Sensitive detection of HSP70 using a current-amplified biosensor based on antibody-loaded PS-AuNPs@Cys/Au modified ITO chip.

A biosensing electrochemical platform for heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) has been developed by integrating a three-electrode indium tin oxide (ITO) on a chip. The platform includes modifications to the reference electrode and working electrode for the detection of HSP70. The new platform is constructed by assembly of HSP70 antibody on PS-AuNPs@Cys/Au indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode to create a high HSP70 sensitive surface. The PS-AuNPs@Cys/Au indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode is obtained by immersing the ITO electrode into the PS-AuNPs@Cys solution and performing constant potential deposition at -1.4 V (Ag/AgCl). The PS-AuNPs@Cys/Au film deposited on ITO glass provides a desirable substrate for the immobilization of the HSP70 antibody and improves the loading of antibody between PS-AuNPs@Cys/Au and the electrode resulting in a significant amplification. Under optimal conditions, the fabricated sensor demonstrates a linear range extending from 0.1 ng mL- 1 to 1000 ng mL- 1, with an impressive detection limit of 25.7 pg mL- 1 (S/N = 3). The developed immunoassay method successfully detected the HSP70 content in normal human blood samples and outperformed the ELISA method commonly used for clinical sample analysis.

Sixty years of electrochemical optical spectroscopy: a retrospective.

Sixty years ago, Reddy, Devanatan, and Bockris performed the first in situ electrochemical ellipsometry experiment, which ushered in a new era in the study of electrochemistry, using optical spectroscopy. After six decades of development, electrochemical optical spectroscopy, particularly electrochemical vibrational spectroscopy, has advanced from a phase of immaturity with few methods and limited applications to a phase of maturity with excellent substrate generality and significantly improved resolutions. Here, we divide the development of electrochemical optical spectroscopy into four phases, focusing on the proof-of-concept of different electrochemical optical spectroscopy studies, the emergence of plasmonic enhancement-based electrochemical optical spectroscopic (in particular vibrational spectroscopic) methods, the realization of electrochemical vibrational spectroscopy on well-defined surfaces, and the efforts to achieve operando spectroelectrochemical applications. Finally, we discuss the future development trend of electrochemical optical spectroscopy, as well as examples of new methodology and research paradigms for operando spectroelectrochemistry.

Phase III clinical trial comparing the efficacy and safety of adamgammadex with sugammadex for reversal of rocuronium-induced neuromuscular block.

BACKGROUND: Preliminary clinical trials of adamgammadex, a new cyclodextrin-based selective reversal agent, have demonstrated its efficacy in reversing neuromuscular block by rocuronium. METHODS: This multicentre, randomised, double-blind, positive-controlled, non-inferiority phase III clinical trial compared the efficacy and safety of adamgammadex and sugammadex. We randomised 310 subjects to receive adamgammadex (4 mg kg-1) or sugammadex (2 mg kg-1) at reappearance of the second twitch of the train-of-four (TOF), and standard safety data were collected. RESULTS: For the primary outcome, the proportion of patients with TOF ratio ≥0.9 within 5 min was 98.7% in the adamgammadex group vs 100% in the sugammadex group, with a point estimate and 95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.3% (-4.6%, +1.3%); the lower limit was greater than the non-inferiority margin of -10%. For the key secondary outcome, the median (inter quartile range) time from the start of administration of adamgammadex or sugammadex to recovery of TOF ratio to 0.9 was 2.25 (1.75, 2.75) min and 1.75 (1.50, 2.00) min, respectively. The difference was 0.50 (95% CI: 0.25, 0.50); the upper limit was lower than the non-inferiority margin of 5 min. In addition, there were no inferior results observed in secondary outcomes. Adamgammadex had a lower incidence of adverse drug reactions compared with sugammadex (anaphylactic reaction, recurarisation, decreased heart rate, and laryngospasm; P=0.047). CONCLUSIONS: Adamgammadex was non-inferior to sugammadex with a possible lower incidence of adverse drug reactions compared with sugammadex. Adamgammadex may have a potential advantage in terms of its overall risk-benefit profile. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR2000039525. Registered October 30, 2020. https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=56825.

Abating ammonia emission from poultry manure by Pt/TiO2 modified corn straw.

