Biomineralization To Prevent Microbially Induced Corrosion on Concrete for Sustainable Marine Infrastructure.

Microbially induced corrosion (MIC) on concrete represents a serious issue impairing the lifespan of coastal/marine infrastructure. However, currently developed concrete corrosion protection strategies have limitations in wide applications. Here, a biomineralization method was proposed to form a biomineralized film on concrete surfaces for corrosion inhibition. Laboratory seawater corrosion experiments were conducted under different conditions [e.g., chemical corrosion (CC), MIC, and biomineralization for corrosion inhibition]. A combination of chemical and mechanical property measurements of concrete (e.g., sulfate concentrations, permeability, mass, and strength) and a genotypic-based investigation of formed concrete biofilms was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the biomineralization approach on corrosion inhibition. The results show that MIC resulted in much higher corrosion rates than CC. However, the biomineralization treatment effectively inhibited corrosion because the biomineralized film decreased the total and relative abundance of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and acted as a protective layer to control the diffusion of sulfate and isolate the concrete from the corrosive SRB communities, which helps extend the lifespan of concrete structures. Moreover, this technique had no negative impact on the native marine microbial communities. Our study contributes to the potential application of biomineralization for corrosion inhibition to achieve long-term sustainability for major marine concrete structures.

Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from municipal wastewater treatment in China.

Municipal wastewater treatment plays an indispensable role in enhancing water quality by eliminating contaminants. While the process is vital, its environmental footprint, especially in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, remains underexplored. Here we offer a comprehensive assessment of GHG emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) across China. Our analyses reveal an estimated 1.54 (0.92-2.65) × 104 Gg release of GHGs (CO2-eq) in 2020, with a dominant contribution from N2O emissions and electricity consumption. We can foresee a 60-65% reduction potential in GHG emissions with promising advancements in wastewater treatment, such as cutting-edge biological techniques, intelligent wastewater strategies, and a shift towards renewable energy sources.

Using signal-to-cutoff ratios of HIV screening assay to predict HIV infection.

BACKGROUND: The sensitivity of HIV screening assays often leads to a high rate of false-positive results, requiring retests and confirmatory tests. This study aimed to analyze the capability of signal-to-cutoff (S/CO) ratios of HIV screening assay to predict HIV infection. METHODS: A retrospective study on the HIV screening-positive population was performed at Zhongshan Hospital, Xiamen University, the correlation between HIV screening assay S/CO ratios and HIV infection was assessed, and plotted Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to establish the optimal cutoff value for predicting HIV infection. RESULTS: Out of 396,679 patients, 836 were confirmed to be HIV-infected, with an HIV prevalence of 0.21%. The median S/CO ratios in HIV infection were significantly higher than that in non-HIV infection (296.9 vs. 2.41, P < 0.001). The rate of confirmed HIV infection was increased with higher S/CO ratios in the screening assay. The ROC curve based on the HIV screening assay S/CO ratio achieved a sensitivity of 93.78% and a specificity of 93.12% with an optimal cutoff value of 14.09. The area under the ROC curve was 0.9612. Further analysis of the ROC curve indicated that the S/CO ratio thresholds yielding positive predictive values of 99%, 99.5%, and 100% for HIV infection were 26.25, 285.7, and 354.5, respectively. CONCLUSION: Using HIV screening assay S/CO ratio to predict HIV infection can largely reduce necessitating retests and confirmatory tests. Incorporating the S/CO ratio into HIV testing algorithms can have significant implications for medical and public health practices.

Metagenomic and Machine Learning Meta-Analyses Characterize Airborne Resistome Features and Their Hosts in China Megacities.

