Real-time stimulation during sleep: prior findings, novel developments, and future perspectives.

Real-time brain stimulation is a powerful technique that continues to gain importance in the field of sleep and cognition. In this special issue, we collected 14 articles about real-time stimulation during sleep, including one review, 12 research articles and one letter covering both human and rodent research from various fields. We hope this special issue sparks greater interest and inspires fellow sleep researchers and clinicians to develop new ideas in the exciting topic of real-time stimulation.

Transport behaviors of biochar particles in saturated porous media under DC electric field.

The mobility of biochar in saturated quartz sand under a direct current (DC) electric field was investigated by column transport test. The effects of biochar preparation temperature (350 and 550 °C), solution chemistry (pH of 4, 7, and 10, and ion strength of 1, 10, 100 mM) and voltage gradient (0, 0.5 and 1.

Nitrous oxide emission in altered nitrogen cycle and implications for climate change.

Natural processes and human activities play a crucial role in changing the nitrogen cycle and increasing nitrous oxide (NO) emissions, which are accelerating at an unprecedented rate. NO has serious global warming potential (GWP), about 310 times higher than that of carbon dioxide. The food production, transportation, and energy required to sustain a world population of seven billion have required dramatic increases in the consumption of synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizers and fossil fuels, leading to increased NO in air and water.

Algae-mediated antibiotic wastewater treatment: A critical review.

The existence of continually increasing concentrations of antibiotics in the environment is a serious potential hazard due to their toxicity and persistence. Unfortunately, conventional treatment techniques, such as those utilized in wastewater treatment plants, are not efficient for the treatment of wastewater containing antibiotic. Recently, algae-based technologies have been found to be a sustainable and promising technique for antibiotic removal.

Two-stage anaerobic membrane bioreactor for co-treatment of food waste and kitchen wastewater for biogas production and nutrients recovery.

Co-digestion of organic waste and wastewater is receiving increased attention as a plausible waste management approach toward energy recovery. However, traditional anaerobic processes for co-digestion are particularly susceptible to severe organic loading rates (OLRs) under long-term treatment. To enhance technological feasibility, this work presented a two-stage Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (2 S-AnMBR) composed of a hydrolysis reactor (HR) followed by an anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) for long-term co-digestion of food waste and kitchen wastewater.

Adverse Effects of Toxic Metal Pollution in Rivers on the Physiological Health of Fish.

Toxic metal pollution influences the lives of diverse aquatic organisms and humans who consume contaminated aquatic products. However, its potential impacts on aquatic organism health and, thus, ecological health, have been neglected in many regions. This research was carried out to contribute to filling that knowledge gap.

Conformational change of organic cofactor PLP is essential for catalysis in PLP-dependent enzymes.

Pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzymes are ubiquitous, catalyzing various biochemical reactions of approximately 4% of all classified enzymatic activities. They transform amines and amino acids into important metabolites or signaling molecules and are important drug targets in many diseases. In the crystal structures of PLP-dependent enzymes, organic cofactor PLP showed diverse conformations depending on the catalytic step.

Roles, mechanism of action, and potential applications of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria for environmental bioremediation.

Sulfur (S) is a crucial component in the environment and living organisms. This work is the first attempt to provide an overview and critical discussion on the roles, mechanisms, and environmental applications of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB). The findings reveal that key enzymes of SOB embarked on oxidation of sulfide, sulfite, thiosulfate, and elemental S.

Resilience of Chemistry: An Introduction to the Agricultural and Food Chemistry Technical Program at the 262nd American Chemical Society National Hybrid Meeting & Exposition, Both Online and in Atlanta, Georgia.

This is the third special issue of the () based on the Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division (AGFD) technical program, at the 262nd American Chemical Society National Meeting. This was the first national meeting held in a hybrid format, both virtually and in-person in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.

Automatic Acne Object Detection and Acne Severity Grading Using Smartphone Images and Artificial Intelligence.

Skin image analysis using artificial intelligence (AI) has recently attracted significant research interest, particularly for analyzing skin images captured by mobile devices. Acne is one of the most common skin conditions with profound effects in severe cases. In this study, we developed an AI system called AcneDet for automatic acne object detection and acne severity grading using facial images captured by smartphones.

Wastewater-derived biohydrogen: Critical analysis of related enzymatic processes at the research and large scales.

Organic-rich wastewater is a feasible feedstock for biohydrogen production. Numerous review on the performance of microorganisms and the diversity of their communities during a biohydrogen process were published. However, there is still no in-depth overview of enzymes for biohydrogen production from wastewater and their scale-up applications.

Oxidation and coagulation/adsorption dual effects of ferrate (VI) pretreatment on organics removal and membrane fouling alleviation in UF process during secondary effluent treatment.

