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Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is a novel process of deammonification that exhibits superior ecological and economic potential compared to that of traditional heterotrophic processes. Although this process has been successfully implemented in treating high‐strength nitrogen‐contaminated wastewater, it still faces many challenges in treating mainstream municipal wastewater. This review aims to provide an overview of the status and challenges of mainstream anammox‐based processes. The different configurations and crucial factors are discussed in this review. Finally, the future needs for feasible application are stated. Practitioner points: Factors restricting mainstream application of anammox‐based processes are reviewed.Control strategies for selecting and maintaining anammox bacteria are discussed.Recent advances in nitrite production via partial nitrification or denitrification are summarized.Future needs for the feasible application of anammox‐based nitrogen removal technology for mainstream municipal wastewater treatment are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is an obligate intracellular parasite, which can affect the pregnancy outcomes in infected females by damaging the uterus, and the intrauterine environment as well as and the hypothalamus resulting in hormonal imbalance. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the parasite-induced poor pregnancy outcomes and the key genes regulating these mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the gene expression in the mouse's uterus following experimentally-induced acute infection with T. gondii RH strain. Three groups of female mice were intraperitoneally injected with tachyzoites as follow; 3 days before pregnancy (FBD6), after pregnancy (FAD6), and after implantation (FID8) as the experimental groups. Another corresponding three groups served as control, were injected with normal saline at the same time. Transcriptome analysis of the total RNA extracted from both infected and non-infected mouse uterus samples was performed using RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). Results: The three experimental groups (FBD6, FAD6, and FID8) had a total of 4,561, 2,345, and 2,997 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) compared to the controls. The significantly upregulated and downregulated DEGs were 2,571 and 1,990 genes in FBD6, 1,042 and 1,303 genes in FAD6 and 1,162 and 1,835 genes in FID8 group, respectively. The analysis of GO annotation, and KEGG pathway showed that DEGs were mainly involved in anatomical structure development, transport, cell differentiation, embryo development, hormone biosynthetic process, signal transduction, immune system process, phagosome, pathways in cancer, and cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction pathways. Conclusion: T. gondii infection can induce global transcriptomic changes in the uterus that may cause pregnancy hypertension, destruct the intrauterine environment, and hinder the normal development of placenta and embryo. Our results may help to understand the molecular mechanisms of the acute T. gondii infection, which could promote the development of new therapeutics or prophylactics for toxoplasmosis in pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing release of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) from consumer products has raised great concerns about their impacts on biological wastewater treatment. In this study, the widely-used ZnO NP was selected as a model NP to investigate its impact on high-rate denitrifying granular sludge in terms of sludge properties and community structure. A hormesis effect was observed during short-term exposure, in which the specific denitrification activity (SDA) was stimulated by 10% at 1 mg L−1 ZnO NPs, but inhibited by 23% at 5.0 mg L−1 ZnO NPs. When continuously exposed to 2.5 mg L−1 ZnO NPs, the nitrogen removal capacity of the denitrification reactor was nearly deprived within 15 days, and the relative abundance of the dominant denitrifying bacterium (Castellaniella) was decreased from 51.0 to 8.0%. Meanwhile, the dehydrogenase activity (DHA) and the content of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) significantly decreased to 22.3 and 61.1%, respectively. Nevertheless, the presence of phosphate substantially weakened the adverse effects of ZnO NPs on the SDA, EPS, DHA and the relative abundance of functional genes even exposed to 6.25 mg L−1 ZnO NPs, which was associated with the fact that the level of Zn(II) released from ZnO NPs was significantly reduced in the presence of phosphate. Therefore, the toxicity of ZnO NPs may be mainly attributed to the release of toxic Zn(II) and could be attenuated in the presence of phosphate. Overall, this study provided further reference and meaningful insights into the impact of engineered NPs on biological wastewater treatment. Image 1 • A hormesis effect was observed