Urban ambient air contains a cocktail of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) emitted from various anthropogenic sites. However, what is largely unknown is whether the airborne ARGs exhibit site-specificity or their pathogenic hosts persistently exist in the air. Here, by retrieving 1.2 Tb metagenomic sequences (n = 136), we examined the airborne ARGs from hospitals, municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and landfills, public transit centers, and urban sites located in seven of China's megacities. As validated by the multiple machine learning-based classification and optimization, ARGs' site-specificity was found to be the most apparent in hospital air, with featured resistances to clinical-used rifamycin and (glyco)peptides, whereas the more environmentally prevalent ARGs (e.g., resistance to sulfonamide and tetracycline) were identified being more specific to the nonclinical ambient air settings. Nearly all metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) that possessed the site-featured resistances were identified as pathogenic taxa, which occupied the upper-representative niches in all the neutrally distributed airborne microbial community (P < 0.01, m = 0.22-0.50, R2 = 0.41-0.86). These niche-favored putative resistant pathogens highlighted the enduring antibiotic resistance hazards in the studied urban air. These findings are critical, albeit the least appreciated until our study, to gauge the airborne dimension of resistomes' features and fates in urban atmospheric environments.

Pulse pressure and its association with body composition among Chinese men and women without diagnosed hypertension: the China Kadoorie Biobank.

BACKGROUND: Wide brachial pulse pressure (PP) has been associated with cardiovascular events, while its population distribution and association with body composition were poorly characterized in large populations. METHODS: We evaluated the age and sex distributions of PP and its associations with body composition using baseline data from the China Kadoorie Biobank. A total of 434 200 participants without diagnosed hypertension were included in the analysis. Wide PP was defined as PP above 65 mmHg. Body composition variables, including BMI, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), fat mass index (FMI), fat-free mass index (FFMI), and body fat percentage (BF%), were obtained from bioelectrical impedance analysis. RESULTS: Overall, 14.3% of the participants had wide PP. Older age was consistently associated with wider PP in women but only after the andropause stage in men. The independent associations of BMI with wide PP were stronger than other body composition measures. The adjusted differences (men/women, mmHg) in PP per standard deviation (SD) increase in BMI (1.55/1.47) were higher than other body composition (BF%: 0.32/0.64, waist circumference: 0.33/0.39; WHR: 0.49/0.42). In addition, sex differences were observed. In men, the per SD difference in PP was higher for FFMI than for FMI (0.91 vs. 0.67, P  < 0.05), whereas in women, it was higher for FMI than for FFMI (1.01 vs. 0.72, P  < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our nationwide population-based study presented the sex-specific distribution of PP over age and identified differential associations of PP with fat and fat-free mass in men and women.

Differential Gut Microbiota, Dietary Intakes in Constipation Patients with or without Hypertension.

SCOPE: Diet and gut microbiota are involved in blood pressure regulations, but few studies have focused on the constipation patients. The study seeks to identify differences in gut microbiota between hypertensive and normotensive subjects in constipation patients, analyzes the relationship between dietary patterns and blood pressure, and explores mediation effects of gut microbiota. METHODS AND RESULTS: Gut microbial genera and dietary information of 186 functional constipation participants are characterized by 16S rRNA sequencing and a food frequency questionnaire. The hypertensive subjects shows lower α-diversity and ß-diversity of gut microbiota than normotensive (p < 0.05) and 17 differential microbial genera. The dried-beans intake frequency inversely correlated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure after multivariate adjustment (r = -0.273, p-FDR < 0.01; r = -0.251, p-FDR = 0.026, respectively). Logistic regression indicates that the individuals often consumed dried-beans have a lower hypertension risk than those never consumed [OR = 0.137, 95% CI: (0.022, 0.689), p = 0.022]. A marginal mediating effect of the genus Monoglobus is observed for the association between high-fiber dietary pattern and hypertension. CONCLUSION: In patients with functional constipation, hypertension-related gut microbial differences are identified. Dried-beans intake is inversely associated with blood pressure, and a genus may potentially mediate the association between high-fiber dietary pattern and hypertension.

Effects of dietary fibers or probiotics on functional constipation symptoms and roles of gut microbiota: a double-blinded randomized placebo trial.

