Impact of microplastics on the human digestive system: From basic to clinical.

As a new type of pollutant, the harm caused by microplastics (MPs) to organisms has been the research focus. Recently, the proportion of MPs ingested through the digestive tract has gradually increased with the popularity of fast-food products, such as takeout. The damage to the digestive system has attracted increasing attention.

Air gap membrane distillation for nutrient and water recovery from marine culture wastewater for improved water reclamation.

Valuable nutrients such as ammonium and phosphate exist in teensy concentrations in marine-culture wastewater (MCW), causing their recovery challenging with inefficient conventional methods. Air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) is systematically explored for the first time to recover nutrients and pure water from low-nutrient MCW. This study assessed the AGMD performance in resource recovery by conducting a thorough investigation and optimization of various parameter conditions.

Characterizing sector-oriented roadside exposure to ultrafine particles (PM) via machine learning models: Implications of covariates influences on sectors variability.

Ultrafine particles (UFPs; PM) possess intensified health risk due to their smaller size and unique spatial variability. One of major emission sources for UFPs is vehicle exhaust, which varies based on the traffic composition in each type of roadside sector. The current challenge of epidemiological UFPs study is limited characterization ability due to expensive instruments.

Anaerobic membrane bioreactors for municipal wastewater: Progress in resource and energy recovery improvement approaches.

Anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) offer promise in municipal wastewater treatment, with potential benefits including high-quality effluent, energy recovery, sludge reduction, and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. However, AnMBR face hurdles like membrane fouling, low energy recovery, etc. In light of net-zero carbon target and circular economy strategy, this work sought to evaluate novel AnMBR configurations, focusing on performance, fouling mitigation, net-energy generation, and nutrients-enhancing integrated configurations, such as forward osmosis (FO), membrane distillation (MD), bioelectrochemical systems (BES), membrane photobioreactor (MPBR), and partial nitrification-anammox (PN/A).

Simultaneous detection of 5-methylcytosine and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine at specific genomic loci by engineered deaminase-assisted sequencing.

Cytosine modifications, particularly 5-methylcytosine (5mC) and 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), play crucial roles in numerous biological processes. Current analytical methods are often constrained to the separate detection of either 5mC or 5hmC, or the combination of both modifications. The ability to simultaneously detect C, 5mC, and 5hmC at the same genomic locations with precise stoichiometry is highly desirable.

Identifying spatiotemporal trends of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater: from the perspective of upstream and downstream wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE).

Recently, many efforts have been made to address the rapid spread of newly identified COVID-19 virus variants. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is considered a potential early warning tool for identifying the rapid spread of this virus. This study investigated the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 in eight wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and their sewerage systems which serve most of the population in Taoyuan City, Taiwan.

Development and Validation of a Breastfeeding Health Literacy Scale (BFHLS) for Taiwanese Pregnant Women.

Background: Breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for infants. Health literacy is a critical factor affecting breastfeeding rates.

Research Aims: The aim of this research was to develop and test the Breastfeeding Health Literacy Scale to determine its validity and reliability.

A review on medical waste treatment in COVID-19 pandemics: Technologies, managements and future strategies.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 few years ago, the increasing of the number of medical waste has become a huge issue because of their harmful impact to environment. A major concern associated to the limitation of technologies for dealing with medical waste, especially conventional technologies, are overcapacities since pandemic occurs. Moreover, the outbreak of new viruses from post COVID-19 should become a serious attention to be prevented not only environmental issues but also the spreading of viruses to new pandemic near the future.

Nanomolar range of FAM237B can activate receptor GPR83.

Our recent study confirmed that the mature neuropeptide FAM237A, also known as neurosecretory protein GL (NPGL), is an efficient agonist for GPR83. The paralog FAM237B was previously reported as a weak agonist for GPR83. In the present study, we prepared mature human FAM237B via an intein-fusion approach and demonstrated that it could cause a significant activation effect at the nanomolar range (1‒10 nM) in a NanoBiT-based β-arrestin recruitment assay.

