Publications by authors named "Li-an Hou"

Article Synopsis
  • The review analyzed microplastics' distribution in China's water ecosystems and their removal during treatment processes.
  • Most common microplastics found were fibrous and transparent types, primarily made of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), and polystyrene (PS).
  • Removal efficiency varied by treatment stage, with pre-treatment and primary stages being most effective, while advanced methods like membrane technologies showed high effectiveness for terminal control.
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Erythromycin fermentation residue (EFR) represents a typical hazardous waste produced by the microbial pharmaceutical industry. Although electrolysis is promising for EFR disposal, its microbial threats remain unclear. Herein, metagenomics was coupled with the random forest technique to decipher the antibiotic resistance patterns of electrochemically treated EFR.

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The occurrence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in the aquatic environment has received growing attention due to their persistent mutagenicity and carcinogenicity. In this study, the photooxidation processes of four representative PAs (senecionine, senecionine N-oxide, europine, and heliotrine) in the presence of dissolved organic matter (DOM) were investigated. The excited triplet DOM (DOM*) was demonstrated to play a dominant role in the phototransformation of PAs.

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  • The study investigates how small molecular-weight aromatic compounds (like BTEX) from petrochemical wastewater cause membrane fouling in nanofiltration (NF) technology, affecting water treatment efficiency.
  • It identifies that stronger dipole-dipole and hydrogen bonding interactions between BTEX compounds and the NF membranes contribute significantly to fouling, particularly influenced by the substituents' nature and position.
  • The research aims to enhance understanding of the fouling mechanisms, offering insights for developing strategies to minimize fouling and improve wastewater treatment outcomes, highlighting the environmental significance of managing toxic aromatic chemicals.
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BiOCO/In(OH) (BON) photocatalysts were synthesized by a one-pot method and loaded onto polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes to obtain a BiOCO/In(OH)/PVDF (BON-M) catalytic membrane system. The catalytic membranes demonstrated complete degradation of tetracycline within 40 min under visible light. They demonstrated robust photocatalytic activity across a broad pH range (5-11) and in the presence of coexisting ions.

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The autotrophic denitrification of coupled sulfur and natural iron ore can remove nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater with low C/N ratios. However, the low solubility of crystalline Fe limits its bioavailability and P absorption capacity. This study investigated the effects of amorphous Fe in drinking water treatment residue (DWTR) and crystalline Fe in red mud (RM) on nitrogen and phosphorus removal during sulfur autotrophic processes.

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Hospital wastewater treatment systems (HWTSs) are a significant source and reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and a crucial hub for transmitting ARGs from clinical to natural environments. However, there is a lack of research on the antibiotic resistome of clinical wastewater in HWTSs. In this study, we used metagenomics to analyze the prevalence and abundance of ARGs in five typical HWTSs.

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Membrane biofouling is a challenge to be solved for the stable operation of the seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) membrane. This study explored the regulation mechanism of quorum sensing (QS) inhibition on microbial community composition and population-level behaviors in seawater desalination membrane biofouling. A novel antibiofouling SWRO membrane (MA_m) by incorporating one of quorum sensing inhibitors (QSIs), methyl anthranilate (MA) was prepared.

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Article Synopsis
  • Municipal wastewater treatment is crucial for improving water quality by removing contaminants, but it also contributes significantly to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, a fact that hasn't been thoroughly examined.
  • An assessment of GHG emissions from wastewater treatment plants in China estimated a total release of 1.54 (0.92-2.65) × 10 Gg of GHGs in 2020, largely due to NO emissions and electricity use.
  • There is a potential to reduce GHG emissions by 60-65% through advanced treatment methods, smarter wastewater management, and transitioning to renewable energy sources.
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The fouling of seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) membranes remains a persistent challenge in desalination. Previous research has focused mainly on fouling separately; however, organic, inorganic, and biofouling can coexist and influence each other. Hence, in-depth study of the spatiotemporal changes in actual combined fouling in full-scale seawater desalination will provide more effective information for fouling investigation and control.

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Heavy metal ions and organic pollutants discharged into various water bodies have caused serious water pollution, and the efficient removal of these contaminants remains a challenge. Here, we report a novel MXene/poly-melamine-formaldehyde (PMF) composite membrane, in which the PMF particles serve as spacers, and the -NH groups of PMF and the hydroxyl groups of MXene nanosheets have a synergistic effect on the adsorption of pollutants, and the crosslinking of glutaraldehyde inhibits the swelling of the composite membrane. The MXene/PMF composite membrane with 83.

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Membrane fouling caused by inorganic ions and natural organic matters (NOMs) has been a severe issue in membrane distillation. Microbubble aeration (MB) is a promising technology to control membrane fouling. In this study, MB aeration was introduced to alleviate humic acid (HA) composited fouling during the treatment of simulative reverse osmosis concentrate (ROC) by vacuum membrane distillation (VMD).