Dietary fibers/probiotics may relieve constipation via optimizing gut microbiome, yet with limited trial-based evidences. We aimed to evaluate the effects of formulas with dietary fibers or probiotics on functional constipation symptoms, and to identify modulations of gut microbiota of relevance. We conducted a 4-week double-blinded randomized placebo-controlled trial in 250 adults with functional constipation. Intervention: A: polydextrose; B: psyllium husk; C: wheat bran + psyllium husk; D: Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis HN019 + Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HN001; Placebo: maltodextrin. Oligosaccharides were also included in group A to D. 16S rRNA sequencing was used to assess the gut microbiota at weeks 0, 2, and 4. A total of 242 participants completed the study. No time-by-group effect was observed for bowel movement frequency (BMF), Bristol stool scale score (BSS), and degree of defecation straining (DDS), while BSS showed mean increases of 0.95-1.05 in group A to D (all P < 0.05), but not significantly changed in placebo (P = 0.170), and 4-week change of BSS showed similarly superior effects of the interventions as compared placebo. Group D showed a marginal reduction in plasma 5-hydroxytryptamine. Group A resulted in a higher Bifidobacterium abundance than placebo at week 2 and 4. Fourteen genera showed intervention-specific increasing or decreasing trends continuously, among which Anaerostipes showed increasing trends in groups B and C, associated with BMF increase. Random forest models identified specific baseline microbial genera panels predicting intervention responders. In conclusion, we found that the dietary fibers or probiotics may relieve hard stool, with intervention-specific changes in gut microbiota relevant to constipation relief. Baseline gut microbiota may predispose the intervention responsiveness. ClincialTrials.gov number, NCT04667884.

What is the context?Supplementation of dietary fibers, such as psyllium husk or wheat bran (10 ~ 15 g/day) may relieve constipation symptoms, but bloating and flatulence are major concerns on a high fiber intake.Functional constipation patients had alternated gut microbiota profiles, while meta-analysis suggested that multispecies probiotics may increase bowel movement frequency and relieve hard stool in functional constipation.Dietary fibers or probiotics may lead to before-after changes of gut microbiota in patients with functional constipation, but time-series continued changes of gut microbiota during the intervention are unknown.Elevation of 5-hydroxytryptamine synthesis in enterochromaffin cells may affect bowel movement. And the elevated plasma 5-hydroxytryptamine was observed in functional constipation patients.What is new? Daily supplement of three prebiotic formulas with dietary fibers (polydextrose, psyllium husk, wheat bran, together with oligosaccharides), or a probiotic formula with Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis HN019 + Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HN001 effectively relieved hard stool in functional constipation patients after 4 weeks intervention.We identified continued increasing or decreasing gut microbial genera over the intervention. Dietary fiber ­ gut microbiota (Anaerostipes)­constipation relieve (bowel movement frequency) evidence axis was identified in this human trial.Probiotic supplementation marginally reduced plasma 5-hydroxytryptamine, possibly associated with changes in BMF-related gut microbial genera.Intervention-specific baseline gut microbiota well predicted the responsiveness of constipation symptom relief.What is the impact? We provided references for the dosage and duration of dietary fiber/probiotics recommendations for adults with functional constipation, and advanced the microbial genera evidences of the fibers/probiotics-microbiota-laxation theory in humans.

Environmental sustainability opportunity and socio-economic cost analyses of phosphorus recovery from sewage sludge.

