Publications by authors named "Lu-Yan Zhang"

The carbon-neutral target presents a significant challenge for the sewage sludge treatment and disposal (SSTD) industry, necessitating strategic planning for a low-carbon transition. However, flexible and comprehensive carbon emission analysis tools to support this goal remain lacking. This study presents a carbon emission analysis tool to evaluate the carbon emission characteristics and future mitigation potentials of SSTD.

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  • The Integrated Fixed-Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) system enhances the traditional activated sludge process by combining the benefits of attached and suspended sludge for improved nutrient removal.
  • A study utilized metagenomic analysis to evaluate the roles of attached sludge (AS) and suspended sludge (SS), revealing that AS is crucial for nitrogen (N) reduction, while SS plays a significant role in phosphorus (P) release and uptake.
  • Key findings highlighted that AS has higher levels of nitrate and nitrite reductase activity, whereas SS exhibits more activity in phosphatase enzymes, with different microbial communities and gene expressions affecting N and P removal efficiencies in the IFAS system.
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  • Plastics aging decreases resistance to microbial degradation, and the mealworm Tenebrio molitor can biodegrade polystyrene (PS) effectively, but how aging affects this process is not well-studied.
  • In a 24-day study, various pre-treatments (freezing with UV, UV only, and freezing) were used on PS microplastics, resulting in slightly better PS consumption and mass reduction compared to pristine PS.
  • The study found that while aging treatments slightly improved PS biodegradation, they significantly affected the gut microbial diversity of the mealworms and their metabolic pathways, showing their capacity to adapt to altered PS plastics.
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Ciprofloxacin (CIP) has received considerable attention in recent decades due to its high ecological risk. However, little is known about the potential response of macrophytes and microbes to varying levels of CIP exposure in constructed wetlands. Therefore, lab-scale manganese ore-based tidal flow constructed wetlands (MO-TFCWs) were operated to evaluate the responses of macrophytes and microbes to CIP over the long term.

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A limited understanding of microbial interactions and community assembly mechanisms in constructed wetlands (CWs), particularly with different substrates, has hampered the establishment of ecological connections between micro-level interactions and macro-level wetland performance. In this study, CWs with distinct substrates (zeolite, CW_A; manganese ore, CW_B) were constructed to investigate the nutrient removal efficiency, microbial interactions, metabolic mechanisms, and ecological assembly for treating rural sewage with a low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio. CW_B showed higher removal of ammonia nitrogen and total nitrogen by about 1.

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The biodegradation of polypropylene (PP), a highly persistent nonhydrolyzable polymer, by has been confirmed using commercial PP microplastics (MPs) ( 26.59 and 187.12 kDa).

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This study proposed an efficient framework for optimizing the design and operation of combined systems of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) and constructed wetlands (CW). The framework coupled a WWTP model with a CW model and used a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm to identify trade-offs between energy consumption, effluent quality, and construction cost. Compared to traditional design and management approaches, the framework achieved a 27 % reduction in WWTP energy consumption or a 44 % reduction in CW cost while meeting strict effluent discharge limits for Chinese WWTP.

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Fluoride exerts detrimental effects on germ cells and increases the infertility rate in women. Nevertheless, the precise mechanisms behind the developmental abnormalities caused by fluoride in oocytes remain poorly comprehended. The current study, we established mitochondrial damage model in oocytes via 50 μg/mL sodium fluoride (NaF) supplementation.

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  • * The study tested the use of anthraquinone-2-sulfonate (AQS) immobilized on biochar in two different reactors, leading to high decolorization rates of azo dyes after 175 days of operation.
  • * Reactor 1, using the novel carrier, showed better stability and more favorable microbial interactions compared to Reactor 2, highlighting a promising approach for enhancing azo dye biotransformation in wastewater treatment.
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Introduction: Pharmaceutical wastewater frequently contains high levels of toxic pollutants. If they are discharged untreated, they pose a threat to the environment. The traditional activated sludge process and the advanced oxidation process do not sufficiently remove toxic and conventional pollutants from pharmaceutical wastewater treatment plants (PWWTPs).

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Objective: To investigate the effect of excreted/secreted antigens (ESAs) from Toxoplasma gondii RH strain and TgCtwh3 strain on apoptosis of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) secretion.

Methods: ESAs of Toxoplasma gondii RH strain and TgCtwh3 strain were prepared. Splenic mononuclear cells were isolated from C57BL/6 mice and randomly divided into RH ESA group(2×106 cells/well with addition of 10 μg/ml RH ESA), TgCtwh3 ESA group (2×106 cells/well with addition of 10 μg/ml TgCtwh3 ESA) and control group(2×106 cells/well with addition of 10 μg/ml ovalbumin).

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Background: Scrub typhus is endemic to a 13,000,000-km² area of the Asia-Pacific region, and causes an annual incidence of 1 million people. The mortality rate of scrub typhus ranges from 6.1% to 25% in Southeast Asia.

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Background: Ghrelin, a novel endogenous ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, is considered to implicate the development of the type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The Leu72Met (+408C>A) polymorphism of the preproghrelin, has been linked to obesity, insulin resistance and diabetes.

Objective: To investigate the distribution of ghrelin gene Leu72Met polymorphism and its association with the type 2 diabetes mellitus in Chinese population.

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This paper reports a second generation MEK inhibitor. The previously reported potent and efficacious MEK inhibitor, PD-184352 (CI-1040), contains an integral hydroxamate moiety. This compound suffered from less than ideal solubility and metabolic stability.

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Anaphylatoxin C5a is a potent inflammatory mediator associated with pathogenesis and progression of several inflammation-associated disorders. Small molecule C5a receptor (C5aR) antagonist development is hampered by species-specific receptor biology and the associated inability to use standard rat and mouse in vivo models. Gerbil is one rodent species reportedly responsive to small molecule C5aR antagonists with human C5aR affinity.

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