Polymetallic contamination drives indigenous microbial community assembly dominated by stochastic processes at Pb-Zn smelting sites.

Indigenous microbial communities in smelting areas are crucial for maintaining fragile ecosystem functions. However, the community assembly process and their responses to polymetallic pollution are poorly understood, especially the taxa in each bin from the amplicons that contributed to the assembly process. Herein, microbial diversity, co-occurrence patterns, assembly process and the intrinsic mechanisms across contamination gradients at a typical PbZn smelting site were systematically unravelled by high-throughput sequencing.

Life cycle assessment and cost-benefit analysis of nature-based solutions for contaminated land remediation: A mini-review.

Nature-based solutions (NbS) have gained significant attention as a promising approach for remediating contaminated lands, offering multiple ecosystem services (ESs) benefits beyond pollution mitigation. However, the quantitative sustainability assessment of NbS remediation systems, particularly with regard to post-remediation impacts, remains limited. This mini-review aims to address the existing gaps in the assessment of NbS remediation systems by evaluating the limitations of life cycle assessment (LCA) and cost-benefit analysis (CBA) methodologies.

Species Isolated from Sand Filter Biofilm at an Australian Drinking Water Treatment Works.

Three strains isolated by geosmin enrichment from a sand filter in an Australian drinking water treatment works were genome sequenced to identify their taxonomic placement, and a bench-scale batch experiment confirmed their geosmin-degrading capability. Using the average nucleotide identity based on the MUMmer algorithm (ANIm), pairwise digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH), and phylogenomic analyses, the strains were identified as species.

Critical care pharmacy workforce: a 2020 re-evaluation of the UK deployment and characteristics.

Introduction: Critical care pharmacists improve the quality and efficiency of medication therapy whilst reducing treatment costs where they are available. UK critical care pharmacist deployment was described in 2015, highlighting a deficit in numbers, experience level, and critical care access to pharmacy services over the 7-day week. Since then, national workforce standards have been emphasised, quality indicators published, and service commissioning documents produced, reinforced by care quality assessments.

Biostimulation of jarosite and iron oxide-bearing mine waste enhances subsequent metal recovery.

Novel resource recovery technologies are required for metals-bearing hazardous wastes in order to achieve circular economy outcomes and industrial symbiosis. Iron oxide and co-occurring hydroxysulphate-bearing wastes are globally abundant and often contain other elements of value. This work addresses the biostimulation of indigenous microbial communities within an iron oxide/ hydroxysulphate-bearing waste and its effect on the subsequent recoverability of metals by hydrochloric, sulphuric, citric acids, and EDTA.

Development and implementation of a customised rapid syndromic diagnostic test for severe pneumonia.

The diagnosis of pneumonia has been hampered by a reliance on bacterial cultures which take several days to return a result, and are frequently negative. In critically ill patients this leads to the use of empiric, broad-spectrum antimicrobials and compromises good antimicrobial stewardship. The objective of this study was to establish the performance of a syndromic molecular diagnostic approach, using a custom TaqMan array card (TAC) covering 52 respiratory pathogens, and assess its impact on antimicrobial prescribing.

Towards passive bioremediation of dye-bearing effluents using hydrous ferric oxide wastes: Mechanisms, products and microbiology.

A novel, circular economy-inspired approach for the "passive" (non-powered and reagent-free) treatment of dye-bearing effluent is presented. The treatment utilises the biogeochemical interaction of dye-bearing wastewater with hydrous ferric oxide (HFO) bearing sludges. The work presented demonstrates for the first time the reuse of HFO-rich waste sludges from potable water and mine water treatment.

Correction to: Heparin resistance in COVID‑19 patients in the intensive care unit.

In the original publication of this article, one of the co-author name "D. de Monteverde-Robb" was inadvertently mentioned as "R. de Monteverde-Robb".

Heparin resistance in COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit.

Patients with COVID-19 have a coagulopathy and high thrombotic risk. In a cohort of 69 intensive care unit (ICU) patients we investigated for evidence of heparin resistance in those that have received therapeutic anticoagulation. 15 of the patients have received therapeutic anticoagulation with either unfractionated heparin (UFH) or low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), of which full information was available on 14 patients.

Atmospheric Carbon Capture Performance of Legacy Iron and Steel Waste.

Legacy iron (Fe) and steel wastes have been identified as a significant source of silicate minerals, which can undergo carbonation reactions and thus sequester carbon dioxide (CO). In reactor experiments, i.e.

Altered chemical evolution in landfill leachate post implementation of biodegradable waste diversion.

Within the UK implementation of the European Union Landfill Directive (1999) has led to the diversion of biodegradable waste (BW) from municipal solid wastes away from landfills. It has been widely anticipated, but thus far not verified, that the diversion of BW and consequent reduction in BW reaching landfill would lead to a change in the degradation processes occurring within landfills and that this would be reflected in an altered evolution in leachate chemistry compared to pre-Directive landfills. This paper provides evidence based on leachate chemistry from two operational landfills together with calculations of the reduced BW content, that demonstrate the acetogenic phase that characterised pre-Directive landfill leachates is missing and is now more typical of methanogenic phase leachate.

Changes in metal speciation and mobility during electrokinetic treatment of industrial wastes: Implications for remediation and resource recovery.

Industrial waste deposits contain substantial quantities of valuable metals and other resources, although often in a recalcitrant form that hinders their recovery. This paper reports an experimental programme on the application of electrokinetic (EK) processing to two different waste materials (a mine tailings deposit and a metallurgical furnace dust), with the aim of exploring the effect of EK on metal speciation and extractability, with a focus on Pb and Zn due to their prevalence in these materials. The speciation of metals within the waste was determined based on a selective sequential extraction (SSE) procedure which was applied to the materials before, during and after the application of the EK treatment.

