Microplastic type and concentration affect prokaryotic community structure and species coexistence in deep-sea cold seep sediments.

As important methane hydrate storage sites, cold seep areas are threatened by microplastics (MPs) contamination. To assess the environmental impact of MPs on microbial communities in cold seep sediments, an incubation experiment was conducted using cold seep sediment amended with different concentration of polyamide (PA), polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polypropylene (PP) microplastics. The results showed that the different type and concentration of MPs significantly altered the prokaryotic community structures.

Effects of Different Types of Microplastics on Cold Seep Microbial Diversity and Function.

The massive production and widespread use of plastics have resulted in a growing marine plastic pollution problem. Cold seep ecosystems are maintained by microorganisms related to nitrogen and carbon cycling that occur in deep-sea areas, where cold hydrocarbon-rich water seeps from the ocean floor. Little is known about plastic pollution in this ecosystem.

Hydrate formation in porous media with upward-migrating methane and its implications for the evolution of deep-sea cold seep ecosystems.

Methane leaking from the deep seabed is a primary source of carbon and energy for various microorganisms, sustaining the evolution and productivity of cold seep ecosystems. However, the dynamics of methane hydrate formation under methane seepage conditions and potential impacts on the evolution of cold seep ecosystems remain unclear. This study investigated the dynamic formation characteristics of gas hydrates within cold seep sediments by simulating the methane leakage process.

Shellfish and algae: Climate change mitigation through green and valuable foods.

Food safety issues have become increasingly severe, while the global population continues to grow. Shellfish and algae (SA), as sustainable and environmentally friendly foods, have great significance in helping countries worldwide achieve the goal of carbon neutrality. However, there is still a gap in quantitatively evaluating the carbon neutrality of SA farming.

Methane seepage leads to a specific microplastic aging process in the simulated cold seep environment.

Marine microplastics pose a significant threat to ecosystems, and deep-sea regions serve as critical sinks for these pollutants. Among these regions, cold seeps harbor relatively high concentrations of microplastics. However, research on the aging of microplastics under low-temperature, dark, methane-abundant, and high-pressure conditions remains limited.

Exploring optimal incubation conditions and characteristics of methane oxidizing organisms in deep-sea environments.

Anaerobic methanotrophic archaea (ANME) play key roles in buffering the methane budget in the deep-sea environment. This study aimed to explore the optimal environmental conditions for ANME enrichment. The result showed that the sample at 10.

Anthropogenic nitrogen pollution impacts saltmarsh resilience with inhibition of seedling establishment and population dispersal.

Saltmarsh, a prominent buffer ecosystem, has been identified as an important sink for nitrogen (N) pollutants from marine- and land-based anthropogenic activities. However, how the enriched anthropogenic N impacts saltmarsh sustainability has been neglected due to limited understanding of marsh resilience based on seedling establishment and population dispersal under anthropogenic N inputs. This study combined mesocosm experiments and model simulations to quantify the effects of increased anthropogenic N on the seedling-based vegetation expansion of Spartina alterniflora.

Risk assessment and classification prediction for water environment treatment PPP projects.

Water treatment public-private partnership (PPP) projects are pivotal for sustainable water management but are often challenged by complex risk factors. Efficient risk management in these projects is crucial, yet traditional methodologies often fall short of addressing the dynamic and intricate nature of these risks. Addressing this gap, this comprehensive study introduces an advanced risk classification prediction model tailored for water treatment PPP projects, aimed at enhancing risk management capabilities.

Nonlinear differential equations and their application to evaluating the integrated impacts of multiple parameters on the biochemical safety of drinking water.

The present study aimed to narrow such gaps by applying nonlinear differential equations to biostability in drinking water. Biostability results from the integrated dynamics of nutrients and disinfectants. The linear dynamics of biostability have been well studied, while there remain knowledge gaps concerning nonlinear effects.

Differences in Bacterial Co-Occurrence Networks and Ecological Niches at the Surface Sediments and Bottom Seawater in the Haima Cold Seep.

Cold seeps are highly productive chemosynthetic ecosystems in the deep-sea environment. Although microbial communities affected by methane seepage have been extensively studied in sediments and seawater, there is a lack of investigation of prokaryotic communities at the surface sediments and bottom seawater. We revealed the effect of methane seepage on co-occurrence networks and ecological niches of prokaryotic communities at the surface sediments and bottom seawater in the Haima cold seep.

Exploring carbon content variation in microplastics sequestrated from seawater to sediment in the Haima cold seep area.

In the decades since plastic has become widely used, deep-sea areas, specifically cold seeps, have developed into plastic sinks. Cold seeps contain clean energy natural gas hydrates and act as a barrier reducing methane migration to the upper water column. However, the impacts of microplastics (MPs) on the carbon content in the cold seep remain unclear.

Evaluating the Reproducibility of Amplicon Sequencing Data Derived from Deep-Sea Cold Seep Sediment-Associated Microbiota.