Although phosphorus (P) recovery and management from sewage sludge are practiced in North America and Europe, such practices are not yet to be implemented in China. Here, we evaluated the environmental sustainability opportunity and socio-economic costs of recovering P from sewage sludge by replacing the current-day treatments (CT; sludge treatment and landfill) and P chemical fertilizer application (CF) in China using life cycle assessment and life cycle costing methods. Three potential P recovery scenarios (PR1‒PR3: struvite, vivianite, and treated sludge) and corresponding current-day scenarios (CT1‒CT3 and CF) were considered. Results indicated that PR1 and PR2 have smaller environmental impacts than the current-day scenarios, whereas PR3 has larger impacts in most categories. PR3 has the lowest net costs (sum of internal costs and benefits, 39.1-54.7 CNY per kg P), whereas PR2 has the lowest external costs (366.8 CNY per kg P). Societal costs for production and land use of 1 kg P by P recovery from sewage sludge (e.g., ∼527 CNY for PR1) are much higher than those of P chemical fertilizers (∼20 CNY for CF). However, considering the costs in the current-day treatments (e.g., ∼524 CNY for CT1), societal costs of P recovery scenarios are close to or slightly lower than those of current-day scenarios. Among the three P recovery scenarios, we found that recovering struvite as P fertilizer has the highest societal feasibility. This study will provide valuable information for improved sewage sludge management and will help promote the sustainable supply of P in China.

Nasal swab is a good alternative sample for detecting SARS-CoV-2 with rapid antigen test: A meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: We aim to determine if nasal samples have equivalent detection sensitivity to nasopharyngeal swabs for RAT and evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of nasal swabs with RAT. METHODS: PubMed and Web of Science were searched for eligible studies published before August 23, 2022. A bivariate random effects model was used to perform the quantitative synthesis. RESULTS: The pooled sensitivity, pooled specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and summary AUC on nasal swabs with RAT were 0.81 (95% CI, 0.77-0.85), 1.00 (95% CI: 0.99-1.00), 0.97 (95% CI, 0.95-0.98), 298.91 (95% CI, 144.71-617.42) and 0.19 (95% CI, 0.15-0.23), respectively. WHO required RAT kits to perform with a sensitivity of 0.80 and a specificity of 0.97, nasal swabs (0.81) achieved the required sensitivity while nasopharyngeal swabs (0.75) did not. The symptomatic population yielded higher pooled sensitivity than the asymptomatic population (0.86 versus 0.71), with a pooled sensitivity of 0.90 for five days of symptom onset. CONCLUSION: Nasal sampling had a great performance and yielded a high sensitivity in detecting SARS-CoV-2 using RAT, we believe that RAT performed with nasal swabs is a good alternative for detecting SARS-CoV-2, especially early in the onset of symptoms.

Performance of the nontreponemal tests and treponemal tests on cerebrospinal fluid for the diagnosis of neurosyphilis: A meta-analysis.

Background: Nontreponemal and treponemal tests for analyzing cerebrospinal fluid to confirm the existence of neurosyphilis have been widely used, so we aim to evaluate and compare their performance on the cerebrospinal fluid in the diagnosis of neurosyphilis. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search on five databases and utilized a bivariate random-effects model to perform the quantitative synthesis. Results: Nontreponemal tests demonstrated a pooled sensitivity of 0.77 (95% CI: 0.68-0.83), a pooled specificity of 0.99 (95% CI: 0.97-1.00), and a summary AUC of 0.97 (95% CI: 0.95-0.98). The pooled sensitivity, pooled specificity, and summary AUC of treponemal tests were 0.95 (95% CI: 0.90-0.98), 0.85 (95% CI: 0.67-0.94), and 0.97 (95% CI: 0.95-0.98), respectively. The pooled specificity of all nontreponemal tests varied minimally (ranging from 0.97 to 0.99), with TRUST (0.83) having a higher pooled sensitivity than VDRL (0.77) and RPR (0.73). Among all treponemal tests, EIA has outstanding diagnostic performance with a pooled sensitivity of 0.99 and a pooled specificity of 0.98. Conclusion: Nontreponemal tests exhibited a higher pooled specificity, and treponemal tests exhibited a higher pooled sensitivity in diagnosing neurosyphilis on cerebrospinal fluid. TRUST may be a satisfactory substitute for VDRL. EIA is a prospective diagnostic tool that deserves further study in the future. Our study may be useful to clinical laboratories in selecting appropriate serological tests on the cerebrospinal fluid for the diagnosis of neurosyphilis.