The ghrelin receptor GHSR has two efficient agonists in the lobe-finned fish Latimeria chalumnae.

The peptide hormone ghrelin (an agonist) and LEAP2 (an antagonist) play important functions in energy metabolism via their receptor GHSR, an A-class G protein-coupled receptor. Ghrelin, LEAP2, and GHSR are widely present from fishes to mammals. However, our recent study suggested that fish GHSRs have different binding properties to ghrelin: a GHSR from the lobe-finned fish Latimeria chalumnae (coelacanth) is efficiently activated by ghrelin, but GHSRs from the ray-finned fish Danio rerio (zebrafish) and Larimichthys crocea (large yellow croaker) have lost binding to ghrelin.

FAM237A, rather than peptide PEN and proCCK56-63, binds to and activates the orphan receptor GPR83.

G protein-coupled receptor 83 (GPR83) is primarily expressed in the brain and is implicated in the regulation of energy metabolism and some anxiety-related behaviours. Recently, the PCSK1N/proSAAS-derived peptide PEN, the procholecystokinin-derived peptide proCCK56-63, and family with sequence similarity 237 member A (FAM237A) were all reported as efficient agonists of GPR83. However, these results have not yet been reproduced by other laboratories and thus GPR83 is still officially an orphan receptor.

diagnosed by next-generation sequencing of bronchoscopic alveolar lavage fluid: A case report and review of literature.

Background: The advent of molecular targeted agents and immune checkpoint inhibitors has greatly improved the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), thus significantly improving patient survival. The incidence of rare drug-related adverse events has gained increased attention.

Case Summary: We report a patient with advanced RCC treated with multiple lines of molecular targeted agents and immune checkpoint inhibitors, who developed a pulmonary infection after treatment with everolimus in combination with lenvatinib.

LEAP2 is a more conserved ligand than ghrelin for fish GHSRs.

Recently, liver-expressed antimicrobial peptide 2 (LEAP2) was identified as an endogenous antagonist and an inverse agonist of the ghrelin receptor GHSR. However, its functions in lower vertebrates are not well understood. Our recent study demonstrated that both LEAP2 and ghrelin are functional towards a fish GHSR from Latimeria chalumnae, an extant coelacanth believed to be one of the closest ancestors of tetrapods.

Ambient ultrafine particle (PM): Sources, characteristics, measurements and exposure implications on human health.

The problem of ultrafine particles (UFPs; PM) has been prevalent since the past decades. In addition to become easily inhaled by human respiratory system due to their ultrafine diameter (<100 nm), ambient UFPs possess various physicochemical properties which make it more toxic. These properties vary based on the emission source profile.

Inertization of metals and hydrogen production as a byproduct from water hyacinth and water lettuce via plasma pyrolysis.

Water hyacinth and water lettuce have been extensively used for phytoremediation of metals and metalloids. However, the reasonable disposal of phytoremediation plants is a difficult problem. This study aims to reduce metals and metalloids from water hyacinth and water lettuce, and produce hydrogen (H) and methane (CH) via an atmospheric-pressure microwave plasma reactor based on the circular economy concept.

Antifouling CuO@TiO coating on plasma-grafted PAA/PES membrane based on photocatalysis and hydrogen peroxide activation.

Because of the small size effect leading to the high bandgap of TiO P25, the photocatalytic membrane using this photocatalyst has low antifouling efficiency. This study prepared CuO@TiO composite photocatalyst with a lower bandgap than TiO P25 and used it as antifouling coatings on the PES membrane with PAA intermediate adhesive layer. PAA was grafted onto the surface of the PES membranes through free radicals generated by the cold plasma treatment of the PES membrane.

Kinsenoside alleviates inflammation and fibrosis in experimental NASH mice by suppressing the NF-κB/NLRP3 signaling pathway.

