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Coal-fired power plant is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The post-combustion capture is a promising method for CO2emission reduction but the high thermal demand is unbearable. To address this issue, solar thermal energy and CO2capture are jointly integrated into the coal-fired power plant in this study. The solar thermal energy is employed to meet the heat requirement of the CO2capture process, thereby avoiding the electricity loss caused by self-driven CO2capture. Furthermore, the heat released from the carbonation reaction of MgO adsorbent is integrated into the steam Rankine cycle. By partially substituting the extracted steam for feedwater heating, the electricity output of the power plant is further increased. According to the results from the developed model, the system could achieve a CO2capture rate of 86.5% and an electricity output enhancement of 9.8% compared to the reference system, which consists of a self-driven CO2capture coal-fired power plant and PV generation unit. The operational strategy is also optimized and the amount of CO2emission reduction on a typical day is increased by 11.06%. This work shows a way to combine fossil fuels and renewable energy for low carbon emissions and efficient power generation.

Haloacetaldehydes (HALs) represent the third-largest category of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in drinking water in terms of weight. As a subset of unregulated DBPs, only a few HALs have undergone assessment, yielding limited information regarding their genotoxicity mechanisms. Herein, we developed a simplified yeast-based toxicogenomics assay to evaluate the genotoxicity of five specific HALs. This assay recorded the protein expression profiles of eight Saccharomyces cerevisiaestrains fused with green fluorescent protein, including all known DNA damage and repair pathways. High-resolution real-time pathway activation data and protein expression profiles in conjunction with clustering analysis revealed that the five HALs induced various DNA damage and repair pathways. Among these, chloroacetaldehyde and trichloroacetaldehyde were found to be positively associated with genotoxicity, while dichloroacetaldehyde, bromoacetaldehyde, and tribromoacetaldehyde displayed negative associations. The protein effect level index, which are molecular end points derived from a toxicogenomics assay, exhibited a statistically significant positive correlation with the results of traditional genotoxicity assays, such as the comet assay (rp= 0.830 and p< 0.001) and SOS/umuassay (rp= 0.786 and p= 0.004). This yeast-based toxicogenomics assay, which employs a minimal set of gene biomarkers, can be used for mechanistic genotoxicity screening and assessment of HALs and other chemical compounds. These results contribute to bridging the knowledge gap regarding the molecular mechanisms underlying the genotoxicity of HALs and enable the categorization of HALs based on their distinct DNA damage and repair mechanisms.

The timing of amniotomy after the Foley balloon catheter removal is crucial for successful labor induction. This study aimed to assess the effects of the Bishop score on the timing of amniotomy in patients undergoing labor induction after the Foley balloon catheter removal. This was a retrospective cohort study based on electronic medical records. We performed a Chester sampling in patients with singleton-term pregnancies who initially underwent cervical ripening using a Foley balloon catheter at the Obstetrical Department of Taixing People’s Hospital from January 2023 to July 2023. A total of 889 patients were admitted to the study. After excluding 330 patients according to the exclusion criteria, 103 patients were included. Following the Foley balloon removal, an amniotomy with a Bishop score < 6 was defined as an amniotomy with an unfavorable Bishop score (n = 62), and an amniotomy with a Bishop score ≥ 6 was defined as an amniotomy with a favorable Bishop score (n = 41). The primary outcome was the incidence of cesarean delivery and the interval from induction to delivery. The secondary outcomes included the incidence of operative vaginal delivery, intrapartum hemorrhage, postpartum hemorrhage, infection, thrombosis, and neonatal outcomes. All statistical comparisons were analyzed by GraphPad Prism 9. All data were presented as the mean ± SD or percentage. Statistical analysis comparing both groups was performed using the ttest, chi-square test, or Fisher exact test where appropriate. The baseline data, operative vaginal delivery rate, postpartum hemorrhage rate, infection rate, thrombosis rate, intrapartum and postpartum hemorrhage volume, and neonatal outcomes showed no significant differences between the 2 groups. However, the cesarean delivery rate, interval from induction to delivery, and hemoglobin postdelivery decline were significantly decreased in the favorable Bishop score group. Amniotomy with a favorable Bishop score after Foley balloon catheter removal is linked to lower cesarean delivery rates, shorter induction-to-delivery intervals, and less postdelivery hemoglobin decline without increasing adverse maternal or neonatal outcomes.