during short-term exposure. • 2.5 mg L−1 ZnONPs reduced the nitrogen removal capacity by 72.5% within two weeks. • 310 mg P L−1 phosphate increased the metabolic activity and abundance of denitrifying bacteria. • Based on the PICRUSt, the abundance of genes related to zinc ion assimilation was decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Both nickel and salinity are often detected in the environment. Especially electroplating wastewater contains some salt and nickel, which affects microbial activity in biological wastewater treatment process. In this study, the effects of sustaining addition of a high-concentration salinity and Ni(II) on the anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process were examined. The results indicated that the anammox system had an acclimation ability to <0.2 mg L−1 Ni(II) and 20 g L−1 NaCl. After a recovery phase of approximately 70 days, the nitrogen removal efficiency and rate reached at 77.1% and 1.18 kg N m−3 d−1, respectively. The three-dimensional excitation-emission matrix fluorescence and Fourier transform infrared spectra results showed that the introduction of NaCl and Ni(II) caused a substantial variation in the quantity and composition of the bound EPS in the surface of anammox granules. The present study is the first to document the long-term effect of co-existence of salinity and Ni(II) on the performance of the freshwater-derived anammox bacteria in the upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor and to provide a reference for the stable operation of anammox bioreactors for the treatment of sulfonamide-containing wastewater. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Long-term exposure to NaCl and Ni(II) resulted in co-inhibition on the anammox UASB system. • The sludge characteristics changed after chronic exposure to NaCl and Ni(II). • 3D-EEM analyses showed a change in organic compositions in B-EPS. • FTIR analyses suggested a shift in functional groups in B-EPS. • The deleterious impact of NaCl and Ni(II) was reversible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we aimed to characterize the fish community structure and identify the drivers contributing to homogenization/differentiation processes in four tributaries to the Pearl River, Guangxi Province, China, over the past few decades. We sampled 22 sites seasonally from 2013 through 2015, and these sites were selected based on archived records of previous sampling conducted in the 1980s. Jaccard's faunal similarity index, cluster analysis, and canonical correspondence analysis ( CCA) were applied to describe the homogenization/differentiation of fish community and illustrate the potential effectors. The number of fish species present in three of the four sampled tributaries declined dramatically over the past 30 years, leading toward a trend of increased fish community homogeneity throughout the watershed. Results from multidimensional scaling and cluster analyses allowed us to divide the study area into two distinct ecoregions. Four species ( yellow catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco, pond loach Misgurnus anguillicaudatus, Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus, and sharpbelly Hemiculter leucisculus) were considered to be indicative fish species contributing more than 5% of the dissimilarity between the two eco-regions according to the results of similarity percentage procedure. Results from CCA revealed that pH and latitude corresponded with the dominant fish species of each respective tributary. More specifically, CCA results allowed us to classify dominant fish species into three distinct groups. The first group was mainly located in Guijiang characterized by higher latitudes and lower pH values, the second group was widespread in the four tributaries, and the last group was primarily distributed in Yujiang, Youjiang, and Zuojiang characterized by lower latitudes and higher pH values. Spatial differentiation of fish community structure and temporal homogeneity of species composition were attributed to the joint actions of human interventions including construction of dams and introductions of exotic fish species that led to habitat degeneration and fragmentation, and unequal interspecies competitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Conductive hearing loss, the second most common type of hearing loss, happens when there is a problem transmitting sound waves into inner ear, which will bring a lot of inconvenience to the patient in life and put the impaired person at a competitive disadvantage. Although conductive hearing loss could be relieved by hearing aids, the inconvenience of using these removable aids or the surgery trauma of the implanted ones should not be overlooked. Transversal maxillary deficiency and high palatal arches are often found in patients with conductive hearing loss. Some researchers have reported that there is close relationship between the maxillary contraction and hearing damage. Luckily, rapid maxillary