Distribution of pathogenic bacteria and antimicrobial sensitivity of eye infections in Suzhou.

Aim: To investigate the types of bacteria in patients with eye infections in Suzhou and their drug resistance to commonly used antibacterial drugs.

Methods: The clinical data of 155 patients were retrospectively collected in this study, and the pathogenic bacteria species and drug resistance of each pathogenic bacteria were analyzed.

Results: Among the 155 patients (age from 12 to 87 years old, with an average age of 57, 99 males and 56 females) with eye infections (160 eyes: 74 in the left eye, 76 in the right eye and 5 in both eyes, all of which were exogenous), 71 (45.

Global Burden, Incidence and Disability-Adjusted Life-Years for Dermatitis: A Systematic Analysis Combined With Socioeconomic Development Status, 1990-2019.

Background: Dermatitis is an important global health problem that not only affects social interaction and physical and mental health but also causes economic burden. Health problems or distress caused by dermatitis may be easily overlooked, and relevant epidemiological data are limited. Therefore, a better understanding of the burden of dermatitis is necessary for developing global intervention strategies.

Enhanced bioremediation of heavy metals and bioelectricity generation in a macrophyte-integrated cathode sediment microbial fuel cell (mSMFC).

Sediment microbial fuel cell (SMFC) and constructed wetlands with macrophytes have been independently employed for the removal of heavy metals from polluted aquatic ecosystems. Nonetheless, the coupling of macrophytes at the cathode of SMFCs for efficient and synchronous heavy metal removal and bioelectricity generation from polluted river sediment has not been fully explored. Therefore, a novel macrophyte biocathode SMFC (mSMFC) was proposed, developed, and evaluated for heavy metals/organics removal as well as bioelectricity generation in an urban polluted river.

[δ¹⁵N-NO₃⁻ and δ¹⁸O-NO₃⁻ Tracing of Nitrate Sources in Beijing Urban Rivers].

In order to quantitatively identify sources of nitrate pollution in Beijing urban area and provide effective guidance for relevant departments to control the pollution of Beijing rivers, δ¹⁵N-NO₃⁻ and δ¹⁸O-NO₃⁻ isotope tracing method was used to analyze the composition of nitrogen and oxygen stable isotopes from nitrate in Beijing urban river. Besides, stable isotope mixing model was adopted to track nitrogen sources of nitrate in Beijing urban rivers and the contribution rates of respective pollution sources were evaluated. The results showed that: (1) NO₃⁻-N pollution was the main inorganic nitrogen pollution in Beijing rivers and pollution of downstream was more serious than that of upstream.

Electrochemical disinfection and removal of ammonia nitrogen for the reclamation of wastewater treatment plant effluent.

Residual ammonia and pathogenic microorganisms restrict the reclamation and reuse of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent. An electrochemical system was developed for the simultaneous removal of ammonia and disinfection of actual WWTP effluent. The performance of the electrochemical process on synthetic wastewater at different chloride ion concentrations was also investigated.

Hybrid electrooxidation and adsorption process for the removal of ammonia in low concentration chloride wastewater.

The ammonia removal performance of a hybrid electrooxidation and adsorption reactor (HEAR) is evaluated. The influences of current density, chloride concentration, and packing particles for ammonia removal in HEAR were investigated, and the performance of HEAR under serials circulation was studied. Results indicated that ammonia removal efficiency achieved around 70 % under the optimal condition after 30-min electrolysis.

[Long-term performance of microbial fuel cell using manure as substrate].

Long-term performance is of primary concern when considering the commercialized use of an microbial fuel cell(MFC). The long-term stability of MFC was studied using dairy manure as substrate over a testing time of 171 d. The results showed that the MFC could efficiently recover electricity from dairy manure during the long-time run, and the average power density was 6.

Fates of chlorinated volatile organic compounds in aerobic biological treatment processes: the effects of aeration and sludge addition.

The emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is becoming an environmental issue of increasing concern. As biological treatment has been considered as one important approach for VOC removal, lab-scale batch experiments were conducted in this study to investigate the fates of four chlorinated hydrocarbons, including chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, trichloroethylene (TCE), and tetrachloroethylene (PERC), in the biological treatment processes with respect to the effects of aeration and sludge addition. The VOC concentrations in the phases of air, water, and sludge under four simulated treatment stages (the first sedimentation, the forepart and rear part of aerobic biological treatment, and the second sedimentation) were analyzed.

Ammonium nitrogen removal from wastewater with a three-dimensional electrochemical oxidation system.