Background: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) has replaced viral hepatitis as the main driver of the rising morbidity and mortality associated with cirrhosis and liver cancer worldwide, while no FDA-approved therapies are currently known. Kinsenoside (KD), naturally isolated from Anoectochilus roxburghii, possesses multiple biological activities, including lipolysis, anti-inflammation, and hepatoprotection. However, the effects of KD on NASH remain unclear.

Changes in the physicochemical properties and in vitro protein digestibility of peanut hulls treated via mechanical activation.

Unlabelled: In this study, peanut hulls powder (PHP) was treated via mechanical activation (MA) and divided into three groups (control, PHP150 and PHP250). Physicochemical properties including mean particle size distribution (MPSD), powder properties, solubility and in vitro protein digestibility of PHP were then investigated. The results showed that MA could decrease the particle size of PHP by destroying its crystal structure, resulting in an increase of amorphization and a decrease of crystallinity and crystalline size.

A review on vitrification technologies of hazardous waste.

Vitrification technology provides a solution for the issue of safe disposal of hazardous waste containing harmful chemical composition and organic pollutants. This review discusses application of vitrification technologies to treat hazardous waste including, asbestos, fly ash, electronic sludge, nuclear waste, medical waste and radioactive waste. Vitrification processes via Joule heating, microwave heating, plasma technology, electric arc furnaces and incinerators are compared herein.

Comparison of degradation kinetics of tannery wastewater treatment using a nonlinear model by salt-tolerant Nitrosomonas sp. and Nitrobacter sp.

Conventional biological treatment has been reported to be ineffective for pollutant removal in tannery wastewater due to high salinity. To overcome it, this work used salt-tolerant bacteria (STB) isolated from a membrane bioreactor to evaluate the organic and nutrient removal through a series of batch experiments. Compared with the control, the STB reactor enhanced the reduction of persistent organics by 11% based on the double exponential decay model.

Understanding the Associations Among Perceived Stress, Self-Control Skills, and Overeating in Asian Adolescents.

Objective: Built on Rosenbaum's self-control theory, this study aimed to examine the mediating role of self-control skills in the relationship between perceived stress and overeating patterns among adolescents from an Asia-Pacific region.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was used with a school-based, nonclinical sample of 195 adolescents. Participants completed self-report measures assessing study variables and demographic information such as body mass index (BMI) status for adolescents and their parents.

Antifouling catalytic mixed-matrix membranes based on polyethersulfone and composition-optimized Zn-Cu-Fe-O CWAO catalyst under dark ambient conditions.

Besides photocatalysts, novel catalytic wet-air oxidation (CWAO) catalysts capable of operating under mild conditions are a potential candidate to fabricate antifouling filtration membranes. This study optimized the CWAO catalyst consisting of three metal oxide components (ZnO, CuO, and FeO) and used it to fabricate composite membranes with PES (polyethersulfone). The catalyst was characterized by methods such as FTIR, BET, XRD, UV-Vis DRS, XPS, ESR.

Impact of climatic and non-climatic stressors on ocean life and human health: A review.

Ocean life forms are fundamentally well adapted to natural environmental variations, and they can even tolerate extreme conditions for a short time. However, several anthropogenic stressors are causing such drastic changes in the ocean ecosystem. First, the review attempts to outline the impact of climatic and non-climatic stressors on ocean life, and it also outlines the synergistic impact of both stressors.

Degradation of contaminants in plasma technology: An overview.

The information of plasma technologies applications for environmental clean-up on treating and degrading metals, metalloids, dyes, biomass, antibiotics, pesticides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), bacteria, virus and fungi is compiled and organized in the review article. Different reactor configurations of plasma technology have been applied for reactive species generation, responsible for the pollutants removal, hydrogen and methane production and microorganism inactivation. Therefore, in this review article, the reactive species from discharge plasma are presented here to provide the insight into the environmental applications.