Poultry manure is a significant source of ammonia (NH3) emissions, which not only poses detrimental impacts on human well-being and the ecological system, but also leads to economic losses in the agricultural industry. Herein, we modified corn straw (CS) with 1 wt% Pt/TiO2 catalysts using a low-temperature partial-oxidation technology to mitigate NH3 emissions from poultry manure. It was found that Pt/TiO2 can enable exothermic processes to occur at lower temperatures by reducing the activation energy. Under optimal modification conditions of 220 °C, the NH3 uptakes of modified CS samples were markedly greater compared to those of the original CS. Addition of 20-50% modified CS to poultry manure resulted in significant reductions of 54.1-98.6% in NH3 emissions compared to the control. Mechanistic studies indicate that NH3 adsorption on the modified CS is mainly driven by the presence of acidic and alkaline functional groups, while surface area and pore structure have a negligible effect. XPS combined with NH3-TPD reveals that the formation of amide and amine bonds contributes to the excellent stability of adsorbed NH3. H2-TPR, O2-TPD, and d-band theory suggest that strong metal-support interactions between Pt and TiO2 could be particularly crucial in catalyzing CS modification. This study proposes an environmentally sustainable and economically viable solution for abating NH3 emissions from poultry manure, thereby addressing crucial environmental and economic concerns in the agricultural sector.

Pollutants removal and connections among sludge properties, metabolism potential and microbial characteristics in aerobic granular sequencing batch reactor for petrochemical wastewater treatment.

Petrochemical wastewater contains inhibitory compounds such as aromatics that are toxic to microorganisms during biological treatment. The compact and layered structure and the high amount of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in aerobic granular sludge (AGS) can contribute to protecting microorganisms from the harsh environment. This study evaluated the changes in the granule properties, pollutants removal, microbial metabolic potential and molecular microbial characteristics of the AGS process for petrochemical wastewater treatment. Granules treating petrochemical wastewater had a higher SVI30/SVI5 value (0.94) than that treating synthetic wastewater. An increase in bioactivity and EPS secretion with higher bio-polymer composition, specifically the functional groups such as hydroxyl, alkoxy and amino in protein, was observed, which promoted biomass aggregation. The granules also had more than 2-fold higher specific oxygen utilization rate. The AGS-SBR process obtained an average COD removal of 93% during petrochemical wastewater treatment and an effluent bCOD of below 1 mg L-1. No obvious inhibition of nitrification and denitrification activity was observed in the processes attributed to the layered structure of AGS. The average effluent NH4+-N of 5.0 mg L-1 was obtained and TN removal efficiencies of over 80.0% was achieved. Molecular microbial analysis showed that abundant functional genera Stenotrophomonas and Pseudoxanthomonas contributed to the degradation of aromatics and other petroleum organic pollutants. They were enriched with the variation of group behavior while metabolisms of amino acids and carboxylic acids by the relevant functional genera (e.g., Cytophagia) were significantly inhibited. The enrichment of Flavobacterium and Thermomonas promoted nitrification and denitrification, respectively. This research revealed the rapid start-up, enhanced granule structural strength, high inhibition resistance and considerable performance of AGS-SBR for petrochemical wastewater treatment.

Preparation and Characterization for the Thermal Stability and Mechanical Property of PLA and PLA/CF Samples Built by FFF Approach.

Currently, the mechanical performances of polylactic acid (PLA) samples prepared using the fused filament fabrication (FFF) technique are relatively poor. Hence, the carbon fiber (CF) is used to improve the thermal stability and mechanical property of FFF-ed PLA samples in this paper. The crystalline structure, thermal stability, melt flow rate, tensile strength and fractured surface morphology of PLA and PLA/CF samples were investigated with an X-ray diffraction device, differential scanning calorimeter, thermogravimetric analyzer, melt flow rate equipment, universal tensile test machine and scanning electron microscope, respectively. Meanwhile, the reinforcement mechanism of CF on the mechanical property of PLA samples was also analyzed. XRD results revealed that the diffraction peaks intensities of PLA/CF sample were obviously lower than those of PLA sample. TGA and DSC curves illustrated that the initial thermal decomposition temperature, thermal stability and crystallinity of the PLA/CF sample improved significantly. The tensile strength of the PLA/CF sample was 91.58 MPa, which was 42.49% higher than that of the PLA sample. Moreover, SEM images showed that the fractured behavior of the PLA sample varied from brittle fracture to ductile fracture after the introduction of CF. The results concluded the CF is a feasible fiber for enhancing the performances of the PLA sample.

MiRNA-19b-3p downregulates the endothelin B receptor in gastric cancer cells to prevent angiogenesis and proliferation.