expansion (RME) has been proved to be an effective treatment method for the transversal maxillary deficiency in clinical orthodontics for more than 40years. Thus, we hypothesized that RME treatment would be a potential therapeutic method for conductive hearing loss in growing children with maxillary constriction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A series of Zn-doped CuAlS2 bulk samples was synthesized by spark plasma sintering, and the CuAl0.90Zn0.10S2 film was prepared on a glass substrate by channel spark ablation. Their electrical and optical properties were carefully investigated. A sharp increase in conductivity due to the enhancement of both Hall mobility and carrier concentration was observed with the introduction of Zn. p-type conduction was confirmed by both the positive Seebeck coefficient and Hall coefficient. The conductivity of the thin film is as high as 63.5 S cm-1 at room temperature, and the average transmittance in the visible region is above 80%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) bacteria are sensitive and susceptible to operating condition fluctuations that can lead to the instability of a bioreactor. Through multivariate spectral analysis, the dynamic changes of intracellular and extracellular metabolites of anammox sludge under the declined temperature stress were characterized. It was found that effluent fluorescence components were positively related to the bacterial activity, and the response of the protein-like substances to the temperature change was more sensitive than that of humic substances. Under the transient disturbance during temperature change from 35 to 15 °C, anammox system tended to considerably excrete extracellular polymeric substances to resist the low temperature inhibition. However, the long-term exposure of the sludge at 10 °C resulted in the considerably inhibition of sludge activity, granular disintegration and heterotrophic denitrification bacteria increase. The two-dimensional correlation analysis further revealed that the humic acid in extracellular polymeric substances was preferentially responded to the temperature change than protein. Anammox bacteria tended to increase the intracellular protein and electron transfer-related reactive substance excretion to counteract the low temperature inhibition. Herein, both the intra- and extra-cellular response characteristics of anammox sludge to temperature variation were successfully resolved via the combined spectra. This work provides a comprehensive understanding on the mechanism of anammox sludge to temperature variation and may be valuable for the development of bioreactor monitoring techniques. Unlabelled Image • The performance of anammox bioreactor was characterized by spectra combination. • 2-dimension correlation spectroscopy was used for extracellular substances analysis. • Effluent fluorescence components were positively related to the bacterial activity. • 15 °C was an inflection temperature for the extracellular substances excretion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), the main active constituents of Glycyrrhiza glabra roots, is extensively used as food additives and herbal medicines. This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of different dietary levels of GA on growth, body composition and plasma biochemical index of channel catfish (average weight, 159.0±5.0g). Five diets were formulated to contain five levels of GA (0, 0.075, 0.15, 0.3 and 0.6g/kg). Fish were randomly distributed into 30 tanks and fed three times daily (08:30, 12:00 and 16:30h) for 8weeks. Dietary GA levels have little significant effect on weight gain (WG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Intraperitoneal fat ratio (IFR) (P <0.05) and viscera/body ratio (VBR) (P <0.01) decreased significantly as GA levels increased, and hepatosomatic index (HSI) tended to decrease as dietary GA levels increased (P <0.1). Lipid content of liver decreased significantly as GA concentrations increased (P <0.01), and lipid content of muscle tended to decrease as dietary GA concentrations increased (P <0.1). Plasma triglycerides (TG) and total cholesterol (CHO) were decreased as dietary GA concentrations increased (P <0.05); whereas, plasma cortisol and glucose (GLU) showed an opposite tendency (P <0.05). Results of this study indicate that 0.3g/kg GA had a positive influence in improving lipid deposition in channel catfish without negative effect on growth; the beneficial effect may be due to promoting lipolysis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Siniperca chuatsi, Siniperca kneri, and Siniperca scherzeri are three of the most economically important sinipercid species. The ultrastructure and morphology of the mature spermatozoa of them are examined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The sperm consists of an acrosome-less head, a short midpiece and a long flagellum. Ultrastructurally, it has a homogeneously electron-dense nucleus in a granular pattern with