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Lacking of electron donor generally causes the low denitrification performance of constructed wetlands (CWs). Montmorillonite supported nanoscale zero-valent iron immobilized in sodium alginate (SA/Mt-NZVI) as novel electron donor-acceptor compounds were added in the denitrification zone of vertical flow constructed wetlands (VFCWs) to enhance the nitrogen removal. The key factors of the SA/Mt-NZVI dosage, the hydraulic retention time (HRT) of VFCWs, and the C/N ratios of influent were explored. SA/Mt-NZVI significantly improved the nitrogen (NO3--N) removal efficiency in VFCWs. When the optimal dosage of SA/Mt-NZVI was set as 2 g and the C/N was set as 6, the highest NO3--N removal efficiency was improved by 32.5 ± 1.0%. The microbial community analysis of by 16S rRNA had revealed that Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes at phylum level and Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, and Alphaproteobacteria at class level played an important role in nitrogen removal.

Immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is critical in tumor development. C-type (Ca2+ -dependent) lectin (CLEC) receptors, essential in innate pattern recognition, have potential regulatory effects on immune cell trafficking and modulatory effects on cancer cell activity. However, information on the expression and prognostic value of CLECs in HCC is scanty. Herein, we explored the potential role of CLECs in HCC based on TCGA, ONCOMINE, GEPIA, UALCAN, cBioPortal, Metascape, TRRUST, and TIMER databases. Results demonstrated a significantly higher mRNA level of CLEC4A and CLEC4L in HCC tissues than normal liver tissues. Contrarily, we found significantly low CLEC4G/H1/H2/M expression in HCC tissues. The IHC analysis revealed the following: Absence of CLEC4A/J/K/M in normal and liver cancer tissues; high CLEC4C expression in HCC tissues; low expression and zero detection of CLEC4D/E/H1/H2/L in HCC tissues and normal tissues, respectively. And the HepG2 and LX-2 were used to verify the expression level of CLEC4s via qRT-PCR in vitro. Furthermore, the expression of CLEC4H1 (ASGR1) and CLEC4H2 (ASGR2) exhibited a significant relation to clinical stages. However, the expression of CLEC4A, CLEC4D, CLEC4E, CLEC4J (FCER2), CLEC4K (CD207), CLEC4G, CLEC4H1, CLEC4M, and CLEC4H2 decreased with tumor progression. Patients expressing higher CLEC4H1/H2 levels had longer overall survival than patients exhibiting lower expression. Moreover, CLEC4A/D/E/J/K/G/H1/M/H2 had significant down-regulated levels of promoter methylation. The expression level of CLEC4s was correlated with the infiltration of B cells, CD8 + T cells, CD4 + T cells, macrophage cells, neutrophil cells, and dendritic cells. Functional analysis revealed the potential role of CLECL4s in virus infection, including COVID-19. Also, hsa-miR-4278 and hsa-miR-324-5p, two potential miRNA targets of CLEC4s, were uncovered. This article demonstrates that CLEC4 is crucial for the development of HCC and is associated with infiltration of various immune cells, providing evidence for new immunotherapy targets in HCC.

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is the most commonly diagnosed type of lung cancer and exhibits a high morbidity. The present study aimed to investigate the long non-coding RNA (lncRNA)-associated competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) mechanisms in LUAD. The receptor activity modifying protein 2-antisense RNA 1 (RAMP2-AS1) was identified using GSE113852 and GSE130779 datasets downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, and the downregulation of RAMP2-AS1 was the most significant in LUAD. In addition, microRNA (miR)-296-5p was identified to bind to RAMP2-AS1 via bioinformatics analysis. Subsequently, CD44, cyclin D3 (CCND3), neurocalcin δ (NCALD), microtubule actin crosslinking factor 1 (MACF1) and potassium channel tetramerization domain containing 15 were obtained by intersecting the predicted target genes of miR-296-5p and 368 differentially expressed mRNAs in LUAD. According to the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis and UALCAN databases, these five mRNAs were downregulated in LUAD, and their expression levels were positively correlated with those of RAMP2-AS1. CD44, CCND3, NCALD and MACF1 were selected as key mRNAs in LUAD based on prognostic analyses. Furthermore, functional enrichment analyses were performed and an interaction network was constructed to reveal the functions of the RAMP2-AS1-associated ceRNA in LUAD. The results indicated that the functions were mainly enriched in generic transcription pathways, cyclin D-associated events in G1 and epithelial stromal transformation. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR assays revealed that RAMP2-AS1, CD44, CCND3, NCALD and MACF1 expression was lower in tumor tissues than in normal tissues, while miR-296-5p expression was higher in tumor tissues compared with in normal tissues. The association between RAMP2-AS1 and MACF1 was further confirmed using in vitro experiments. Overall, the present results indicated that RAMP2-AS1, miR-296-5p, CD44, CCND3, NCALD and MACF1 may be involved in LUAD progression and may therefore serve as potential biomarkers and provide a theoretical basis for the study of the pathogenesis of LUAD.