MiR19b-3p acts as a tumor suppressor gene in various cancers, but its function in gastric cancer is unknown. This study investigated the role of miR19b-3p in angiogenesis and the proliferation of human gastric cancer cells targeting ETBR expression. Cell proliferation in SGC-7901 cells, cell transfection, luciferase reporter assay, detection of endothelin B receptor mRNAs by RT-qPCR, and a Western blot assay were carried out. RT-qPCR expression analysis showed a prominent (p<0.01) downregulation of miR19b-3p in SGC-7901 cells, which was inversely correlated with a substantial increase (p<0.01) in the endothelin B receptor (ETBR). However, overexpression of miR19b-3p in SGC-7901 cells with its mimic (p<0.01) resulted in the loss of cell viability in the MTT assay. This effect was reversed (p<0.01) by the inhibitor. Western blot analysis revealed that ETBR was significantly (p<0.01) decreased by miR19b-3p overexpression compared with that of the negative control or its inhibitor. Based on bioinformatics tools and luciferase reporter assays, we found that miR19b-3p interacts with the 3'untranslated region (3'UTR) of ETBR. Restoring miR19b-3p overexpression with its mimic led to downregulation of ETBR in gastric cancer cells (SGC-7901), which significantly (p<0.01) decreased the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A). These findings were considerably reversed by miR19b-3p inhibitors (p<0.01). The results indicated that miR19b-3p exerts its molecular action by targeting ETBR at the post-transcriptional level by regulating angiogenesis and proliferation by overexpressing miR19b-3p as a potential treatment target for gastric cancer.

Catalytic modification of corn straw facilitates the remediation of Cd contaminated water and soil.

Turning postharvest residue into high-value-added products is crucial for agricultural waste management and environmental remediation. In this proof-of-concept study, nanosized Pt/TiO2 was used as a model catalyst to modify corn straw (CS) materials through a simple low-temperature oxidation process. This method was demonstrated to be self-sustainable, waste-free, and with high yields. At an optimal temperature of 220 °C, O2 treatment with 1 wt% Pt/TiO2 greatly changed ultra-micropore and mesopore structures, dissolved organic carbon, aromatic contents and surface oxygen (O)-containing functional groups in CS products. This treatment resulted in an approximately 5-fold increase of cadmium (Cd) adsorption from aqueous solution and immobilization rate of 43.1% at 7d for bioavailable Cd in soil. Spectroscopic and linear regression analysis demonstrated that both acidic and basic functional groups in CS contributed to Cd adsorption, suggesting chemical adsorption. According to the d-band theory, the unexpected role of catalysts in CS modification could be associated with dissociative adsorption of molecular O2 on the Pt surface. These results provide insights for the development of economic and sustainable technologies to reutilize agricultural waste biomass for water and soil remediation.

Trophic interrelationships of bacteria are important for shaping soil protist communities.

Protists occupy multiple trophic positions in soil food webs and significantly contribute to organic matter decomposition and biogeochemical cycling. Protists can ingest bacteria and fungi as main food sources while being subjected to predation of invertebrates, but our understanding of how bottom-up and top-down regulations structure protists in natural soil habitats is limited. Here, we disentangle the effects of trophic regulations to the diversity and structure of soil protists in natural settings across northern and eastern Australia. Bacterial and invertebrate diversity were identified as important drivers of the diversity of functional groups of protists. Moreover, the compositions of protistan taxonomic and functional groups were better predicted by bacteria and fungi, than by soil invertebrates. There were strong trophic interconnections between protists and bacteria in multiple organismic network analysis. Altogether, the study provided new evidence that, bottom-up control of bacteria played an important role in shaping the soil protist community structure, which can be derived from feeding preferences of protists on microbial prey, and their intimate relationships in soil functioning or environmental adaptation. Our findings advance our knowledge about the impacts of different trophic groups on key soil organismic communities, with implications for ecosystem functions and services.

Robotic arm trajectory optimization based on multiverse algorithm.

For inefficient trajectory planning of six-degree-of-freedom industrial manipulators, a trajectory planning algorithm based on an improved multiverse algorithm (IMVO) for time, energy, and impact optimization are proposed. The multi-universe algorithm has better robustness and convergence accuracy in solving single-objective constrained optimization problems than other algorithms. In contrast, it has the disadvantage of slow convergence and quickly falls into local optimum. This paper proposes a method to improve the wormhole probability curve, adaptive parameter adjustment, and population mutation fusion to improve the convergence speed and global search capability. In this paper, we modify MVO for multi-objective optimization to derive the Pareto solution set. We then construct the objective function by a weighted approach and optimize it using IMVO. The results show that the algorithm improves the timeliness of the six-degree-of-freedom manipulator trajectory operation within a specific constraint and improves the optimal time, energy consumption, and impact problems in the manipulator trajectory planning.