Evaluating the Value of Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibody-Based Tests for COVID-19 Diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: The early detection of COVID-19 patients is fundamental for containing the pandemic. A reverse-transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which detects SARS-CoV-2 RNA, is the gold standard diagnostic test, although it can contribute to false-negative results. Consequently, supplementary diagnostic tests are urgently needed. METHODS: To assess the value of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody-based tests for confirming COVID-19, a retrospective study was conducted on 3120 inbound overseas travelers who underwent a 14-day government quarantine in Xiamen from August 2020 to October 2020. The diagnostic accuracy of the total antibody that detected the anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody and the RT-PCR that detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA was determined in comparison to the clinical diagnosis. RESULTS: The COVID-19 positive rate was 3.14% (98/3120). The sensitivity and specificity of the RT-PCR test on the first day of quarantine were 14.29% and 100%, respectively, and the sensitivity and specificity of the total antibody were 93.88% and 99.40%, respectively. The kappa value between an RT-PCR on the first day of quarantine and a clinical diagnosis was 0.24 (95% CI, 0.14-0.35), indicating poor consistency. The kappa value between total antibodies and a clinical diagnosis was 0.88 (95% CI, 0.83-0.93), indicating perfect consistency. There were no differences in the positive rates of an RT-PCR in symptomatic COVID-19 (7.41% (2/27)) and asymptomatic COVID-19 (16.90 (12/71) (p = 0.338). Similarly, the positive rate of the total antibody tests showed no difference in symptomatic COVID-19 (96.30% (26/27)) and asymptomatic COVID-19 (92.96% (66/71)) (p = 0.676). CONCLUSION: SARS-CoV-2 antibodies are developed by the body in response to an infection or after vaccination; this can easily lead to a missed diagnosis. In the context of low sensitivity for an RT-PCR, SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection is an effective adjunct to RT-PCR detection, which can improve the diagnostic accuracy of COVID-19 and provide an effective complement to the false-negative results of an RT-PCR.

Evaluation of the cycle threshold values of RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 in COVID-19 patients in predicting epidemic dynamics and monitoring surface contamination.

To evaluate the application of cycle threshold (Ct) values of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in predicting epidemic dynamics and monitoring surface contamination. The Ct value of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction for SARS­CoV-2 from COVID-19 patients inbound overseas in Xiamen, China was collected from October 2020 to December 2021, and the correlation of patients' Ct values with epidemic dynamics and surface contamination was evaluated. The results showed that there was an extreme inverse correlation of positivity rate in the current calendar month (ORF1ab, r = -0.692, P = 0.004; N,r = -0.629, P = 0.012) and the following calendar month (ORF1ab,r = -0.801, P = 0.001; N,r = -0.620, P = 0.018) with the median Ct values. Ct value showed better performance for monitoring surface contamination, with the area under the curve value 0.808(95 %CI: 0.748-0.869) for ORF1ab and 0.807(95 %CI:0.746-0.868) for the N gene. The patients' ORF1ab Ct value< 29.09 or N Ct value< 28.03 were 11.25 times and 10.48 times more likely to result in surface contamination than those with ORF1ab Ct value ≥ 29.09 or N Ct value≥ 28.03 (OR:11.25,95 % CI: 5.52-22.35; OR:10.48,95 % CI:5.29-20.70). Ct values were associated with the positivity rate in the current or following calendar month and predicted the epidemic dynamics. The Ct values can be used as a predictor for monitoring surface contamination to develop public health responses to COVID-19.

Global airborne bacterial community-interactions with Earth's microbiomes and anthropogenic activities.