There are various test methods applied to measure mean linear density of PTFE split-film fibers. The measured results vary with respect to computation mechanisms, measurement parameters, and morphology and inherent properties of fibers. Five test methods and an assumption calculation were introduced to evaluate the linear densities of PTFE fibers. The experimental results show that the gravimetric method generated the highest linear density, followed by the cross-section method, theory calculation, airflow measurement, assumption calculation, and vibration method. Statistical analyses indicated that actual mean linear density of the PTFE split-film fibers is in the effective range between the maximum and minimum fineness obtained from the theory and assumption calculation, respectively. Linear density of the PTFE split-film fiber tested via the gravimetric method, cross-section method, and vibration operation were significantly different to the effective range. In the case of the airflow experiment, mean linear densities measured at high porosities are in high accordance with the actual fineness. The airflow method offers a short time to reliably measure mean linear density of PTFE split-film fibers under appropriate test conditions.

The effects of various combinations of iron compounds on the contaminant removal performance in constructed wetlands (CWs) were explored under various initial iron concentrations, contaminant concentrations, different hydraulic retention time (HRT), and different temperatures. The Combo 6 (nanoscale zero-valent iron combined with Fe3+) in CW treatments showed the highest pollutant removal performance under the conditions of C2 initial iron dosage concentration (total iron 0.2 mM) and I2 initial contaminant concentration (COD:TN:TP = 60 mg/L:60 mg/L:1 mg/L) in influent after 72-h HRT. These results were directly verified by two different microbial tests (Biolog test and high-throughput pyrosequencing) and microbial community analysis (principal component analysis of community-level physiological profile, biodiversity index, cluster tree, relative abundance at order of taxonomy level). Specific bacteria related to significant improvements in contaminant removal were domesticated by various combinations of iron compounds. Iron dosage was advised as a green, new, and effective option for wastewater treatment.

Quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs) are being used widely as a promising alternative to antibiotics and drawing attention as potential pollutants. However, the assessment methods of the toxicities of QSIs, including model organism and affecting time, have not been established. To investigate how model organism and acting time impact the toxicities of QSIs, the effect of 4 QSIs to Aliivibrio fischeri and Bacillus subtilis were determined at different exposing time in the present study. The results showed that the toxic effects of QSIs to gram-negative bacteria (A fischeri) and gram-positive bacteria (B subtilis) were different and time dependent. As for A fischeri, QSI (furaneol acetate, FA) merely showed inhibition on the bioluminescence from hours 1 to 2. But from hours 3 to 6, low concentration FA exerted stimulation on the bioluminescence. Then, this stimulation disappeared from hours 7 to 14, and after hour 15 the stimulation appeared again. That is to say, QSIs showed intermittent hormesis effect on the bioluminescence of A fischeri. By contrast, only inhibition was observed in the toxicity test process of QSIs to B subtilis. As exposing time goes, the inhibition weakened gradually when FA was at low concentration regions. What is more, in the present, study toxic mechanisms were also discussed based on model organisms and exposing time. This study demonstrates appreciable impacts of model organism and exposing time on toxicities of QSIs and provides a theoretical basis for risk assessments after QSIs being widely used into the environment.