nuclear lucent and a nuclear fossa excluding the centriolar complex. One to four mitochondria with lamellar cristae encircle the basal body of the flagellum in the midpiece. The cytoplasm surrounding the centrioles and the cylindric cytoplasmic channel contains glycogen granules and vesicles. Comprising the conventional 9+2 axoneme, vesicles and lateral fins, the sperm flagellum is inserted laterally on the nucleus, therefore the spermatozoon is asymmetrical. All of the spermatozoa of the three species are of the primitive or ect-aquasperm form and conform to the teleostean type II spermatozoa instead of the previously supposed type I. Variations in the shape of the heads, angles between the two centrioles, location of the cytoplasmic vesicles, mitochondrial number and structural characteristics of the lateral fins are notable among the three species. S. chuatsi is a sister-group of the other two species and is the most differentiated. The present study provides fresh insights to the comparative spermatology of Siniperca fishes and will be useful to the existing knowledge of the sinipercid fishes in systematic characters, biodiversity conservation and reproduction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The arsenic in livestock wastewater would induce adverse impact on the biological treatment technology such as anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) process. Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) play an important role in resisting such toxicity. Unfortunately, the role of EPS in protecting anammox from As(III) and the mechanisms underlying the protection still remains unclear. This work comprehensively evaluated the acute toxicity of arsenic on anammox sludge and investigated the binding property and interaction mechanism. The results revealed that the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50) of As(III) on anammox sludge was estimated to be 408 mg L−1, which decreased to 41.97 mg L−1 when EPS was exfoliated. Complexation and hydrophobic interactions were the leading forces in preventing arsenic invasion. Protein was the main component that complexes with As(III), and O–H, –NH, –C O were binding sites. The response sequence of organic component in EPS to As(III) was ordered as hydrocarbons-proteins-polysaccharides-aliphatic amines. [Display omitted] • The IC 50 of As(III) was estimated as 408 mg L−1 in anammox process. • EPS was able to construct buffer zones to prevent As(III) invasion. • Protein is the main component within EPS to complex with As(III). • Response sequence of functional groups to As(III) was clarified via spectra analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of Zn-doped CuAlS2 bulk samples was synthesized by spark plasma sintering, and the CuAl0.90Zn0.10S2 film was prepared on a glass substrate by channel spark ablation. Their electrical and optical properties were carefully investigated. A sharp increase in conductivity due to the enhancement of both Hall mobility and carrier concentration was observed with the introduction of Zn. p-type conduction was confirmed by both the positive Seebeck coefficient and Hall coefficient. The conductivity of the thin film is as high as 63.5 S cm-1 at room temperature, and the average transmittance in the visible region is above 80%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persulfate based advanced oxidation process is a promising technology for refractory contaminants removal. Cobalt is considered as the most efficient metal in catalyzing peroxymonosulfate decomposition. Although different cobalt based nanomaterials have been developed, easy aggregation and metal ion leaching during catalytic reaction would result in its deficiency. To address the above issue, in this work, carbon supported Co/CoO core-shell nanocomposite was in-situ fabricated by using polyphenol-metal coordinate as precursor. Results indicated that cobalt nanoparticle with size of 10 nm was successfully prepared and well dispersed within the carbon matrix. By using as-prepared material as catalyst, 50 mg/L orange II was completely removed under the condition of 0.2 g/L peroxymonosulfate, 0.05 g/L catalyst, pH = 4.0–10.0. Both sulfate and hydroxyl radicals were formed during peroxymonosulfate decomposition, while sulfate radical dominated the pollutant removal. Mechanism study revealed that the cobalt was the key site for catalyzing peroxymonosulfate decomposition. This work might provide valuable information in designing and fabricating metal anchored carbon composite catalyst for efficiently and cost-effectively activate peroxymonosulfate. Image 1 • Co/CoO core-shell nanostructure was well dispersed within the carbon matrix. • Co/CoO@C nanocomposite remains stable within pH ranges of 4.0-10.0, rather than the current 4.0-7.0. • Sulfate radical was the dominant reactive species for orange II removal. • Peroxymonosulfate catalytic decomposition mechanism was explored and clarified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]