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  • The study investigates antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and microbial communities in a soil-lettuce system affected by erythromycin, finding high degradation rates yet limited uptake in lettuce seedlings.
  • Erythromycin application rates should be kept below 1% to mitigate human exposure risks, as significant ARGs were discovered in soil, suggesting potential pathways for resistance transfer.
  • Diversity in microbial communities initially increased with erythromycin exposure but returned to baseline levels at maturity; specific bacterial genera (Planomicrobium and Pseudomonas) were identified as key factors influencing these changes.
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Electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate to NH (NO3RR) on Cu offers sustainable NH production and nitrogen recycling from nitrate-contaminated water. However, Cu affords limited NO3RR activity owing to its unfavorable electronic state and the slow proton transfer on its surface, especially in neutral/alkaline media. Furthermore, although a synchronous "NO3RR and NH collection" system has been developed for nitrogen recycling from nitrate-laden water, no system is designed for natural water that generally contains low-concentration nitrate.

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Dissolved organic matters (DOM) are widely present in different water sources, causing significant effects on water treatment processes. Herein, the molecular transformation behavior of DOM during peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation by biochar for organic degradation in a secondary effluent were comprehensively analyzed. Evolution of DOM was identified and inhibition mechanisms to organic degradation were elucidated.

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Background: Despite the extensive research on data mining algorithms, there is still a lack of a standard protocol to evaluate the performance of the existing algorithms. Therefore, the study aims to provide a novel procedure that combines data mining algorithms and simplified preprocessing to establish reference intervals (RIs), with the performance of five algorithms assessed objectively as well.

Methods: Two data sets were derived from the population undergoing a physical examination.

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Article Synopsis
  • Pyrolysis of oily sludge (OS) is being explored as a viable technique for reducing and recycling waste, though ensuring environmental safety remains a challenge.
  • Biochar is utilized as a catalyst during the pyrolysis process, enhancing the breakdown of petroleum hydrocarbons while also helping to trap harmful gaseous pollutants and heavy metals.
  • The residue from this process can improve soil health by adding nutrients and supporting microbial diversity, aiding in plant growth and further reducing petroleum hydrocarbons in the soil.
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The vacancy defects in heterogeneous catalysts have received extensive attention for persulfate (PS) activation. Vacancy defects can tune the electronic structure of metal oxides and generate unsaturated coordination sites. Meanwhile, the adsorption energy of reactants on catalyst surface is optimized.

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One of the major pollutants influencing urban air quality in China is O. O is the second most important pollutant affecting air quality in Shijiazhuang, which is the third largest city in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area and the provincial capital of Hebei province. To fully understand the characteristics of O and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are O precursors, and the role of VOCs to ozone formation, we measured the hourly concentrations of O and 85 VOCs in Shijiazhuang continuously from January to November 2020, and the concentration characteristics of both together with the chemical reactivity and sources of VOCs were analyzed from a seasonal perspective.

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  • The study explores the challenges posed by natural organic matter (NOM) in the peroxymonosulfate (PMS) process for degrading pollutants like sulfamethoxazole (SMX) from river water.
  • Using a Fe(II)-induced RW/PMS catalytic system, researchers found that NOM transformations can hinder SMX degradation, with certain NOM structures significantly inhibiting the process.
  • The research emphasizes the need to manage NOM molecules for better pollutant removal, offering insights that could enhance treatment efficiency for emerging contaminants in aquatic environments.
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Background: The association of iron metabolism parameters with disease severity and outcome in myasthenia gravis (MG) patients has not been reported. This study was conducted to determined clinical factors including iron metabolism parameters correlated with disease severity and future outcome in non-anemic immunotherapy-naïve MG patients first receiving immunotherapy.

Material And Methods: One hundred and ten patients were included at baseline to explore predictor variables associated with disease severity represented by variables derived from MG activities of daily living (MG-ADL) score using multivariate logistic regression, after which 103 and 98 patients were included respectively in multivariate survival analyses at 6-month and 12-month follow-up to identify predictors for minimal manifestation status (MMS) after starting immunotherapy.

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Antibiotic fermentation residue is a key issue for the sustainable operation of pharmaceutical companies, and its improper disposal may cause antibiotic resistance transfer in the environment. However, little is known about the resource recycling strategy of this pharmaceutical waste. Herein, we used hydrothermal spray-dried (HT+SD) and multi-plate dryer (MD) methods to produce bio-organic fertilizers and applied them to an internal recycling model of a field trial.

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Article Synopsis
  • This study compared iron metabolism in myasthenia gravis (MG) patients to healthy individuals and evaluated changes after immunotherapy.
  • Non-anemic MG patients, especially premenopausal women, showed lower serum iron and transferrin saturation levels compared to healthy individuals.
  • Iron metabolism parameters did not significantly improve after 12 months of immunotherapy, highlighting a need for more focus on iron levels in MG patients.
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Using an indoor air purifier is an important solution for improving indoor air quality and protecting people from the harmful effects of air pollution on their health. The filter air purifiers can remove particulate matter including bioaerosols, but their filter media can cause secondary pollution. To fulfill this need, a new filterless indoor air purifier, the Cloud-Air-Purifying (CAP) air purifier, is presented in this study.

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