Optimizing Carbon Structures in Laser-Induced Graphene Electrodes Using Design of Experiments for Enhanced Electrochemical Sensing Characteristics.

In this study, we explored the morphological and electrochemical properties of carbon-based electrodes derived from laser-induced graphene (LIG) and compared them to commercially available graphene-sheet screen-printed electrodes (GS-SPEs). By optimizing the laser parameters (average laser power, speed, and focus) using a design of experiments response surface (DoE-RS) approach, binder-free LIG electrodes were achieved in a single-step process. Traditional trial-and-error methods can be time-consuming and may not capture the interactions between all variables effectively.

Hatchery type influences the gill microbiome of Atlantic farmed salmon (Salmo salar) after transfer to sea.

Background: Salmon aquaculture involves freshwater and seawater phases. Recently there has been an increase in multifactorial gill health challenges during the seawater phase which has led to an urgent need to understand the gill microbiome. There is a lack of understanding on what drives the composition of the gill microbiome, and the influence the freshwater stage has on its long-term composition.

The hepatopancreas microbiome of velvet crab, Necora puber.

Crustaceans are a valuable resource globally, both ecologically and economically, and investigations into their health are becoming increasingly important as exploitation rises. The microbiome plays a crucial role in crustacean immunity, and understanding its composition and structure can provide insights into the health of an organism and its interactions with various factors. In this study, we investigated the hepatopancreas microbiome of the velvet swimming crab, Necora puber, and compared its composition and structure with several study factors, including two different sampling points and infection with a paramyxid parasite, Paramarteilia canceri.

Microbial stratification and DOM removal in drinking water biofilters: Implications for enhanced performance.

Biofiltration is a low-cost, low-energy technology that employs a biologically activated bed of porous medium to reduce the biodegradable fraction of the dissolved organic matter (DOM) pool in source water, resulting in the production of drinking water. Microbial communities at different bed depths within the biofilter play crucial roles in the degradation and removal of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), ultimately impacting its performance. However, the relationships between the composition of microbial communities inhabiting different biofilter depths and their utilisation of various DOC fractions remain poorly understood.

Low-abundant but highly transcriptionally active uncharacterised Nitrosomonas drive ammonia-oxidation in the Brouage mudflat, France.

Exploring differences in nitrification within adjacent sedimentary structures of ridges and runnels on the Brouage mudflat, France, we quantified Potential Nitrification Rates (PNR) alongside amoA genes and transcripts. PNR was lower in ridges (≈1.7 fold-lower) than runnels, despite higher (≈1.

Professional Identity Formation in Allied Health: A Systematic Review with Narrative Synthesis.

Professional identity formation is a key component of health professional education. Changing expectations of healthcare requires more than competencies, but also an ingrained responsibility to patients, with our values and behaviors aligned with community expectations of patient-centered health professionals. Research into professional identity formation has focused on nursing and medical training, and, although allied health professionals make up one third of the workforce, research is uneven across these disciplines.

1 gene abundance from septic tanks in Thailand using validated 1 primers.

Antimicrobial resistance is a global crisis, and wastewater treatment, including septic tanks, remains an important source of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes. The role of septic tanks in disseminating class 1 integron, and by extension AMR genes, in Thailand, where antibiotic use is unregulated remains understudied. We aimed to monitor gene abundance as a proxy to infer potential AMR from septic tanks in Thailand.

Competitive and substrate limited environments drive metabolic heterogeneity for comammox Nitrospira.

Nitrospira has been revealed as a high versatile genus. Although previously considered only responsible for the conversion of nitrite to nitrate, now we know that Nitrospira can perform complete ammonia oxidation to nitrate too (comammox). Comammox activity was firstly reported as dominant in extremely limited oxygen environments, where anaerobic ammonia oxidation was also occurring (anammox).

Environmental and ecological controls of the spatial distribution of microbial populations in aggregates.

In microbial communities, the ecological interactions between species of different populations are responsible for the spatial distributions observed in aggregates (granules, biofilms or flocs). To explore the underlying mechanisms that control these processes, we have developed a mathematical modelling framework able to describe, label and quantify defined spatial structures that arise from microbial and environmental interactions in communities. An artificial system of three populations collaborating or competing in an aggregate is simulated using individual-based modelling under different environmental conditions.

