Gamma-ray irradiation as an effective method for mitigating antibiotic resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes in aquatic environments.

The prevalence of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in municipal wastewater treatment plants (MWTPs) has emerged as a significant environmental concern. Despite advanced treatment processes, high levels of ARGs persist in the secondary effluent from MWTPs, posing ongoing environmental risks. This study explores the potential of gamma-ray irradiation as a novel approach for sterilizing antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and reducing ARGs in MWTP secondary effluent. Our findings reveal that gamma-ray irradiation at an absorbed dose of 1.6 kGy effectively deactivates all culturable bacteria, with no subsequent revival observed after exposure to 6.4 kGy and a 96-h incubation in darkness at room temperature. The removal efficiencies for a range of ARGs, including tetO, tetA, blaTEM-1, sulI, sulII, and tetW, were up to 90.5% with a 25.6 kGy absorbed dose. No resurgence of ARGs was detected after irradiation. Additionally, this study demonstrates a considerable reduction in the abundances of extracellular ARGs, with the transformation efficiencies of extracellular tetracycline and sulfadiazine resistance genes decreasing by 56.3-81.8% after 25.6 kGy irradiation. These results highlight the effectiveness of gamma-ray irradiation as an advanced and promising method for ARB sterilization and ARG reduction in the secondary effluent of MWTPs, offering a potential pathway to mitigate environmental risks associated with antibiotic resistance.

Integrating single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing to predict prognosis and immunotherapy response in prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer (PCa) stands as a prominent contributor to morbidity and mortality among males on a global scale. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are considered to be closely connected to tumour growth, invasion, and metastasis. We explored the role and characteristics of CAFs in PCa through bioinformatics analysis and built a CAFs-based risk model to predict prognostic treatment and treatment response in PCa patients. First, we downloaded the scRNA-seq data for PCa from the GEO. We extracted bulk RNA-seq data for PCa from the TCGA and GEO and adopted "ComBat" to remove batch effects. Then, we created a Seurat object for the scRNA-seq data using the package "Seurat" in R and identified CAF clusters based on the CAF-related genes (CAFRGs). Based on CAFRGs, a prognostic model was constructed by univariate Cox, LASSO, and multivariate Cox analyses. And the model was validated internally and externally by Kaplan-Meier analysis, respectively. We further performed GO and KEGG analyses of DEGs between risk groups. Besides, we investigated differences in somatic mutations between different risk groups. We explored differences in the immune microenvironment landscape and ICG expression levels in the different groups. Finally, we predicted the response to immunotherapy and the sensitivity of antitumour drugs between the different groups. We screened 4 CAF clusters and identified 463 CAFRGs in PCa scRNA-seq. We constructed a model containing 10 prognostic CAFRGs by univariate Cox, LASSO, and multivariate Cox analysis. Somatic mutation analysis revealed that TTN and TP53 were significantly more mutated in the high-risk group. Finally, we screened 31 chemotherapeutic drugs and targeted therapeutic drugs for PCa. In conclusion, we identified four clusters based on CAFs and constructed a new CAFs-based prognostic signature that could predict PCa patient prognosis and response to immunotherapy and might suggest meaningful clinical options for the treatment of PCa.

Axial N Ligand-Modulated Ultrahigh Activity and Selectivity Hyperoxide Activation over Single-Atoms Nanozymes.

Learning and studying the structure-activity relationship in the bio-enzymes is conducive to the design of nanozymes for energy and environmental application. Herein, Fe single-atom nanozymes (Fe-SANs) with Fe-N5 site, inspired by the structure of cytochromes P450 (CYPs), are developed and characterized. Similar to the CYPs, the hyperoxide can activate the Fe(III) center of Fe-SANs to generate Fe(IV)O intermediately, which can transfer oxygen to the substrate with ultrafast speed. Particularly, using the peroxymonosulfate (PMS)-activated Fe-SANs to oxidize sulfamethoxazole, a typical antibiotic contaminant, as the model hyperoxides activation reaction, the excellent activity within 284 min-1 g-1 (catalyst) mmol-1 (PMS) oxidation rate and 91.6% selectivity to the Fe(IV)O intermediate oxidation are demonstrated. More importantly, instead of promoting PMS adsorption, the axial N ligand modulates the electron structure of FeN5 SANs for the lower reaction energy barrier and promotes electron transfer to PMS to produce Fe(IV)O intermediate with high selectivity. The highlight of the axial N coordination in the nanozymes in this work provides deep insight to guide the design and development of nanozymes nearly to the bio-enzyme with excellent activity and selectivity.