Airborne bacteria are an influential component of the Earth's microbiomes, but their community structure and biogeographic distribution patterns have yet to be understood. We analyzed the bacterial communities of 370 air particulate samples collected from 63 sites around the world and constructed an airborne bacterial reference catalog with more than 27 million nonredundant 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequences. We present their biogeographic pattern and decipher the interlacing of the microbiome co-occurrence network with surface environments of the Earth. While the total abundance of global airborne bacteria in the troposphere (1.72 × 1024 cells) is 1 to 3 orders of magnitude lower than that of other habitats, the number of bacterial taxa (i.e., richness) in the atmosphere (4.71 × 108 to 3.08 × 109) is comparable to that in the hydrosphere, and its maximum occurs in midlatitude regions, as is also observed in other ecosystems. The airborne bacterial community harbors a unique set of dominant taxa (24 species); however, its structure appears to be more easily perturbed, due to the more prominent role of stochastic processes in shaping community assembly. This is corroborated by the major contribution of surface microbiomes to airborne bacteria (averaging 46.3%), while atmospheric conditions such as meteorological factors and air quality also play a role. Particularly in urban areas, human impacts weaken the relative importance of plant sources of airborne bacteria and elevate the occurrence of potential pathogens from anthropogenic sources. These findings serve as a key reference for predicting planetary microbiome responses and the health impacts of inhalable microbiomes with future changes in the environment.

Diagnostic accuracy of rapid antigen test for SARS-CoV-2: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 166,943 suspected COVID-19 patients.

To assess the diagnostic accuracy of the rapid antigen test (RAT) compared with RT-PCR (reference standard) for SARS-CoV-2, we searched MEDLINE/PubMed and Web of Science for relevant records. The QUADAS-2 tool was used to assess study quality, and quantitative synthesis was conducted using a bivariate random-effects model. The meta-analysis included 135 studies (166,943 samples). The pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio, and diagnostic odds ratio were 0.76 (95%CI: 0.73-0.79), 1.00 (95%CI: 1.00-1.00), 276.1 (95% CI, 184.1-414.1), 0.24 (95% CI, 0.21-0.27), and 1171 (95% CI, 782-1755), respectively. Compared to other sample types, nasal samples had the best RAT sensitivity [0.79 (95%CI: 0.71-0.85)]. The sensitivities of the different RAT kits ranged from 0.41 (95%CI: 0.23-0.61) to 0.90 (95%CI: 0.70-0.97). Sensitivity was markedly better in samples with lower Ct, and RAT achieved excellent pooled sensitivity at 1.00 (95%CI: 0.70-1.00) among samples with Ct < 20. Testing within 10 days of symptom onset resulted in a high sensitivity. For ≤ 3, ≤ 7, and ≤ 10 days, the sensitivities were 0.91 (95%CI: 0.83-0.96), 0.89 (95%CI: 0.84-0.93), and 0.88 (95%CI: 0.83-0.92), respectively. RAT kits show high sensitivity and specificity in early infection, especially when the viral load is high. Moreover, using nasal samples for antigen testing, which are moderately sensitive and patient-friendly, is a reliable alternative to nasopharyngeal sampling. RAT might be effective for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic; however, it must be complemented by the careful handling of negative test results.

A 14+7 day quarantine period and a dual nucleic acid testing reagent strategy detect potentially indiscoverable Coronavirus disease 2019 infections in Xiamen, China.