Integration of anaerobic digestion with heat Pump: Machine learning-based technical and environmental assessment.

Anaerobic digestion (AD)-based biogas production mitigates the environmental footprint of organic wastes (e.g., food waste and sewage sludge) and facilitates a circular economy.

Dynamic gill and mucus microbiomes during a gill disease episode in farmed Atlantic salmon.

Amoebic gill disease (AGD) and complex gill disease (CGD) are recurrent gill disorders in Atlantic salmon, resulting in significant aquaculture losses. The role of gill microbiomes in gill disease development is unclear. We undertook a longitudinal study to characterise the gill tissue and gill mucus microbiomes of farmed Atlantic salmon before, and during, a gill disease episode.

Life cycle assessment of biodiesel production from rapeseed oil: Influence of process parameters and scale.

Biodiesel has the potential to mitigate the fossil fuel-related carbon emission and energy insecurity challenges. There are limited studies examining the impacts of biodiesel production scales on the environmental impacts, while such information will be valuable for guiding practical system design. This work applied the approach of life cycle assessment to evaluate the environmental impacts of biodiesel production from rapeseed oil which accounts for 80% of the European biofuel market.

Biochemistry shapes growth kinetics of nitrifiers and defines their activity under specific environmental conditions.

Is it possible to find trends between the parameters that define microbial growth to help us explain the vast microbial diversity? Through an extensive database of kinetic parameters of nitrifiers, we analyzed if the dominance of specific populations of nitrifiers could be predicted and explained. We concluded that, in general, higher growth yield (Y ) and ammonia affinity (a ) and lower growth rate (µ ) are observed for ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) than bacteria (AOB), which would explain their considered dominance in oligotrophic environments. However, comammox (CMX), with the maximum energy harvest per mole of ammonia, and some AOB, have higher a and lower µ than some AOA.

Microbiomes in drinking water treatment and distribution: A meta-analysis from source to tap.

A meta-analysis of existing and available Illumina 16S rRNA datasets from drinking water source, treatment and drinking water distribution systems (DWDS) were collated to compare changes in abundance and diversity throughout. Samples from bulk water and biofilm were used to assess principles governing microbial community assembly and the value of amplicon sequencing to water utilities. Individual phyla relationships were explored to identify competitive or synergistic factors governing DWDS microbiomes.

An outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 on a transplant unit in the early vaccination era.

Background: Solid organ transplant recipients are at increased risk of COVID-19-associated morbidity and mortality.

Aims: We describe a nosocomial outbreak investigation on an immunocompromised inpatient unit.

Methods: Patients positive for SARS-CoV-2 were identified.

Enrichment of the hydrogenotrophic methanogens for, in-situ biogas up-gradation by recirculation of gases and supply of hydrogen in methanogenic reactor.

During in situ biogas up-gradation by supplying hydrogen from an external source and enrichment of hydrogenotrophic methanogens, high pressure of H negatively affects hydrolytic and fermentative activities. To overcome this problem, the present study aimed to enrich the hydrogenotrophic methanogens by optimization of various parameters associated with gas recirculation along-with hydrogen supply from the external source. Due to recirculation of gases and supplied hydrogen, methane generation was two-fold higher in the optimal condition than in conventional anaerobic digestion, with the highest methane content of 99%.

A framework based on fundamental biochemical principles to engineer microbial community dynamics.

Microbial communities are complex but there are basic principles we can apply to constrain the assumed stochasticity of their activity. By understanding the trade-offs behind the kinetic parameters that define microbial growth, we can explain how local interspecies dependencies arise and shape the emerging properties of a community. If we integrate these theoretical descriptions with experimental 'omics' data and bioenergetics analysis of specific environmental conditions, predictions on activity, assembly and spatial structure can be obtained reducing the a priori unpredictable complexity of microbial communities.

Reverse transcriptase enzyme and priming strategy affect quantification and diversity of environmental transcripts.

Reverse-transcriptase-quantitative PCR (RT-Q-PCR) and RT-PCR amplicon sequencing, provide a convenient, target-specific, high-sensitivity approach for gene expression studies and are widely used in environmental microbiology. Yet, the effectiveness and reproducibility of the reverse transcription step has not been evaluated. Therefore, we tested a combination of four commercial reverse transcriptases with two priming techniques to faithfully transcribe 16S rRNA and amoA transcripts from marine sediments.