Investigation of Carbon Fiber on the Tensile Property of FDM-Produced PLA Specimen.

Herein, the effect of carbon fibers (CFs) on the tensile property of a polylactic acid (PLA) specimen prepared by utilizing the fused deposition modeling (FDM) method, is investigated. The tensile property, crystal structure, and morphology of FDM-produced specimens were detected by universal testing machine, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. Meanwhile, the reinforcement mechanism of CFs on the FDM-printed PLA specimens was also studied. The DSC curves indicated that the crystalline structure of the PLA-CF specimen was higher than the PLA specimen. After the introduction of CFs, the XRD results showed the crystal structure of PLA varied from non-crystalline to α crystalline, and the SEM results illustrated the terrible bonding interface between carbon fiber and PLA. Interestingly, after the introduction of carbon fiber, the tensile strength of the PLA specimen reduced from 54.51 to 49.41 MPa. However, compared with the PLA component, the Young's modulus and the elongation-at-break of the PLA-CF specimen increased from 1.04 GPa and 6.26%, to 1.26 GPa and 7.81%, respectively.

Comparison of the Efficacy and Safety of Adamgammadex with Sugammadex for Reversal of Rocuronium-Induced Neuromuscular Block: Results of a Phase II Clinical Trial.

This current phase II clinical trial was to compare the effect and safety of adamgammadex, a new cyclodextrin-based selective relaxant binding agent, with sugammadex to reverse rocuronium-induced neuromuscular block. Patients were randomised to receive adamgammadex (4 or 6 mg kg-1) or sugammadex (2 mg kg-1, as a positive control group) at the reappearance of the second twitch (T2) in response to TOF stimulation. The standard safety data were collected. The 4 mg kg-1 (n = 16) and 6 mg kg-1 (n = 20) adamgammadex- and 2 mg kg-1 (n = 20) sugammadex-induced recovery time of TOF ratio to 0.9 were 2.3, 1.6, and 1.5 min, respectively (p = 0.49). The 4 mg kg -1 adamgammadex-induced median recovery time was longer than that of 2 mg kg-1 sugammadex (p = 0.01), and there was no difference between the 6 mg kg -1 adamgammadex group and 2 mg kg-1 sugammadex group (p = 0.32). Then, the number of patients who experienced adverse events (AEs) was 6, 11, and 14 for adamgammadex at 4, 6 mg kg-1 and sugammadex at 2 mg kg-1, respectively. The treatment emergent AEs that occurred more than twice were detailed as follows: incision site pain, hypotension, emesis, fever, throat pain, blood bilirubin increase, abnormal T-wave of ECG, dizziness, incision site swelling, postoperative fever, expectoration, and nausea. For drug-related AEs, the increased urine acetone bodies and first-degree atrioventricular block were observed in two patients from sugammadex group. Then, the previously reported AEs were not observed in this study, including anaphylaxis, haemorrhage, recurarization, abnormal basic vital signs, or lengthened QRS intervals and QT intervals. Adamgammadex was found to be effective for reversal of rocuronium-induced neuromuscular block as sugammadex.

Unconventional interfacial water structure of highly concentrated aqueous electrolytes at negative electrode polarizations.

Water-in-salt electrolytes are an appealing option for future electrochemical energy storage devices due to their safety and low toxicity. However, the physicochemical interactions occurring at the interface between the electrode and the water-in-salt electrolyte are not yet fully understood. Here, via in situ Raman spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate the electrical double-layer structure occurring at the interface between a water-in-salt electrolyte and an Au(111) electrode. We demonstrate that most interfacial water molecules are bound with lithium ions and have zero, one, or two hydrogen bonds to feature three hydroxyl stretching bands. Moreover, the accumulation of lithium ions on the electrode surface at large negative polarizations reduces the interfacial field to induce an unusual "hydrogen-up" structure of interfacial water and blue shift of the hydroxyl stretching frequencies. These physicochemical behaviours are quantitatively different from aqueous electrolyte solutions with lower concentrations. This atomistic understanding of the double-layer structure provides key insights for designing future aqueous electrolytes for electrochemical energy storage devices.