Bee pollen is a nutrient-rich granule, but its hard cell wall limits the absorption of its nutrients by the human body. Fermenting bee pollen with lactic acid bacteria breaks down its cell wall and enhances its metabolite profile, improving nutrient availability. However, the differences in metabolites and cell wall disruption effects between mixed and single-strain fermentation have not been clarified. This study aimed to analyze the metabolites of Lactobacillus plantarumcomprehensively fermented bee pollen (LPFP), Lactobacillus acidophilusfermented bee pollen (LAFP), and L. plantarumand L. acidophilusmixed fermented bee pollen (LMFP) using targeted and untargeted metabolomics as well as lipidomics, to explore the key metabolic pathways of LMFP. The results showed that under scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the cell wall of LMFP was more thoroughly disrupted. Orthogonal Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA) and metabolic pathway enrichment analysis indicated that the degradation of flavonoids in LMFP was reduced, while the contents of total phenols, total flavonoids, rutin, and other polyphenols were significantly increased. Meanwhile, the metabolism of sucrose and amino acids in LMFP was enhanced, which might have contributed to the production of flavor compounds. Additionally, compared to LAFP and LPFP, triglycerides (TG) in LMFP increased by 8.14% and 9.85%, respectively, while the proportion of phosphatidylcholine (PC) decreased by 0.62% and 2.88%. Overall, this study presents a comprehensive metabolic profile of LAFP, LPFP, and LMFP, demonstrating how fermentation strategies affect cell wall disruption and metabolite diversity, laying a foundation for enhancing bee pollen's nutritional and functional properties.

Introducing Pseudomonas putidaoptimizes the microbial community within the casing layer, thereby enhancing Agaricus bisporusgrowth. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanisms governing microbial community succession within the casing layer following microbial agent introduction remained elusive. This study delineated the interplay among microbial populations in the casing layer across the growth cycle of A. bisporus, comparing cohorts treated with P. putida(AP) against untreated controls (CK). The inoculation with Pseudomonaspromoted the growth of A. bisporus, shortened its growth cycle, and linearly enhanced the relative abundance of key bacterial genera integral to its growth, including Flavobacterium, Rhodoferax, Pseudarthrobacter, and Vogesella(adjusted R2=0.238-0.866). Importantly, a positive correlation was identified between the proliferation of these beneficial bacteria and positive community cohesion (adjusted R2=0.353-0.838). Additionally, analysis of the symbiotic network topology within the AP group indicated a more stable community following inoculation. The niche results (AP=11.7672±1.8938, CK=11.0481±3.1273, P<0.05) underscored the positive impact of Pseudomonasinoculation on ecosystem dynamics. Concentrations of essential nutrients for A. bisporusgrowth, notably readily available phosphorus (On day 17, the AP group was 78.8333±1.26623 mg/kg, while the CK group was 30.0333±0.98658 mg/kg) and readily available potassium (On day 17, the AP group was 2693.9±14.79561 mg/kg, while the CK group was 1646.9333±10.71276mg/kg), were significantly elevated in the AP group. These enhancements strongly correlated with the increased abundance of pivotal microbial populations. Our research provided insights into the application of microbial inoculants to enhance the production of edible fungi.