BACKGROUND: Determining what quarantine period and detection strategy are more effective and sustainable remains a challenge for further prevention and social stability. METHODS: From October 2020 to December 2021, 290,547 inbound overseas travelers were subject to government quarantine in Xiamen, China. The detection rate of COVID-19 during different quarantine periods using dual or single nucleic acid testing reagents. RESULTS: The COVID-19 positive rate was 1.79% (519/290,547). The detection rates during the 7-day, 14-day and 14+7-day quarantine periods using the dual reagents were 78.4%, 91.7%, and 100%, respectively. The detection rate of the 7-day, 14-day and 14+7-day quarantine periods were 73.99%, 86.51%, and 94.22%, respectively, using the Liferiver reagent and 72.25%, 84.59%, and 91.91%, respectively, using the Daan reagent. Based on the 14+7 day strategy, dual nucleic acid testing reagent strategy detected all imported cases, but 30 cases (5.78%) were not detected via Liferiver reagent and 42 (8.09%) cases not detected via Daan reagent. CONCLUSION: A 14+7-day quarantine period and dual nucleic acid testing reagent strategy are effective screening methods for COVID-19 among inbound overseas travelers. The superior detection rate of these strategies reduce the risk of secondary transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

A lab-on-disc centrifugal microfluidic system for ultraprecise plasma separation.

As the medical community puts forward higher requirements for the speed and convenience of disease diagnosis, point-of-care testing has become a hot research topic to overcome various kinds of healthcare problems. Blood test is considered to be highly sensitive and accurate in clinical diagnosis. However, conventional plasma separation system tends to be bulky and needs professional operations. Moreover, imprecise separation may cause residual biochemical substances such as blood cells to affect the detection results. In this work, to solve these problems, we designed a portable centrifugal microfluidic platform for automatic, rapid and ultraprecise blood separation. The disc consists of multichambers and multi-microchannels where a plasma reservoir and a cell reservoir are connected to each other and collinear with the center of the circle. This structure overcomes the weakness of low separation efficiency (when hematocrit increases) under the traditional blood separation structure (bifurcation structure). As a result, the proposed system achieved 99.9% plasma purity, 99.9% separation efficiency (with a blood hematocrit of 48%) and 32.5% plasma recovery rate in the 50s, which provides a strong guarantee for rapid blood diagnosis and analysis, especially in areas where medical resources are limited.

Inhalable antibiotic resistomes emitted from hospitals: metagenomic insights into bacterial hosts, clinical relevance, and environmental risks.

BACKGROUND: Threats of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to human health are on the rise worldwide. Airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5), especially those emitted from hospitals, could serve as a substantial yet lesser-known environmental medium of inhalable antibiotic resistomes. A genome-centric understanding of the hosting bacterial taxa, mobility potential, and consequent risks of the resistomes is needed to reveal the health relevance of PM2.5-associated AMR from clinical settings. RESULTS: Compared to urban ambient air PM2.5, the hospital samples harbored nearly twice the abundance of antibiotic resistantance genes (ARGs, ~ 0.2 log10(ARGs/16S rRNA gene)) in the summer and winter sampled. The profiled resistome was closely correlated with the human-source-influenced (~ 30% of the contribution) bacterial community (Procrustes test, P < 0.001), reflecting the potential antibiotic-resistant bacteria (PARB), such as the human commensals Staphylococcus spp. and Corynebacterium spp. Despite the reduced abundance and diversity of the assembled metagenomes from summer to winter, the high horizontal transfer potential of ARGs, such as the clinically relevant blaOXA and bacA, in the human virulent PARB remained unaffected in the hospital air PM samples. The occurring patterns of ß-lactam resistance genes and their hosting genomes in the studied hospital-emitting PM2.5 were closely related to the in-ward ß-lactam-resistant infections (SEM, std = 0.62, P < 0.01). Featured with more abundant potentially virulent PARB (2.89 genome copies/m3-air), the hospital samples had significantly higher resistome risk index scores than the urban ambient air samples, indicating that daily human exposure to virulent PARB via the inhalation of PM2.5 was ten times greater than from the ingestion of drinking water. CONCLUSIONS: The significance of AMR in the studied hospital-emitting PM2.5 was highlighted by the greater abundance of ARGs, the prevalence of potentially virulent PARB, and the close association with hospital in-ward ß-lactam infections. A larger-scale multi-source comparison of genome-resolved antibiotic resistomes is needed to provide a more holistic understanding to evaluate the importance of airborne AMR from the "One-Health" perspective. Video Abstract.