Ammonium-containing wastewater could cause the promotion of eutrophication and a hindrance to the disinfection of water supplies. In this study, the feasibility of removing low-concentration ammonium nitrogen from synthetic and real wastewater by electrochemical oxidation was investigated. Using laboratory-scale electrochemical systems, the effects of chloride concentration, current density, anode materials, cathode materials, electrode gap, initial ammonium concentration and three-dimensional particles on the removal of ammonium nitrogen and current efficiency (CE) were evaluated.

Comparative assessments of VOC emission rates and associated health risks from wastewater treatment processes.

With the growing concern regarding emission of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), the relationship between the VOC emission rates and the associated public health risks has been rarely discussed. The objective of this study was to examine and compare the VOC emission rates and cancer and non-cancer risks by inhalation intake, using a municipal WWTP in China as an example, with respect to the effects of treatment technologies, VOC species, and seasonal variation. Given the treatment technology considered, the emission rates of VOCs in this study were estimated by means of mass balance or calculated on the molecular level.

Fractional, biodegradable and spectral characteristics of extracted and fractionated sludge extracellular polymeric substances.

Correlation between fractional, biodegradable and spectral characteristics of sludge extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) by different protocols has not been well established. This work extracted sludge EPS using alkaline extractants (NH₄OH and formaldehyde + NaOH) and physical protocols (ultrasonication, heating at 80 °C or cation exchange resin (CER)) and then fractionated the extracts using XAD-8/XAD-4 resins. The alkaline extractants yielded more sludge EPS than the physical protocols.

[Spectroscopy properties of dissolved organic matter in landfill leachate during corrosion cell-Fenton post-treatment].

To differentiate the transformation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) during corrosion cell-Fenton (CCF) post-treatment, the leachate was separated into five fractions by XAD-8 and XAD-4 resins (hydrophilic fraction, HPI; hydrophobic acid, HPO-A; transphilic acid, TPI-A; hydrophobic neutral, HPO-N; transphilic neutral, TPI-N). UV-Vis spectroscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy were used for the degradation analysis. Experimental results showed that DOM in landfill leachate reduced 61.

Integrated coagulation-trickling filter-ultrafiltration processes for domestic wastewater treatment and reclamation.

More and more research effort has been put into the development of affordable and high-efficiency wastewater reclamation technology for small communities. In this study, an integrated chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT), trickling filter (TF) and ultrafiltration (UF) process was developed with success. Coagulant produced from fly ash was used to enhance primary treatment, while trickling filter packed with coal cinder through four-layer structure without aeration was employed for further removal of COD and ammonium-nitrogen from the CEPT effluent.

Conditioning of wastewater sludge using freezing and thawing: role of curing.

Freeze/thaw (F/T) treatment is an efficient pre-treatment process for biological sludges. When bulk sludge was frozen, tiny unfrozen regimes in the ice matrix were continuously dehydrated by surrounding ice fronts, termed as the "curing stage". This work demonstrated that the F/T treatment could not only enhance sludge dewaterability, but also solubilize organic matters from sludge matrix.

[In vivo reflectance spectroscopy study of different clearing agents on human skin optical clearing].

The changes of skin tissue reflectance spectroscopy before and after being treated with the optical clearing agents of three different types of optical clearing within the wavelength rang of 400-1 000 nm, and the degree of changes in reflectance spectroscopy of each group skin during 0-60 min at 580 nm in vivo were real-time dynamically researched. The reflectance spectroscopy of skin tissue before and after being dealt by the optical clearing agents of glycerol, glucose and propylene glycol was measured using a USB-4000 fiber spectrophotometer at 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 min. The results showed that the reflectance spectral intensity was distinctly decreased, but the reflectance was significantly increased gradually with the time prolonged.

Extracellular biological organic matters in sewage sludge during mesophilic digestion at reduced hydraulic retention time.

To operate an anaerobic digester at low hydraulic retention time (HRT) is welcome in practice. This study characterized the extracellular biological organic matter (EBOM) and supernatant organics for a sewage sludge digested in a lab-scale mesophilic digester (5 l) running at an HRT of 20, 15 or 10 d. The hydrophilic and hydrophobic acid fractions were the principal components in the sludge EBOM.

Characterization of dissolved organic matter during landfill leachate treatment by sequencing batch reactor, aeration corrosive cell-Fenton, and granular activated carbon in series.