Benefiting from the rapid developments and wide applications of high-throughput sequencing, great advancements have been made in investigating microbiota, which are highly diverse and play key roles in both element cycling and the energy flow of ecosystems. There have been inherent limitations of amplicon sequencing that could introduce uncertainty and raise concerns about the accuracy and reproducibility of this technology. However, studies focusing on the reproducibility of amplicon sequencing are limited, especially in characterizing microbial communities in deep-sea sediments.

Study on the Swelling Characteristics of the Offshore Natural Gas Hydrate Reservoir.

The swelling characteristics of porous media in the offshore natural gas hydrate reservoir have an important effect on the stability of the reservoir. In this work, the physical property and the swelling of porous media in the offshore natural gas hydrate reservoir were measured. The results show that the swelling characteristics of the offshore natural gas hydrate reservoir are influenced by the coupling of the montmorillonite content and the salt ion concentration.

Tracing the Century-Long Evolution of Microplastics Deposition in a Cold Seep.

Microplastic (MP) pollution is one of the greatest threats to marine ecosystems. Cold seeps are characterized by methane-rich fluid seepage fueling one of the richest ecosystems on the seafloor, and there are approximately more than 900 cold seeps globally. While the long-term evolution of MPs in cold seeps remains unclear.

Community assemblages and species coexistence of prokaryotes controlled by local environmental heterogeneity in a cold seep water column.

The distribution and heterogeneity characteristics of microbial communities in cold seep water columns are significant factors governing the efficiency of methane filtering and carbon turnover. However, this process is poorly understood. The diversity of vertically stratified microbial communities and the factors controlling the community assemblage process in the water column above the Haima cold seep were investigated in this study.

Deep-sea organisms research oriented by deep-sea technologies development.

Deep-sea environment, characterized by high pressures, extremely high/low temperatures, limited photosynthesis-generated organic matter, darkness, and high levels of corrosion, is home to flourishing special ecosystems in the world. Here, we illustrate how the deep-sea equipment offers insights into the study of life in the deep sea based on the work in the past five decades. We first describe how organisms in the deep sea are studied, even though it is highly difficult to get access to such extreme environments.

Global occurrence, drivers, and environmental risks of microplastics in marine environments.

With an increasing quantity of plastic waste being discharged into the oceans, marine microplastic (MP) pollution has received widespread attention. However, the global occurrence characteristics, environmental risks, driving factors, and source-sink relationships remain unclear. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis based on 165 articles about marine MP pollution.

Impacts of hydraulic conditions on microplastics biofilm development, shear stresses distribution, and microbial community structures in drinking water distribution pipes.

Both microplastic and biofilm are contamination sources in drinking water, but their integrated impacts on water quality have been rarely studied, especially in drinking water distribution pipes with complex hydraulic conditions. This study explored the impacts of hydraulic conditions (0-2 m/s) on microplastic biofilm (MP-BM) development, shear stresses distribution, and microbial community structures. The research was conducted for two weeks using a pilot test device to simulate practical water pipes.

In-situ Raman study on kinetics behaviors of hydrated bubble in thickening.

Natural gas leakage by means of bubbles in cold seep abundantly existed on the ocean floor, causing the change of ocean ecology and the increase of atmospheric temperature. Fortunately, hydrated bubbles as a way of methane sequestration can reduce the effect on the ocean ecology and the escape of gas bubbles from the ocean floor, and are getting attention. To know the growth mode and efficiency of gas hydrate sequestration on bubble, the thickening growth kinetics of hydrated bubble was studied in present work.

Role of deep-sea equipment in promoting the forefront of studies on life in extreme environments.

The deep-sea environment creates the largest ecosystem in the world with the largest biological community and extensive undiscovered biodiversity. Nevertheless, these ecosystems are far from well known. Deep-sea equipment is an indispensable approach to research life in extreme environments in the deep-sea environment because of the difficulty in obtaining access to these unique habitats.

Multichannel Luminescence Properties of Mixed-Valent Eu/Eu Coactivated SrAlBO Nanocrystalline Phosphors for Near-UV LEDs.

Up to now, orchestrating the coexistence of Eu and Eu activators in a single host lattice has been an extremely difficult task, especially for the appearance of the characteristic emission of Eu and Eu in order to generate white light. Nevertheless, here we demonstrate a new Eu/Eu coactivated SrAlBO nanocrystalline phosphor with abundant and excellent multichannel luminescence properties. A series of Eu/Eu coactivated SrAlBO nanocrystalline phosphors were prepared through a Pechini-type sol-gel method followed by a reduction process.

[Effectiveness and safety of long-pulsed Alexandrite laser for hair removal in 1702 patients].

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of long-pulsed Alexandrite laser for hair removal.

Methods: Hair removal was performed in 1702 hirsute patients with long-pulsed Alexandrite laser. Among them 1603 patients received two or more operations.