Feasibility evaluation of big data algorithms for establishing serum protein electrophoresis reference intervals using Hoffmann and refineR methods.

Background: Serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) is essential for diagnosing monoclonal gammopathies and a variety of other diseases. Despite its importance, there is a scarcity of SPE parameter reference intervals (RIs) derived from large datasets. This study seeks to fill this gap by establishing sex-specific RIs using Hoffmann and refineR algorithms and assessing the feasibility of these methods.

[Advances in the Separation and Removal of Microplastics in Water Treatment Processes].

In this review, we comprehensively analyzed the distribution of microplastics （MPs） in major water ecosystems in China and the fate of MPs during the water treatment process. The removal efficiency of MPs with different colors, sizes, shapes, and materials was also discussed. The results showed that the abundance of microplastics in the aquatic environment was geographically variable and closely related to human activities.

Metagenomics reveals the resistance patterns of electrochemically treated erythromycin fermentation residue.

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.

Indirect photodegradation of typical pyrrolizidine alkaloids in water induced by triplet states of dissolved organic matter.

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.

Fouling behavior of BTEX in petrochemical wastewater treated by nanofiltration (NF).

Membrane fouling generated by small molecular-weight aromatic compounds with poor biodegradability is a major barrier to advanced petrochemical wastewater treatment using nanofiltration (NF) technology. In this study, the fouling behavior of ten BTEX with different substituent existing in petrochemical wastewater on the NF membrane was systematically investigated. By examining the effect of the number, position, and type of substituents on the permeability of NF membranes and membrane resistance analysis, combined with XDLVO theory and correlation analysis, we found that stronger dipole-dipole interactions of BTEX with higher polarity and hydrogen bonding effects between substituents and the membrane surface were verified to be the main forces driving the attachment to the surface of membranes.

A self-cleaning photocatalytic membrane loaded with BiOCO/In(OH) S-scheme heterojunction composites for removing tetracycline from aqueous solutions.

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.

Plasma Steroid Profiling Combined With Machine Learning for the Differential Diagnosis in Mild Autonomous Cortisol Secretion From Nonfunctioning Adenoma in Patients With Adrenal Incidentalomas.

Objective: To assess the diagnostic value of combining plasma steroid profiling with machine learning (ML) in differentiating between mild autonomous cortisol secretion (MACS) and nonfunctioning adenoma (NFA) in patients with adrenal incidentalomas.

Methods: The plasma steroid profiles data in the laboratory information system were screened from January 2021 to December 2023. EXtreme Gradient Boosting was applied to establish diagnostic models using plasma 24-steroid panels and/or clinical characteristics of the subjects.

Amorphous Fe substrate enhances nitrogen and phosphorus removal in sulfur autotrophic process.

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.

Applications of tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) in antimicrobial peptides field: Current state and new applications.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) constitute a group of small molecular peptides that exhibit a wide range of antimicrobial activity. These peptides are abundantly present in the innate immune system of various organisms. Given the rise of multidrug-resistant bacteria, microbiological studies have identified AMPs as potential natural antibiotics.

Deciphering the removal of antibiotics and the antibiotic resistome from typical hospital wastewater treatment systems.

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.

Functionalization of seawater reverse osmosis membrane with quorum sensing inhibitor to regulate microbial community and mitigate membrane biofouling.

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.

Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from municipal wastewater treatment in China.

Municipal wastewater treatment plays an indispensable role in enhancing water quality by eliminating contaminants. While the process is vital, its environmental footprint, especially in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, remains underexplored. Here we offer a comprehensive assessment of GHG emissions from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) across China.

A comprehensive evaluation of the temporal and spatial fouling characteristics of RO membranes in a full-scale seawater desalination plant.

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.

Exfoliated MXene/poly-melamine-formaldehyde composite membranes for removal of heavy metals and organics from aqueous solutions.

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.

Modification of the distribution of humic acid complexations by introducing microbubbles to membrane distillation process for effective membrane fouling alleviation.

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).

Electronic Structure Optimization and Proton-Transfer Enhancement on Titanium Oxide-Supported Copper Nanoparticles for Enhanced Nitrogen Recycling from Nitrate-Contaminated Water.

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.

Conversion and impact of dissolved organic matters in a heterogeneous catalytic peroxymonosulfate system for pollutant degradation.

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.

Utilization of five data mining algorithms combined with simplified preprocessing to establish reference intervals of thyroid-related hormones for non-elderly adults.

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.

Applications of vacancy defect engineering in persulfate activation: Performance and internal mechanism.

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.

Summer O pollution cycle characteristics and VOCs sources in a central city of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, China.

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.

Overlooked impacts of natural organic matter conversion in a Fe(II)-induced peroxymonosulfate activation system for river water remediation.

The peroxymonosulfate (PMS) process may be hindered severely due to natural organic matter (NOM) conversion in the treatment of emerging pollutants from river water, becoming a critical engineering and technical issue. In this study, a Fe(II)-induced river water (RW)/PMS catalytic system was constructed for investigating molecular transformation of NOM and related influence mechanism to sulfamethoxazole (SMX) degradation. Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) analysis indicated that NOM molecules containing no more than one heteroatom in river may be attacked by hydroxyl radicals (OH) and then polymerized, converting into molecules with two or three heteroatoms during PMS oxidation.

Development and clinical evaluation of an online automated quality control system for improving laboratory quality management.

Background: We developed an efficient online automated quality control (AUTO QC) system and tested its feasibility on automatic laboratory assembly lines.

Methods: AUTO QC is based on developed quality control software (Smart QC) and designed adaptable consumables before. We applied the system to two assembly lines in our laboratory.

Iron metabolism in non-anemic myasthenia gravis patients: A cohort study.

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.