Iron ore or manganese ore filled constructed wetlands enhanced removal performance and changed removal process of nitrogen under sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim stress.

Iron ore and manganese ore were used as substrate of constructed wetlands (CWs) to enhance nitrogen (N) removal. However, the N purification performance in CWs filled with iron or manganese ore under antibiotics stress needs further study. In this study, three groups of CWs filled with river sand, limonite (a kind of iron ore), and manganese ore sand were constructed, which were named as C-CWs, Fe-CWs, and Mn-CWs, respectively. The effect and mechanism of the composite antibiotics sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and trimethoprim (TMP) on N removal in CWs were investigated. While the addition of SMX and TMP inhibited about 40% nitrification and promoted about 25% denitrification in all CWs, Fe-CWs and Mn-CWs always had better N removal performance than C-CWs. Changes in microbial community structure in CWs indicated that the better N removal performance in Fe-CWs and Mn-CWs was attributed to the presence of more abundant and diverse N-associated bacteria, especially Fe- and Mn-driven autotrophic denitrifying bacteria. What's more, the addition of iron ore or manganese ore contributed to the better N removal performance with highest relative abundance of N-transferring bacteria under antibiotics stress.

Positive life stories of Stroke-Survivor's spousal caregiving in Hong Kong: Lessons for policy and practice.

BACKGROUND: Advances in medical-care for immediately post-stroke mean that many stroke-survivors now live a normal lifespan, although they may suffer residual disability. They are often cared for at home by their spouse, who may be ill-prepared for this task, and may also have health concerns. As demands on formal services increase with population aging in Hong Kong, equipping spousal-caregivers with positive effective caring strategies is increasingly important. OBJECTIVE: To understand what constitutes positive spousal-caregiving for stroke-survivors in Hong Kong within the cultural lens of 'Zhong (Loyalty)' METHOD: Naturalistic qualitative research was employed to hear stories about positive caregiving from Hong Kong couples living with stroke sequelae. Three in-depth face-to-face semi-structured interviews were undertaken with eleven dyads (stroke-survivor alone, spousal-caregiver alone, then the couple together). Data validation was by member-checking, further questions, and feedback at a second interview, and corroboration by field-notes. FINDINGS: A strength-based interactive model of positive spousal-caregiving was described, whose core tenet was Zhong (Loyalty). This fostered, and in turn was nurtured by, three paired key behaviours (1. Learning new skills linked with satisfaction when efforts paid off; 2. Utilizing formal and informal resources linked with supporting others; 3. Cherishing and bringing out the best linked with managing life- and self-care). Couples' capacity to develop these behaviours reflected their inner strengths. CONCLUSIONS: Couples who practiced positive caring and were resilient in the face of adversity were likely to optimise dyadic health and deal constructively with unexpected challenges. To address a looming shortfall between client need, and formal health and social services in Hong Kong, evidence-based policies are required to support effective, positive community-based spousal-caregiving.

Precipitation increases the abundance of fungal plant pathogens in Eucalyptus phyllosphere.

Understanding the current and future distributions of plant pathogens is critical to predict the plant performance and related economic benefits in the changing environment. Yet, little is known about the roles of environmental drivers in shaping the profiles of fungal plant pathogens in phyllosphere, an important habitat of microbiomes on Earth. Here, using a large-scale investigation of Eucalyptus phyllospheric microbiomes in Australia and the multiple linear regression model, we show that precipitation is the most important predictor of fungal taxonomic diversity and abundance. The abundance of fungal plant pathogens in phyllosphere exhibited a positive linear relationship with precipitation. With this empirical dataset, we constructed current and future atlases of phyllosphere plant pathogens to estimate their spatial distributions under different climate change scenarios. Our atlases indicate that the abundance of fungal plant pathogens would increase especially in the coastal regions with up to 100-fold increase compared with the current abundance. These findings advance our understanding of the distributions of fungal plant pathogens in phyllospheric microbiomes under the climate change, which can improve our ability to predict and mitigate their impacts on plant productivity and economic losses.

Termite mound formation reduces the abundance and diversity of soil resistomes.