The ethanol extract of Periplaneta Americana L. improves ulcerative colitis induced by a combination of chronic stress and TNBS in rats.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of Periplaneta americana L. on ulcerative colitis (UC) induced by a combination of chronic stress (CS) and 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid enema (TNBS) in rats. METHODS: The experiment UC model with CS was established in rats by a combination of chronic restraint stress, excess failure, improper, and TNBS. The body weight, disease activity index (DAI), colonic mucosal injury index (CMDI), histopathological score (HS) and pro-inflammatory mediators were measured. The content of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) in hypothalamus or adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosteroids (CORT) in plasma were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The proportion of T lymphocyte subsets was detected by flow cytometry, and gut microbiota was detected by 16S rDNA amplicon sequencing. RESULTS: Weight loss, DAI, CMDI, HS and proinflammatory mediators were reversed in rats by P. americana L. treatment after UC with CS. Increased epidermal growth factor (EGF) was observed in P. americana L. groups. In addition, P. americana L. could reduce the content of CRH and ACTH and regulate the ratio of CD3+, CD3+CD8+ and CD3+CD4+CD25+/CD4+ in spleen. Comparably, P. americana L. changes composition of gut microbiota. CONCLUSIONS: The ethanol extract of Periplaneta Americana L. improves UC induced by a combination of CS and TNBS in rats.

Application of urodynamics combined with contrast-enhanced ultrasound in evaluation of the urinary tract in patients with low bladder compliance and vesicoureteric reflux who underwent bladder augmentation alone.

We assessed the use of common urodynamics (CUD) combined with contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to investigate the efficacy and durability of sigmoid cystoplasty alone in patients with low bladder compliance associated with vesicoureteric reflux (VUR). In this study, we recruited 25 patients with low bladder compliance and VUR who underwent bladder augmentation without antireflux surgery at our institutions between June 2017 and June 2021. The bladder condition and VUR grade were assessed preoperatively and postoperatively via CUD combined with CEUS. The mean follow-up period was 2.6 years. CUD showed significant improvement in bladder capacity and compliance and a decrease in intravesical pressure after sigmoid cystoplasty. CEUS demonstrated resolution of VUR compared with preoperative assessment. Of the 25 patients who had various degrees of reflux, VUR was eliminated in 18 patients and reduced to a lower grade in the remaining seven patients. CUD combined with CEUS is accurate and safe. They are invaluable and reliable tools for morphological and functional evaluations of the entire urinary tract in patients with low bladder compliance and VUR.

Photothermal Nanoconfinement Reactor: Boosting Chemical Reactivity with Locally High Temperature in a Confined Space.

A photothermal nanoconfinement reactor (PNCR) system is proposed and demonstrated by using hollow carbon nanospheres (HCNs) to enhance the performance of the chemical reaction. Under light irradiation, the local temperature of the HCN inner void space was much higher than the bulk solution temperature because the confined space concentrates heat and inhibits heat loss. Using the temperature-sensitive model reaction, peroxydisulfate (PDS) activation to oxidize micropollutant, it is shown that the degradation rate of sulfamethoxazole in the PNCR system is 7.1 times of that without nanoconfinement. It is further discovered that the high-quality local heat inside the nanoconfined space shifted the model reaction from an otherwise non-radical pathway to a radical-based pathway. This work provides an interesting strategy to produce a locally high temperature, which has a wide range of applications to energy and environmental fields.

Quantitative evaluation of rejuvenation treatment of nasolabial fold wrinkles by regression model and 3D photography.

OBJECTIVE: With the application of 3D photography, our study aimed to quantify parameters of static nasolabial fold wrinkles and establish mathematic regression model between parameters of wrinkles and age, further to quantitatively evaluate the effect of rejuvenation treatment in terms of age. METHODS: From October 2016 to May 2018, 433 Chinese female volunteers, aged 25-60 years old, were enrolled in this study. Antera 3D camera was used to collect four parameters of static nasolabial fold wrinkles on the left and right sides of the volunteers, including overall size, average depth (mm), average width (mm), and maximum depth (mm). For those presented a linear relationship with age, univariate linear regression fitting was performed, followed by residual analysis, goodness of fit test, and significance test. RESULTS: The results of univariate linear regression fitting showed there was a clear linear relationship between the maximum depth, average depth, overall size of nasolabial fold wrinkles and age, and the regression equations were established. The significance test of regression coefficients showed P values were less than .0001. CONCLUSIONS: With application of the regression model between parameters of nasolabial fold wrinkles and age, the effect of rejuvenation treatment can be quantitatively evaluated in terms of age, which has certain reference and promotion value.