Inhalable Antibiotic Resistome from Wastewater Treatment Plants to Urban Areas: Bacterial Hosts, Dissemination Risks, and Source Contributions.

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) are commonly detected in the atmosphere, but questions remain regarding their sources and relative contributions, bacterial hosts, and corresponding human health risks. Here, we conducted a qPCR- and metagenomics-based investigation of inhalable fine particulate matter (PM2.5) at a large wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and in the ambient air of Hong Kong, together with an in-depth analysis of published data of other potential sources in the area. PM2.5 was observed with increasing enrichment of total ARGs along the coastal-urban-WWTP gradient and clinically relevant ARGs commonly identified in urban and WWTP sites, illustrating anthropogenic impacts on the atmospheric accumulation of ARGs. With certain kinds of putative antibiotic-resistant pathogens detected in urban and WWTP PM2.5, a comparable proportion of ARGs that co-occurred with MGEs was found between the atmosphere and WWTP matrices. Despite similar emission rates of bacteria and ARGs within each WWTP matrix, about 11-13% of the bacteria and >57% of the relevant ARGs in urban and WWTP PM2.5 were attributable to WWTPs. Our study highlights the importance of WWTPs in disseminating bacteria and ARGs to the ambient air from a quantitative perspective and, thus, the need to control potential sources of inhalation exposure to protect the health of urban populations.

A novel Ag2O-TiO2-Bi2WO6/polyvinyl alcohol composite film with ethylene photocatalytic degradation performance towards banana preservation.

In this research, the Ag2O-TiO2-Bi2WO6(ATB) ternary heterojunction photocatalyst was synthesized by hydrothermal and surface deposition method, and the ATB/PVA composite film with ethylene photocatalytic degradation performance was constructed by the casting method. The structure and properties of ATB and ATB/PVA films were characterized and applied to banana preservation. The results showed that the addition of ATB could improve the mechanical properties, thermal stability, oxygen and moisture resistance, and reduce the crystallinity and light transmittance of PVA films. Compared with TiO2, Bi2WO6 and TB photocatalysts, ATB had the best photocatalytic degradation effect of ethylene under LED light. Compared with blank group, the ethylene concentration decreased by 17.17%. This was mainly attributed to the formation of heterostructure among Ag2O, TiO2 and Bi2WO6, which promoted the separation and transfer of photogenerated carriers. The ATB/PVA composite coating could effectively prevent the respiration of the bananas by inhibiting gas exchange and degrading ethylene, which reduced the weight loss, inhibited glycogen decomposition, improved the pulp hardness, increased titratable acid content, reduced the PPO activity, hindered the phenol oxidation and keep better apparent color of bananas. The safety study suggested that the ATB/PVA film is safe for bananas packaging application.

Study on the Road Performance of Foamed Warm-Mixed Reclaimed Semi-Flexible Asphalt Pavement Material.

Warm-mixed reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) technology has been widely studied worldwide as a recycled environmental method to reuse waste materials. However, the aggregate skeleton structure of the warm-mixed reclaimed asphalt mixture is not stable because of the existence of the recycled materials. Warm-mixed recycled semi-flexible pavement material can solve the defects of the above materials. In this study, five different types of open-graded asphalt mixtures containing different contents of RAP were designed, and relevant laboratory tests were conducted to assess the road performance of the warm-mixed recycled semi-flexible pavement material. The test results indicated that the road performance of warm-mixed reclaimed semi-flexible pavement materials has good resistance to rut deformation ability. Furthermore, the materials also had good water stability and fatigue performance. The grey correlation analysis shows that the asphalt binder content has the most significant correlation with the high-temperature stability, and the correlation between RAP content and the fatigue performance was the greatest. Furthermore, the curing age has the most remarkable with the low-temperature crack resistance of the warm-mixed reclaimed semi-flexible material.