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The hypergraph offers a platform to study structural properties emerging from more complicated and higher-order than pairwise interactions among constituents and dynamical behavior, such as the spread of information or disease. Considering the higher-order interaction between multiple nodes in the system, the mathematical model of infectious diseases spreading on simple scale-free networks is extended to hypernetworks based on hypergraphs. A SIS propagation model based on reaction process strategy in a universal scale-free hypernetwork is constructed, and the theoretical and simulation analysis of the model is carried out. Using mean field theory, the analytical expressions between infection density and hypernetwork structure parameters as well as propagation parameters in steady state are given. Through individual-based simulation, the theoretical results are verified and the infectious disease spread process under the structure of the hypernetwork and simple scale-free network is compared and analyzed. It becomes apparent that infectious diseases are easier to spread on the hypernetworks, showing the clear clustering characteristics of epidemic spread. Furthermore, the influence of the hypernetwork structure and model parameters on the propagation process is studied. The results of this paper are helpful in further studying the propagation dynamics on the hypernetworks. At the same time, it provides a certain theoretical basis for the current COVID-19 prevention and control in China and the prevention of infectious diseases in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spontaneous anammox bacteria enrichment at mainstream conditions was reported in a full‐scale Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in a temperate zone of China. The mainstream anammox was observed after WWTP process retrofit, which constructed a hybrid sludge retention time (SRT) system by providing moving carriers in the anaerobic/anoxic tank and was initially designed to enhance the denitrification process in a conventional anaerobic/anoxic/oxic process. The hybrid SRT system achieved 86.0 ± 4.6% total nitrogen (TN) removal via combined mainstream anammox and conventional denitrification. Autotrophic denitrification via mainstream anammox was confirmed by various shreds of evidence including high‐throughput sequencing, specific anammox activity test, and 15N isotopic tracing. Long‐term anammox bacteria existence in the biofilm of the carrier in anoxic zones was detected in a much higher relative abundance compared with other spots. The contribution of anammox activity to TN removal was estimated at around 20%–30%. The reasons leading to spontaneous anammox enrichment were mainly attributed to the carriers for slow‐growing bacteria growth and dissolved oxygen gradient in the anoxic tank (caused by intermittent aeration) for nitrite production. The insights of this full‐scale case study provide important perspectives for future mainstream anammox application, and also the design of an energy‐neutral WWTP process. Practitioner points: Spontaneous mainstream anammox in a full‐scale WWTP after its retrofit in a temperate zone of China was reported.Anammox bacteria enrichment and long‐term stability on moving carriers at mainstream conditions was achieved by modified hybrid SRT system.The hybrid SRT system achieve stable nitrogen removal even in cold winter and high BOD/N situation by combining mainstream anammox with conventional denitrification.Long term full‐scale operation demonstrated excellent nitrogen removal with about 20%–30% contribution of mainstream anammox.This full‐scale case study provided perspectives for future optimizing mainstream anammox application, and also energy‐neutral WWTP process design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. The proportion of cases of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in China is gradually increasing. Glaucoma surgery has become more effective, safer, minimally invasive and personalized over the years. CO2 laser-assisted sclerectomy surgery (CLASS) is a minimally invasive glaucoma treatment. CLASS has recently been used to gradually lower intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with POAG, pseudocapsular detachment syndrome and secondary glaucoma. In this operation, precise ablation of dry tissue followed by photocoagulation and effective absorption of water and percolating aqueous humor using CO2 laser are performed, and the IOP is lowered by the laser ablation of the deep sclera and the outer wall of the Schlemm's canal, facilitating the drainage of the aqueous humor. Compared with other filtering surgeries, CLASS has a shorter learning curve, lower technical difficulty and higher safety. The present study reviews the clinical application progress, safety and effectiveness of CLASS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, the running performance and its environmental impact of the integrated spray drying and incineration demonstration project were studied for more than 30 days and presented. With the process of industrial-scale installation (with capacity of 600t/d) for dying sludge treatment being in operation, the stability and reliability with high degree of automation in the long run time were observed. The spray drying tower, which was designed to dry the wet sludge by directly contacting with the high temperature gas, was specially monitored and found that it can keep running with high security, without dust explosion and harmful volatile organic gases released risks. The exhaust and smoke were also determined and results indicated that the pollutants were well-controlled to meet the related national standard (GB18485-2001) including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrogen chloride as well as mercury and lead. Much attention should be paid to the dioxin that the emission concentration was even lower than that of the European Union Criteria. The most important for this technology is that there is no fly ash emitted. This is the distinguished difference from other incineration processes. Leaching test regarding incineration slag did not show as much pollution of heavy metal. All of the above showed that this technology had not much effect on environment and proved it successful application in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A full‐scale wastewater treatment plant in China experienced unintentional anammox bacterial enrichment on biofilm carriers placed in the anaerobic and anoxic zones of an anaerobic/anoxic/oxic process under ambient temperatures and without bioaugmentation. Here, we show that microaerophilic conditions resulting from air scouring needed for biofilm carrier suspension in the anaerobic/anoxic zones can support a robust nitritation/anammox process. Results from an in situ on/off air scouring test showed that air scouring strongly induced both ammonia and total inorganic nitrogen removal in the anaerobic/anoxic zones. Ammonium concentration in the anaerobic and anoxic tanks remained constant or even slightly increased when air scouring was off, indicating that air scouring made a noticeable difference in nitrogen profiles in the anaerobic/anoxic zones. Various batch tests further indicated that partial denitrification is not likely to generate nitrite for anammox bacteria. Robust nitritation, and anammox on the carriers, can occur at low dissolved oxygen conditions, as measured in the full‐scale facility. The observations show that mainstream deammonification without sidestream bioaugmentation at moderate temperature is feasible and further optimization by a more dedicated design can result in improved nitrogen removal in cases when chemical oxygen demand is limited in mainstream wastewater treatment. Practitioner points: Microaerophilic conditions in a full‐scale IFAS reactor caused mainstream anammox in moderate temperate area.Robust nitritation, and anammox on the carriers, can occur at low dissolved oxygen conditions in anaerobic/anoxic tanks with air scouring.Anammox can function well with conventional nitrification and denitrification process at mainstream conditions for stable nitrogen removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Halogenated methyl sulfonic acid (HMSAs) is a new type of disinfection by-product recently reported, and there are few relevant studies, so its source and harm are still unclear. This study mainly discusses the source of halogenated methyl sulfonic acid from the macroscopic level and evaluates the harm to human health. This study clarified that chlorine disinfection is one of the main ways of generating halogenated methyl sulfonic acids (HMSAs) in drinking water. The macroscopic properties of HMSA precursors were analyzed through liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), 3D fluorescence, and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. The results showed that polar and positively charged organic compounds with molecular weights of >3 KDa or <0.5 KDa can readily generate HMSAs. By analyzing the main components of natural organic compounds in water and comparing them with the characteristics of organic compounds such as dimethyl sulfoxide and ethyl mercaptan, it meant that natural organic compounds are easily degraded. Humic and fulvic acids contribute the most to HMSA generation. This study lasted for three years and collected water samples from 102 waterworks in 24 cities in China, and the existence of HMSAs in drinking water in different cities was analyzed. The potential health risks associated with HMSAs were used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) health risk assessment model. The average and maximum concentrations of HMSAs in tap water from key cities in China were taken as evaluation objects. The results showed that the carcinogenic risk coefficient (R) value of both concentrations was far lower than the lowest acceptable carcinogenic risk (1.0 × 10−6) provided by U.S. EPA. Therefore, HMSAs in drinking water in China currently pose no human health risks. • Chlorine disinfection is one of the reasons for the production of halogenated methyl sulfonic acid (HMSAs) in drinking water. • The natural organic matter easy to degrade in water is macro precursor of HMSAs. • Humic acid and fulvic acid are the main factors of HMSAs produced by chlorine disinfection. • HMSAs in drinking water in China has little impact on human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To analyse and compare the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients with acute angle closure (AAC) who presented before the COVID-19 pandemic, during the COVID-19 management and after their downgrading., Methods: Consecutive AAC patients were recruited from our hospital and divided into three groups: those treated before the COVID-19 pandemic (Group1), during the COVID-19 management (Group2) and after the management downgrade (Group3). The demographic variables, clinical characteristics, treatment methods and therapeutic outcomes of the groups were compared., Results: When compared to Groups1 and 2, Group3 showed a significantly higher incidence of AAC (0.27%, P < 0.001), a longer time from symptoms to treatment (TST; 160.88 ± 137.05 h, P = 0.031) and worse uncorrected visual acuity (P = 0.009) at presentation. In Group3, 68.9% had a history of COVID-19 and 28.5% developed ocular symptoms of AAC after taking medication for COVID-19 symptoms. The average time from the onset of COVID-19 to the appearance of eye symptoms was 3.21 ± 4.00 days., Conclusions: The COVID-19 