Towards "Precision Mining" of wastewater: Selective recovery of Cu from acid mine drainage onto diatomite supported nanoscale zerovalent iron particles.

This paper introduces the concept of 'Precision Mining' of metals which can be defined as a process for the selective in situ uptake of a metal from a material or media, with subsequent retrieval and recovery of the target metal. In order to demonstrate this concept nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI) was loaded onto diatomaceous earth (DE) and tested for the selective uptake of Cu from acid mine drainage (AMD) and subsequent release. Batch experiments were conducted using the AMD and nZVI-DE at 4.

Selective formation of copper nanoparticles from acid mine drainage using nanoscale zerovalent iron particles.

Nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI) has been investigated for the selective formation of Cu nanoparticles from acid mine drainage (AMD) taken from a legacy mine site in the UK. Batch experiments were conducted containing unbuffered (pH 2.67 at t = 0) and pH buffered (pH < 3.

Hospitalization due to acute exacerbation of chronic pain: An intervention study in a university hospital.

Background And Aims: Hospitalization as a result of acute exacerbation of complex chronic pain is a largely hidden problem, as patients are often admitted to hospital under a variety of specialities, and there is frequently no overarching inpatient chronic pain service dedicated to their management. Our institution had established an inpatient acute pain service overseen by pain physicians and staffed by specialist nurses that was intended to focus on the management of perioperative pain. We soon observed an increasing number of nurse-to-nurse referrals of non-surgical inpatients admitted with chronic pain.

Delignification and enhanced gas release from soil containing lignocellulose by treatment with bacterial lignin degraders.

Aims: The aim of the study was to isolate bacterial lignin-degrading bacteria from municipal solid waste (MSW) soil, and to investigate whether they could be used to delignify lignocellulose-containing soil, and enhance methane release.

Methods And Results: A set of 20 bacterial lignin degraders, including 11 new isolates from MSW soil, were tested for delignification and phenol release in soil containing 1% pine lignocellulose. A group of seven strains were then tested for enhancement of gas release from soil containing 1% lignocellulose in small-scale column tests.

Iron-mineral accretion from acid mine drainage and its application in passive treatment.

This study demonstrates substantial removal of iron (Fe) from acid mine drainage (pH ≈3) in a passive vertical flow reactor (VFR) with an equivalent footprint of 154 m(2) per L/s mine water and residence times of >23 h. Average Fe removal rate was 67% with a high of 85% over the 10-month trial. The fraction of Fe passing a 0.

Conversion of coal mine drainage ochre to water treatment reagent: Production, characterisation and application for P and Zn removal.

Coal mine drainage ochre is a ferruginous precipitate that forms from mine water in impacted watercourses and during treatment. With thousands of tonnes per annum of such ochre arising from mine water treatment in the UK alone, management of these wastes is a substantive issue. This paper demonstrates that the ochre from both active and passive treatment of coal mine drainage can be transformed into an effective water treatment reagent by simple acid dissolution and that the reagent can be used for the removal of dissolved phosphorous from municipal wastewater and zinc from non-coal mine waters.

New perspectives on the passive treatment of ferruginous circumneutral mine waters in the UK.

This paper examines major physico-chemical processes during the passive treatment of ferruginous circumneutral drainage from abandoned coal mines in the UK. Data collected over several years of studies on mine water treatment systems shed new light on the relative importance of hydraulics, settling velocity, Fe(II) oxidation rates and cascade aeration, which, in turn, informs the design of future systems. This paper demonstrates that (1) the complex settling behaviour of Fe(III) precipitates may be described by a first-order volumetric process and that settling rate is different for different mine waters; (2) the hydraulic efficiency (ratio of time to peak tracer concentration to nominal residence time) of the settling ponds studied was widely variable at low flow rates in comparison to constructed wetlands; (3) aeration cascades contribute dissolved oxygen and lead to a rise in pH due to CO2 degassing, which are very important in reducing the required time for iron oxidation and removal; (4) for at least 10 of the 30 sites examined, modelling of the rates of Fe(II) oxidation and particulate settling reveals that removal of iron is primarily dependent on settling rate; and (5) that substantial increases in pH can be brought about by forced aeration of mine water over several hours.

Mechanisms of phosphorus removal by cement-bound ochre pellets.

Hydrous ferric oxide (here termed 'ochre') sludge, an abundant waste product produced from the treatment of acid mine drainage (AMD), was used in this study for the removal of phosphorus (in the form of phosphate ions) from contaminated waters. The phosphorus uptake capacities of both raw and pelletized AMD solids were compared using batch and column tests. Addition of a cement binder to the AMD solids during pellet production led to significantly increased P-loading of the resultant solids compared to the raw sludge.

Sizing criteria for a low footprint passive mine water treatment system.

The objective of this paper is to present data from a novel vertical flow mine water treatment system, demonstrate how these data can be used to generate sizing formulae for this technology, and present a comparison between the size of system based on these formulae and those of conventionally designed passive systems. The paper focuses on passive treatment of circum-neutral ferruginous mine waters bearing up to 50 mgl(-1) of iron in either ferrous or ferric form. The Vertical Flow Reactor (VFR) operates by passing mine water down through an accreting bed of ochre, the ochre bed being responsible for the intensification of iron removal by self-filtration and/or autocatalytic iron oxidation and precipitation.

Intra-operative gas exchange and post-operative hypoxaemia.

The relation between intra-operative gas exchange and post-operative oxygen saturation was examined using pulse oximetry (SpO2) 30 h after anaesthesia for upper abdominal surgery. The inspired oxygen partial pressure (PIO2) was varied during anaesthesia to produce a plot of PIO2 vs. SpO2.