Landfill leachate is generally characterized as a complex recalcitrant wastewater containing high concentration of dissolved organic matter (DOM). A combination of sequencing batch reactor (SBR)+aeration corrosive cell-Fenton (ACF)+granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption in series was proposed for the purpose of removing pollutants in the leachate. Fractionation was also performed to investigate the composition changes and characteristics of the leachate DOM in each treatment process.

Statistical optimization of culture condition for enhanced hydrogen production by Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum W16.

The optimization of culture condition for enhanced hydrogen production by Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum W16 was conducted using statistical experimental design and analysis. Plackett-Burman design was first used to screen the most important variables influencing hydrogen production, and subsequently central composite design was adopted to investigate the optimum value of the selected factors for achieving maximum hydrogen yield. Experimental results showed that xylose, phosphate buffer, and yeast extract had significant influence on hydrogen production and the maximum hydrogen yield of 2.

Improving phosphate buffer-free cathode performance of microbial fuel cell based on biological nitrification.

To reduce the amount of phosphate buffer currently used in Microbial Fuel Cell's (MFC's), we investigated the role of biological nitrification at the cathode in the absence of phosphate buffer. The addition of a nitrifying mixed consortia (NMC) to the cathode compartment and increasing ammonium concentration in the catholyte resulted in an increase of cell voltage from 0.3 V to 0.

Reduction of trihalomethane precursors of dissolved organic matter in the secondary effluent by advanced treatment processes.

Wastewater effluent collected from the Wenchang Wastewater Treatment Plant (Harbin, China) was used as source water for advanced treatment and reclamation. Since dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the secondary effluent contains a high concentration of trihalomethanes (THMs) precursors, several processes of advanced treatments including granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption, sand column biodegradation, horizontal subsurface flow wetland (HSFW) treatment, laboratory-scale soil aquifer treatment (SAT) and GAC+SAT were used in this study to compare and differentiate the removal mechanisms of DOM. DOM in the secondary effluent and the treated effluents was fractionated into five classes using XAD resins: hydrophobic acid (HPO-A), hydrophobic neutral (HPO-N), transphilic acid (TPI-A), transphilic neutral (TPI-N), and hydrophilic fraction (HPI).

[Removal of formaldehyde with novel packed air purifier and its computational simulation].

A novel air purifier was designed for the removal of indoor formaldehyde. The air purifier was filled with glass beads (3 mm) coated with TiO2. The removal efficiency of this air purifier was examined in an airtight room.

[Polyhydroxyalkanoates microbiological synthesis from food wastes].

To reduce the production cost of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), the process feasibility and physicochemical properties of PHAs synthesized by Alcaligenes latus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and activated sludge from malt waste, soy waste, confectionary waste, ice cream waste, milk waste, sesame oil and vinegar waste were analyzed. Results showed that through two-stage fed-batch fermentation, the maximum yield of PHAs accumulated by the three kinds of microorganisms from malt waste was 70.1%, 16.

Behavior and characteristics of dissolved organic matter during column studies of soil aquifer treatment.

Soil column experiments were performed to investigate the behavior and characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) during soil aquifer treatment (SAT), and to differentiate among the mechanisms responsible for the changes in the structural and functional properties of DOM during SAT. To determine the biological transformation of DOM, biodegradability tests using a biodegradation-column system were conducted. DOM was fractionated using XAD resins into 5 fractions: hydrophobic acid (HPO-A), hydrophobic neutral (HPO-N), transphilic acid (TPI-A), transphilic neutral (TPI-N) and hydrophilic fraction (HPI).

[Simultaneous removal of sulfide, nitrogenous compounds and organic carbon by anoxic attached-growth bioreactor].

By decreasing hydraulic retention times to increase substrates loading rates under anoxic conditions, an attached-growth bioreactor packed with porous sponges was started to treat the wastewater contaminated by sulfide, nitrate, nitrite and organic carbon. The influent concentrations of sulfide, nitrate-nitrogen, nitrite-nitrogen and TOC were 200 mg/L, 52.5 mg/L, 20 mg/L, 20 mg/L and relevant removal efficiencies were 99%, 99%, 95.

[Performance and mechanism of excess sludge reduction in an OSA (oxic-settling-anaerobic) process].

The possible factors of sludge reduction such as sludge decay, energy uncoupled metabolism, anaerobic oxidation with low sludge production were discussed in an OSA (oxic-settling-anaerobic) process. It has been confirmed that sludge decay included hydrolysis and acidogenesis of dead microorganism and particle organic carbon adsorbed in sludge flocs and endogenous metabolism. The concentrations of SCOD, NH4(+)-N, TP in supernatant were increased gradually during sludge anaerobic treatment in the batch experiments.