Termites are pivotal ecosystem engineers in tropical and subtropical habitats, where they construct massive nests ('mounds') that substantially modify soil properties and promote nutrient cycling. Yet, little is known about the roles of termite nesting activity in regulating the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one of the major Global Health challenges. Here, we conducted a large-scale (> 1500 km) investigation in northern Australia and found distinct resistome profiles in termite mounds and bulk soils. By profiling a wide spectrum of ARGs, we found that the abundance and diversity of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) were significantly lower in termite mounds than in bulk soils (P < 0.001). The proportion of efflux pump ARGs was significantly lower in termite mound resistome than in bulk soil resistome (P < 0.001). The differences in resistome profiles between termite mounds and bulk soils may result from the changes in microbial interactions owing to the substantial increase in pH and nutrient availability induced by termite nesting activities. These findings advance our understanding of the profile of ARGs in termite mounds, which is a crucial step to evaluate the roles of soil faunal activity in regulating soil resistome under global environmental change.

Termite mounds reduce soil microbial diversity by filtering rare microbial taxa.

Termites are ubiquitous insects in tropical and subtropical habitats, and some of them construct massive nests ('mounds'), which substantially promote substrate heterogeneity by altering soil properties. Yet, the role of termite nesting process in regulating the distribution and diversity of soil microbial communities remains poorly understood, which introduces uncertainty in predictions of ecosystem functions of termite mounds in a changing environment. Here, by using amplicon sequencing, we conducted a survey of 134 termite mounds across >1500 km in northern Australia and found that termite mounds significantly differed from bulk soils in the microbial diversity and community compositions. Compared with bulk soils, termite nesting process decreased the microbial diversity and the relative abundance of rare taxa. Rare taxa had a narrower habitat niche breadth than dominant taxa and might be easier to be filtered by the potential intensive microbial competition during the nesting processes. We further demonstrated that the shift in pH induced by termite nesting process was a major driver shaping the microbial community profiles in termite mounds. Together, our work provides novel evidence that termite nesting is an important process in regulating soil microbial diversity, which advances our understanding of the functioning of termite mounds.

Mn oxides changed nitrogen removal process in constructed wetlands with a microbial electrolysis cell.

Intensified Mn redox cycling could enhance nutrient removal in constructed wetlands (CWs). In this study, Mn oxides (birnessite-coated sand) were used as the matrix in horizontal flow CWs (HFCWs) with a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) (E-B-CW) or without an MEC (B-CW). The model CWs were developed to investigate the capacities and mechanisms of nitrogen removal with increased Mn redox cycling. The results showed that E-B-CW had the highest average removal efficiencies for NH4-N, NO3-N and TN, followed by B-CW and control HFCW (C-CW). The Mn(III) oxides (MnOOH or Mn2O3) and the Mn(IV) oxide (MnO2) were all detected in E-B-CW and B-CW, while the matrix in E-B-CW had much more Mn(IV) oxides than B-CW. Interestingly, clustering heat map showed that ammonification and nitrate reduction were related to Mn-oxidizing bacteria and the relative abundance of Mn-oxidizing bacteria in E-B-CW was highest due to the re-oxidation of Mn(II) by the MEC.

[Seasonal Removal Efficiency and Degradation Products of Two Typical PPCPs in Subsurface Flow Constructed Wetlands].

The pollution of surface waters by pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) has aroused widespread concern. Constructed wetlands (CWs) have outstanding advantages in the removal of PPCPs; however, few studies have focused on the interaction of different types of PPCPs in CWs. In this study, two typical PPCPs[broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents triclosan (TCS) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac (DCF)] were selected as target pollutants and their removal behavior in subsurface flow CWs was analyzed. The effects of different seasons and influent conditions (i.e., single and combined addition of TCS and DCF) on removal efficiency was also examined. The main parameters of the CW system were as follows:the up-flow subsurface CW had a hydraulic load of 0.20 m·d-1 and a hydraulic residence time of 3 d with a continuous flow inlet. The initial influent concentration of PPCPs was 80 g·L-1 for TCS and 25 g·L-1 for DCF. The results showed that the average removal efficiencies for TCS and DCF in summer (91.72% and 85.86%, respectively) were significantly higher than in winter (52.88% and 32.47%, respectively). Independent sample t-tests confirmed that there was no significant difference in the removal efficiency of TCS and DCF under the different influent conditions (single and combined addition). The degradation products of TCS and DCF were also no different between the influent systems, and the representative degradation products of TCS were not detected in all systems. The main degradation products of DCF in the different systems were 3,5-dichlorobenzoic acid and m-dichlorobenzene. The two studied PPCPs showed no significant antagonism and competition effects at trace levels.