Synergistic Effect of Permanganate and in Situ Synthesized Hydrated Manganese Oxide for Removing Antibiotic Resistance Genes from Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent.

An increasing amount of attention has been given to antimicrobial resistance in the environment because of its substantial threat to human health. The effluent from municipal wastewater treatment plants has been regarded as one of the important sources for the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). However, conventional disinfection techniques fail to effectively remove ARGs from effluents. In this work, in situ synthesized hydrated manganese oxide (HMO) coupled with permanganate was applied for the first time in ARG removal from the effluent of wastewater treatment plants. The results show that five ARGs (sulI, sulII, tetQ, tetO, and tetW) as well as the intI1 and 16S rRNA genes had removal efficiencies of 2.46-4.23 logs, which were significantly higher than those obtained by using these reagents individually. This implied that there was a synergistic effect between permanganate and HMO toward the removal of ARGs. Moreover, the contributions of HMO coagulation and permanganate oxidation to ARG removal were semiquantitatively studied, which demonstrated that destruction of the microbial cells by oxidation and removal of the extracellular ARGs released by coagulation were the two main processes in this system. The results of this study provide an alternative method for ARG removal from the effluent of wastewater treatment plants with high efficiencies to control the spreading of ARGs.

Tetracycline exposure shifted microbial communities and enriched antibiotic resistance genes in the aerobic granular sludge.

The aerobic granular sludge with larger size and more compact spherical structure generally shows excellent performance in antibiotic removal, yet little is known about the long-term effect of environmentally-relevant concentration (µg/L) of antibiotics on the proliferation of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and microbial community in aerobic granules. Herein, a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) was set up with dosing different concentrations (0-500 µg/L) of tetracycline to investigate its influences on microbial communities and ARG levels in aerobic granular sludge. Results show that the bioreactor could effectively remove chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrogen, and tetracycline during the long-term operation. The quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) analysis shows that tetracycline at µg/L level could greatly enhance the absolute and relative abundances of tetA, sulII, and blaTEM-1 in the effluent and aerobic granules, indicating tetracycline could serve as a selection pressure on the development of ARGs corresponding to different types of antibiotics in aerobic granules. Pearson's correlation analysis also implies that sulII and blaTEM-1 were correlated strongly with tetA. Moreover, the presence of tetracycline altered the microbial communities and diversity of the effluent and aerobic granules in the bioreactor. These findings would advance our understanding of the proliferation and development of ARGs in aerobic granules under tetracycline pressure and serve as a foundation to guide the application of aerobic granular sludge for treatment of antibiotic-containing wastewater.

Augmentation enterocystoplasty without reimplantation for patients with neurogenic bladder and vesicoureteral reflux.

The objective of this study was to assess the clinical outcome of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) after augmentation cystoplasty alone in patients with a hypocompliant neurogenic bladder. Between January 2009 and December 2014, 29 patients with a hypocompliant bladder associated with VUR confirmed by videourodynamics (VUD) preoperatively were recruited in this study. All patients had undergone bladder augmentation with a generous detubularized segment of bowel at our institution. No effort had been made to correct the existing reflux. Preoperative assessment included urinalysis, kidney function tests, ultrasonography, and videourodynamic evaluation. All patients had various degrees of VUR. The status of VUR and bladder function were studied by VUD. The mean follow-up period was 2.2 years (range 0.5-5.5 years). The VUD manifested a significant improvement of bladder capacity, diminution of intravesical pressure, and resolution of reflux after bladder augmentation. After the surgery, 24/29 (83%) no longer had reflux, 3/29 (10%) showed improvement in reflux, and 2/29 (7%) demonstrated no change in reflux. In addition, 16/21 (76%) patients had reflux Grades I-III; 100% patients with reflux Grades IV and V had complete cessation of reflux. Only one patient had symptomatic urinary infection after the surgery. Augmentation enterocystoplasty without ureteral reimplantation is thus effective and adequate for patients with high-pressure and hypocompliant neurogenic bladder. Therefore, ureteral reimplantation is not necessary when augmentation enterocystoplasty is recommended for patients with high-pressure, low-compliant bladder and VUR.