has had a multifaceted impact on the incidence of AAC. Therefore, it is crucial to strengthen health education on glaucoma, especially AAC. The prevention and timely treatment of AAC should be emphasised to combat global blindness., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Objectives: Accurate measurements of renin and aldosterone levels play an important role in primary aldosteronism screening, which is of great importance in the management and categorization of hypertension. The objective of this study is to investigate the current status of plasma renin and aldosterone measurements in China, which is achieved by analyzing the results of 526 clinical laboratories nationwide for three pooled fresh plasma samples derived from more than 2,000 patients., Methods: Renin and aldosterone in three pooled plasma samples were measured four times in 526 laboratories employing various measurement systems. The inter- and intra-laboratory %CV were calculated and compared. To determine the source of the substantial inter-laboratory %CV, laboratories were categorized according to the measurement systems they are using, and both the inter- and intra-measurement-system %CV were calculated and compared., Results: Regarding renin, the majority of laboratories use four primary commercial immunoassays. However, for aldosterone, in addition to commercial immunoassays, laboratory-developed liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS) methods are also used by laboratories. The median values of intra-laboratory %CVs, intra-measurement-system %CVs, inter-laboratory %CVs, and inter-measurement systems %CVs varied between 1.6 and 2.6 %, 4.6 and 14.9 %, 8.3 and 25.7 %, and 10.0 and 34.4 % for renin, respectively. For aldosterone, these values ranged from 1.4 to 2.2 %, 2.5-14.7 %, 9.9-31.0 %, and 10.0-35.5 %, respectively., Conclusions: The precision within laboratories and measurement systems for plasma renin and aldosterone measurements is satisfactory. However, the comparability between laboratories using different measurement systems remains lacking, indicating the long way to achieve standardization and harmonization for these two analytes., (© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.)

Background: Myopia is a common cause of vision impairment worldwide. In China, the prevalence, the affected population, and the onset age of myopia are prominent issues. Prevention and intervention of myopia are great public health concerns., Methods: This school-based retrospective study retrieved visual acuity and refractive data of senior students (grade 12th) from six high schools in Fenghua City, Zhejiang Province, eastern China, from 2016 and 2022. Noncycloplegic autorefraction was performed for refractive status. Students were divided into three subgroups by their school types. The overall myopia prevalence, as well as the prevalence of low myopia, moderate myopia, and high myopia, were calculated separately for each year. Statistical analyzes were performed using SPSS 25.0 and Graphpad Prism software., Results: The mean myopia prevalence in Fenghua was 84.5% (95% CI: 84.0-85.0%), and a slightly downward trend was found in myopia prevalence after 2019, but the change was not statistically significant ( p  = 0.078). The overall prevalence of myopia was 79.6, 85.2, and 86.1% in vocational high schools, general high schools, and key high schools, respectively, with statistically significant differences ( p  < 0.001). The prevalence of myopia among senior students in the vocational high school was significantly lower than that in the other two high schools. There's no significant change in the overall prevalence of myopia (84.7% vs. 84.3%, p  = 0.265) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it remained statistically insignificant after stratifying by gender (male p  = 0.207, female p  = 0.918) or school types (vocational high school p  = 0.112; general high school p  = 0.299; key high school p  = 0.393)., Conclusion: The prevalence of myopia among senior students in Fenghua is relatively high, and the COVID-19 pandemic has no significant impact on it. The prevalence of myopia among vocational high school students is lower than that of general high school and key high school. Attention should be paid to the effects of educational pressure on the prevalence of myopia among students., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Zhou, Liu, Wu, Cheng, Chen and Wang.)

The biochemical methane potentials for typical fruit and vegetable waste (FVW) and food waste (FW) from a northern China city were investigated, which were 0.30, 0.56 m3 CH4/kgVS (volatile solids) with biodegradabilities of 59.3% and 83.6%, respectively. Individual anaerobic digestion testes of FVW and FW we re conducted at the organic loading rate (OLR) of 3 k g VS/(m3.day) using a lab-scale continuous stirred-tank reactor at 350C. FVW could b e digested stably with the biogas production rate of 2.17 m3/(m3 .day)and methane production yield of 0.42 m3 CH4/kg VS. However, anaerobic digestion process for FW was failed due to acids accumulation. The effects of FVW: FW ratio on co-digestion stability and performance were further investigated at the same OLR. At FVW and FW mixing ratios of 2:1 and 1:1, the performance and operation of the digester were maintained stable, with no accumulation of volatile fatty acids (VFA) and ammonia. Changing the feed to a higher FW content in a ratio of FVW to FW 1:2, resulted in an increase inVFAs concentration to 1100-1200 mg/L, and the methanogenesis was slightly inhibited. At the optimum mixture ratio 1:1 for co-digestion of FVW with FW, the methane production yield was 0.49 m3 CH4/kg VS, and the volatile solids and soluble chemical oxygen demand (sCOD) removal efficiencies were 74.9% and 96.1%, respectively.