributed to the enrichment of functional hydrolytic-acidifying microorganisms (e.g., Ottowia and Acinetobacter) but caused the reduction of methanogens (e.g., Methanomassiliicoccus and Methanothrix). Meta-transcriptomic analysis demonstrated that the critical genes relevant to extracellular hydrolysis (i.e. CLPP and ZapA), membrane transport (i.e. gltI, and gltL), substrates metabolisms (i.e. fadj, and acd), and VFAs biosynthesis (i.e. porB and porD) were all upregulated by 25.1-701.3% with low level of ZPT. Specifically, the ZPT stimulus on amino acids metabolism for VFAs transformation was prominent over carbohydrates. Moreover, the functional species enabled to regulate the genes in QS and TCS systems to maintain favorable cell chemotaxis to adapt the ZPT stress. The cationic antimicrobial peptide resistance pathway was upregulated to blunt ZPT with the secretion of more lipopolysaccharide and activate proton pumps to maintain ions homeostasis to antagonize the ZPT toxicity for high microbial activities, the abundance of related genes was up-regulated by 60.5 to 524.5%. This work enlightened environmental behaviors of emerging pollutants on WAS anaerobic digestion process with interrelations of microbial metabolic regulation and adaptive responses.

Antagonistic effects of surfactants and CeO2 nanoparticles co-occurrence on the sludge fermentation process: Novel insights of interaction mechanisms and microbial networks.

Various pollutants commonly co-exist in the waste active sludge (WAS), but the interactive effects and mechanisms of co-occurrence pollutants on the WAS treatment remain unclear. This work mainly investigated the impacts of different surfactants (i.e., HTAB and SDBS) and CeO2 nanoparticles (NPs) co-occurrence on the WAS fermentation for short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) production, and found that the CeO2 NPs coexisting with surfactants caused antagonistic effects on the SCFAs generation (10.7% and 33.9% inhibition by HTAB and SDBS, respectively). The surfactants and CeO2 NPs co-occurrence restrained the solubilization, hydrolysis, and acidification steps simultaneously. Moreover, the functional hydrolytic-acidogenic bacterial (e.g., Haliangium and Bacteroidetes sp.) and the microbial metabolic networks involved in extracellular hydrolysis (e.g., pepd and NEU1), substrate metabolism (e.g., ALDO and asdA), and fatty acid biosynthesis (e.g., aarC and pct) were all downregulated by 4.3-53.8% in the reactors with surfactants and CeO2 NPs co-occurrence. The presence of surfactants enhanced the dispersibility and stability of CeO2 NPs and the Ce dissolution (1.5-3.0 times higher). Also, surfactants contributed to the WAS disintegration, which could improve the interactive chances of microorganisms entrapped in WAS and CeO2 NPs by promoting the transportation channels, and therefore aggravated the toxicity towards anaerobic species.

Para-chloro-meta-xylenol reshaped the fates of antibiotic resistance genes during sludge fermentation: Insights of cell membrane permeability, bacterial structure and biological pathways.

The occurrence of para-chloro-meta-xylenol (PCMX, as largely consumed antimicrobial chemicals) in waste activated sludge (WAS) would pose environmental risks for WAS utilization. This study revealed that PCMX principally prompted the abundances and diversity of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), particularly for the multidrug- genes (i.e., acrB and mexW), and reshaped the resistance mechanism categories during WAS fermentation process. The genotype and phenotype results indicated that PCMX upregulated abundances of transposase and increased cell permeability via disrupting WAS structure, which further facilitated the horizontal transfer of ARGs. The network and correlation analysis among ARGs, mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and genera (i.e., Sphingopyxis and Pseudoxanthomonas) verified that PCMX enriched the potential ARGs hosts associated with multidrug resistance mechanism. Also, PCMX upregulated the genes involved in ARGs-associated metabolic pathways, such as two-component (i.e., phoP and vcaM) and quorum sensing systems (i.e., lasR and cciR), which determined the ARGs proliferation via multidrug efflux pump and outer membrane proteins, and facilitated the recognition between ARGs hosts. Variance partitioning analysis (VPA) implied that the shift of microbial community contributed predominantly to the dissemination of ARGs. These findings unveiled the environmental behaviors and risks of exogenous pollutants in WAS with insightful understanding, which could guide the WAS utilization for resource recovery.

Upgrading volatile fatty acids production from anaerobic co-fermentation of orange peel waste and sewage sludge: Critical roles of limonene on functional consortia and microbial metabolic traits.

Orange peel waste (OPW) and sewage sludge (SS) valorization for volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production from anaerobic co-fermentation are attractive and feasible. The highest VFAs reached 11996.3 mg COD/L within 10 d at the mass ratio (TS/TS) of 1:1, which was approximately 30-fold of that in sole SS fermentation. The OPW provided plenty of organic substrates and facilitated the fermentation processes by disintegrating SS structure and inhibiting methanogenesis due to the abundant limonene. Also, the OPW feeds reshaped the microbial community and enriched fermentative bacteria, especially those saccharolytic ones (i.e. Prevotella-7). The key genes involved in membrane transport (i.e. ptsG), glycolysis (i.e. pgk), pyruvate metabolism (i.e. ace), and fatty acid biosynthesis (i.e. accA), which are associated with VFAs biosynthesis, were up-regulated in OPW/SS reactors. Overall, it was the increase in bioavailable organic matter and functional microorganisms, and the simultaneous enhancement of metabolic activity that improved the efficient VFAs production.