Different sling procedures for stress urinary incontinence: a lesson from 453 patients.

Several midurethral sling (MUS) procedures, such as tension-free vaginal tape (TVT), TVT obturator (TVT-O), tension-free vaginal tape SECUR (TVT-S), and pubovaginal sling (PVS), have been used for the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence (SUI); however, which method is best for a particular patient group is not known. This study aimed to identify the best rationale for choosing the optimal MUS procedure for each patient. In total, 453 consecutive female patients with SUI who were treated with MUSs in West China Hospital of Sichuan University from September 2003 to September 2011 were enrolled in this study. All the patients underwent comprehensive pre-, intra-, and postoperative evaluations, including collection of demographic information, pelvic examination, and urodynamic testing, and operation-related complications were recorded. The Incontinence Quality of Life questionnaire was also completed. Under local or general anesthesia, 105 cases were treated with TVT, 243 with TVT-O, 90 with TVT-S, and 15 with PVS. Patients with different profiles in terms of age, symptom duration, concomitant procedures, urodynamic parameters, and pelvic organ prolapse (POP) quantification score were treated successfully; the body mass index did not differ significantly among the various treatment options. The cure and improvement rates were similar among the treatment groups: 97.14% (102/105) in TVT, 100% (243/243) in TVT-O, 98.89% (89/90) in TVT-S, and 100% (15/15) in PVS. Only minor complications were experienced by the patients. In conclusion, each MUS procedure was observed to be safe and effective in different subpopulations of patients, and the results suggest that appropriate patient selection is crucial for the success of each MUS procedure.

Bladder management of patients with spinal cord injuries sustained in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.

This study's aim is provide an overview of the patients who suffered spinal cord injury (SCI) after the magnitude 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake, including each patient's demographic and epidemiological characteristics, bladder management status, and quality of life (QOL). We also assessed the relationships between bladder management methods, symptomatic urinary tract infection (SUTI), and QOL. Two years after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, a cross-sectional face-to-face survey was conducted on 180 patients with SCI. A self-administered questionnaire and the WHOQOL-BREF assessment were used to assess injury-related information, bladder management methods, and SUTI. Statistical analysis was performed using the Chi-square test and analysis of variance. A p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. This study found that a male-to-female ratio of approximately 1.2:1, including 98 (54.4%) male patients and 82 (45.6%) female patients. Thoracic-level injuries were seen in 82 patients (45.56%), 60 (33.33%) patients had lumbar-level injuries, 18 (8.33%) patients had thoracolumbar-level injuries, and a small number of patients had cervical- or sacral-level injuries. Sixty-two patients (34.44%) demonstrated normal voiding, 65 (36.11%) required manually assisted voiding, 29 (16.11%) required catheterization, and 24 (13.33%) used aurine-collecting apparatus. The prevalence of SUTI was 43.89%. Patients who emptied their bladder via manually assisted voiding, catheterization, or with the use of a urine-collecting apparatus demonstrated higher rates of SUTI compared with patients who voided normally (p < 0.05); the patients who required catheterization had higher rates of SUTI compared with patients who required manually assisted voiding (p < 0.05). When manually assisted voiding and catheterization were compared with the use a urine-collecting apparatus, no statistically significant differences were observed in terms of the risk of developing SUTI. The patients in this study demonstrated low scores on the WHOQOL-BREF physical domain (11.61 ± 3.80), psychological domain (10.11 ± 3.63), social domain (11.46 ± 2.84), and environmental domain (11.86 ± 2.51). The patients who reported normal voiding also demonstrated the best QOL in terms of physical, psychological, and social component scores (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the percentage of women in this study is higher than that reported in other studies on traumatic causes of SCI. Patients who suffered SCI following the Wenchuan earthquake demonstrate poor bladder management status and are unable to take advantage of urodynamic testing that is used to monitor the functional state of the bladder. This study's findings indicate that bladder management methods influence the rate of SUTI and the QOL of patients with SCI. Caring for SCI patients following a disaster requires comprehensive long-term planning. Bladder management of patients with SCI is essential for improving the QOL of these patients.