Ultrafiltration (UF) has been widely used in water and advanced sewage treatment. Unfortunately, membrane fouling is still the main obstacle to further improvement in the system. Fe (III) salt, a type of traditional coagulant, is often applied to mitigate UF membrane fouling.

Synthesis of Uniform Size Rutile TiO Microrods by Simple Molten-Salt Method and Its Photoluminescence Activity.

Uniform-size rutile TiO microrods were synthesized by simple molten-salt method with sodium chloride as reacting medium and different kinds of sodium phosphate salts as growth control additives to control the one-dimensional (1-D) crystal growth of particles. The effect of rutile and anatase ratios as a precursor was monitored for rod growth formation. Apart from uniform rod growth study, optical properties of rutile microrods were observed by UV-visible and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy.

Protocol for spike-triggered closed-loop auditory stimulation during sleep in patients with epilepsy.

Several epilepsies are characterized by interictal spikes in the electroencephalogram occurring preferentially during sleep. We present a closed-loop auditory stimulation protocol with potential for treating sleep epilepsies. We describe the pre-sleep preparations, sleep recordings, the auditory stimulation, in which tones are triggered upon spike detection, and post-sleep procedures.

New approach of bioprocessing towards lignin biodegradation.

Bio-utilization of lignocellulosic biomass is of huge significance as it can directly replace petroleum resources by producing liquid fuels and organic chemical products in a more sustainable way. However, studies on developing lignin-degrading microbial resources are still very few, which affects on establishing a consolidated bioprocessing of lignocellulosic resource. The main aim of this work is to discover thermostable laccases for lignin thermo-biodegradation by metagenome-mining and biochemical characterization.

Six logical steps that connect the introduction of the Nernst equation to its clinical application.

The Nernst equation is key to understanding the electrophysiology of the cell membrane and the pathophysiology of K imbalances (i.e., hyperkalemia and hypokalemia).

Marine fish parasites of Vietnam: a comprehensive review and updated list of species, hosts, and zoogeographical distribution.

With a long coastline stretching from tropical to subtropical climate zones, and an immense exclusive economic zone with over 4000 islands, the Vietnamese marine waters support a rich and biodiverse parasite fauna. Although the first parasitological record was in 1898, systematic studies of the parasite fauna have increased during the last 50 years. This comprehensive review covers the current state of knowledge of marine fish parasites in Vietnam and lists 498 species found in 225 fish species, and their geographical distribution.

Phytohormone-like small biomolecules for microalgal biotechnology.

Microalgae are highly adaptable to abiotic stress and produce valuable metabolites, but microalgal commercialization is still difficult because of minimal yields. The application of phytohormone-like small biomolecules is effective in simultaneously improving the productivity of valuable microalgal biomass-derived metabolites and stress tolerance. This represents a significant opportunity for microalgal biotechnology.

Theoretical and Experimental Models to Evaluate the Possibility of Corrosion Resistant Concrete for Coastal Offshore Structures.

This study built theoretical and practical models to evaluate the corrosion resistance of concrete for coastal offshore structures in Vietnam. A mathematical model was developed in the form of a system of nonlinear partial differential equations characterizing the diffusion "free calcium hydroxide" in a solid of a concrete structure. The model describes the process of non-stationary mass conductivity observed in the "concrete structure-marine environment" system under non-uniform arbitrary initial conditions, as well as combined boundary conditions of the second and third kind, taking into account the nonlinear nature of the coefficients of mass conductivity and mass transfer .

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Mortality in Emphysematous Pyelonephritis Patients: A Meta-Analysis.

Background: Emphysematous pyelonephritis (EP) is a severe necrotizing infection of the renal parenchyma which is associated with significant case mortality. We sought to identify the incidence and predictive risk factors associated with EP mortality.

Methods: Two electronic databases, PubMed and Web of Science, were searched from their inception until June 06, 2021 for relevant articles.

Emotions in telephone calls to emergency medical services involving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: A scoping review.

Aims: The purpose of this scoping review was to identify and synthesise existing research evidence on emotions in the context of emergency phone calls to emergency medical services (EMS) involving out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). The specific objectives were to identify studies that (1) described emotions during emergency OHCA calls; (2) specified an instrument or method for measuring/assessing emotions; and (3) examined the relationship between emotions and call outcomes or patient outcomes.

Methods/data Sources: Five databases were searched on 18 November 2021: Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, CINAHL, and the Cochrane Review Database.

Implementing clinical pharmacy activities in hospital setting in Vietnam: current status from a national survey.

Background: Clinical pharmacy activities have evolved over the past decades contributing to all stages of the patient care process, especially in the hospital setting. However, these practice roles may differ to a significant extent depending on the healthcare policy of countries. In Vietnam, the magnitude of adopting clinical pharmacy activities in hospital settings throughout the country is still unknown since these activities have been implemented.