Complete placenta previa is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in pregnant women and fetuses. This study aimed to evaluate whether prophylactic uterine artery embolization (PUAE) could reduce bleeding in patients with complete placenta previa. We retrospectively analyzed patients with complete placenta previa admitted to Taixing People’s Hospital for elective cesarean delivery between January 2019 and December 2020. The women were treated with PUAE (PUAE group, n = 20) or without (control group, control, n = 20). Risk factors for bleeding (age, gestational age, pregnancy times, delivery times, cesarean delivery times), intraoperative blood loss, hemoglobin difference before and after surgery, transfusions volume, hysterectomy cases, major maternal complication cases, neonatal birth weight, neonatal Apgar score in 1 minute, postoperative hospitalization time were compared between 2 groups. There were no significant differences on risk factors for bleeding, neonatal birth weight, neonatal Apgar score in 1 minute, postoperative hospitalization time between 2 groups. However, the intraoperative blood loss, hemoglobin before and after operation, transfusion volume in the PUAE group was significantly lower than the control. There was no case of hysterectomy or major maternal complications in both groups. PUAE during cesarean may be an effective and safe strategy to reduce intraoperative blood loss and transfusion volume for patients with complete placenta previa.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are regarded as the main sources of estrogens that reach the aquatic environment. Hence, continuous monitoring of potential estrogenic-active compounds by a biosensor is an appealing approach. However, existing biosensors cannot simultaneously distinguish and quantify estrogenic agonists and antagonists. To overcome the challenge, we developed an estrogen receptor-based biosensor that selectively screened estrogenic agonists and antagonists by introducing rationally designed agonist/antagonist conformation-specific reporters. The double functional conformation-specific reporters consist of a Cy5.5-labeled streptavidin moiety and a peptide moiety, serving as signal recognition and signal transduction elements. In addition, the conformation recognition mechanism was further validated at the molecular level through molecular docking. Based on the two-step “turn-off” strategy, the biosensor exhibited remarkable sensitivity, detecting 17β-estradiol-binding activity equivalent (E2-BAE) at 7 ng/L and 4-hydroxytamoxifen-binding activity equivalent (4-OHT-BAE) at 91 ng/L. To validate its practicality, the biosensor was employed in a case study involving wastewater samples from two full-scale WWTPs across different treatment stages to map their estrogenic agonist and antagonist binding activities. Comparison with the yeast two-hybrid bioassay showed a strong liner relationship (r2= 0.991, p< 0.0001), indicating the excellent accuracy and reliability of this technology in real applications.

Overcoming the limitations of traditional analytical methods and developing technologies to continuously monitor environments and produce a comprehensive picture of potential endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) has been an ongoing challenge. Herein, we developed a portable nuclear receptor (NR)-based biosensor within 90 min to perform highly sensitive analyses of a broad range of EDCs in environmental water samples. Based on the specific binding of the fluorescence–labeled NRs with their ligands, the receptors were attached to the EDC–functionalized fiber surface by competing with EDCs in the samples. The biosensor emitted fluorescence due to the evanescent wave excitation, thereby resulting in a turn-off sensing mode. The biosensor showed a detection limit of 5 ng/L E2-binding activity equivalent (E2-BAE) and 93 ng/L T3-BAE. As a case study, the biosensor was used to map the estrogenic binding activities of surface waters obtained from a rural community in the Yellow River basin in China. When the results obtained were compared with those from the traditional yeast two-hybrid bioassay, a high correlation was observed. It is anticipated that the good universality and versatility exhibited by this biosensor for various EDCs, which is achieved by using different NRs, will significantly promote the continuous assessment of global EDCs.

Water pollution accidents, such as the Flint water crisis in the United States, caused by lead contamination have raised concern on the safety of drinking water distribution systems. Thus, the routine monitoring of lead in water is highly required and demands efficient, sensitive, cost-effective, and reliable lead detection methods. This study reports a label-free colorimetric nanosensor that uses unmodified gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) as indicators to enable rapid and ultra-sensitive detection of lead in environmental water. The 8–17 DNAzyme was truncated in this study to facilitate the detachment of single-stranded DNA fragments after substrate cleavage in the presence of Pb2+. The detached fragments were adsorbed over AuNPs and protected against salt concentration-induced aggregation. Accordingly, high Pb2+would result in rapid color change from blue to pink. The established sensing principle achieved a sensitive limit of detection of 0.2×10–9mol/L Pb2+, with a linear working range of two orders of magnitude from 0.5×10–9mol/L to 5×10–9mol/L. The selectivity of the nanosensor was demonstrated by evaluating the interfering metal ions. The developed nanosensor can serve as a substitute for the rapid analysis and monitoring of trace lead levels under the drinking water distribution system and even other environmental water samples.