Risk of being overweight or obese was greatest with psychoses, least with anxiety, personality, and minor depressive disorders, and intermediate with major mood disorders. Several plausible risk factors for high BMI were identified in mood disorder subjects, including male sex and with BD > MDD. Striking were selectively greater prospective morbidity and decreased treatment-response for depression vs. mania with BMI ≥25.

MDD. Striking were selectively greater prospective morbidity and decreased treatment-response for depression vs. mania with BMI ≥ 25.More data on the long-term effects of Racemic Ketamine and Esketamine in TDR patients is needed. The implementation of centralized registries of their use for treatment of depression could be a tool of major importance for assessing their efficacy and safety in real-world clinical practice. This paper seeks to outline the rise and rationale behind these registry-based surveillance systems.Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder and the most common learning disability among both school-aged children and across languages. Recently, sensory and cognitive mechanisms have been reported to be potential endophenotypes (EPs) for DD, and nine DD-candidate genes have been identified. Animal models have been used to investigate the etiopathological pathways that underlie the development of complex traits, as they enable the effects of genetic and/or environmental manipulations to be evaluated. Animal research designs have also been linked to cutting-edge clinical research questions by capitalizing on the use of EPs. For the present scoping review, we reviewed previous studies of murine models investigating the effects of DD-candidate genes. Moreover, we highlighted the use of animal models as an innovative way to unravel new insights behind the pathophysiology of reading (dis)ability and to assess cutting-edge preclinical models.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute systemic vasculitis with possible long-term impact of general cardio-vascular health. An endothelial glycocalyx disorder during the disease’s acute phase might predispose to long-term vascular anomalies leading to endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis. To investigate any association between increased cardiovascular risk and endothelial glycocalyx, we assessed circulating glycocalyx components in patients with a KD history, and analysed their association with acute-phase clinical features and more importantly, with patients’ current cardiovascular risk factors.

This prospective observational cohort study included 51 subjects 31 patients with a history of KD, and 20 healthy subjects matched for age and sex. We analysed serum syndecan-1 and hyaluronan via ELISA. We assessed features reported during the acute phase of KD such as blood counts, C-reactive protein (CRP) levels and coronary artery aneurysms (CAA), and their current blood pressure and lipid markers in relation to measured glycocalyx components.

Our multivariate analysis revealed that hyaluronan and syndecan-1 levels were not associated with KD. However, the latter exhibited a significant association with acute-phase blood count alterations in patients with KD. Furthermore, significant interactions of hyaluronan and syndecan-1 with certain cardiovascular risk factors like blood lipids and blood pressure were only present in KD patients.

Vasculitis during KD’s acute phase might predispose to a long-term endothelial glycocalyx alteration, influenced by other factors having a vascular impact such as blood pressure and circulating lipids.

German Clinical Trials Register on 25th February 2016, DRKS00010071 https//www.drks.de/drks_web/.

German Clinical Trials Register on 25th February 2016, DRKS00010071 https//www.drks.de/drks_web/.Endothelial injury plays a vital role in vascular lesions from diabetes mellitus (DM). Therapeutic targets against endothelial damage may provide critical venues for the treatment of diabetic vascular diseases. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor β (PPARβ) is a crucial regulator in DM and its complications. However, the molecular signal mediating the roles of PPARβ in DM-induced endothelial dysfunction is not fully understood. The impaired endothelium-dependent relaxation and destruction of the endothelium structures appeared in high glucose incubated rat aortic rings. A high glucose level significantly decreased the expression of PPARβ and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) at the mRNA and protein levels, and reduced the concentration of nitric oxide (NO), which occurred in parallel with an increase in the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and 3-nitrotyrosine. The effect of high glucose was inhibited by GW0742, a PPARβ agonist. Both GSK0660 (PPARβ antagonist) and NG-nitro-l-arginine-methyl ester (NOS inhibitor) could reverse the protective effects of GW0742. These results suggest that the activation of nitrative stress may, at least in part, mediate the down-regulation of PPARβ in high glucose-impaired endothelial function in rat aorta. PPARβ-nitrative stress may hold potential in treating vascular complications from DM.The lymphatic system plays important roles in various physiological and pathological phenomena. As a bioactive phospholipid, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) has been reported to function as a lymphangiogenic factor as well as some growth factors, yet the involvement of phospholipids including LPA and its derivatives in lymphangiogenesis is not fully understood. In the present study, we have developed an in-vitro lymphangiogenesis model (termed a collagen sandwich model) by utilizing type-I collagen, which exists around the lymphatic endothelial cells of lymphatic capillaries in vivo. The collagen sandwich model has revealed that cyclic phosphatidic acid (cPA), and not LPA, augmented the tube formation of human dermal lymphatic endothelial cells (HDLECs). Both cPA and LPA increased the migration of HDLECs cultured on the collagen. As the gene expression of LPA receptor 6 (LPA6) was predominantly expressed in HDLECs, a siRNA experiment against LPA6 attenuated the cPA-mediated tube formation. A synthetic LPA1/3 inhibitor, Ki16425, suppressed the cPA-augmented tube formation and migration of the HDLECs, and the LPA-induced migration. The activity of Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) located at the downstream of the LPA receptors was augmented in both the cPA- and LPA-treated cells. A potent ROCK inhibitor, Y-27632, suppressed the cPA-dependent tube formation but not the migration of the HDLECs. Furthermore, cPA, but not LPA, augmented the gene expression of VE-cadherin and β-catenin in the HDLECs. These results provide novel evidence that cPA facilitates the capillary-like morphogenesis and the migration of HDLECs through LPA6/ROCK and LPA1/3 signaling pathways in concomitance with the augmentation of VE-cadherin and β-catenin expression. Thus, cPA is likely to be a potent lymphangiogenic factor for the initial lymphatics adjacent to type I collagen under physiological conditions.Lamination is a common industrial problem during the production of pharmaceutical tablets. It corresponds to a failure of the tablet in one or several planes parallel to the surface and passing through the tablet band. But different kinds of lamination exist, and a classification of the different cases is proposed in this work. Type 1 corresponds to a multiple fracture caused by air entrapment. Type 2 occurs because of the shear stresses developing when the tablet goes out of the die. Type 3, which is limited to convex tablets, is due to a tensile stress developing at the center of the tablet at the end of the unloading that further propagates toward the band. One case of each type was studied experimentally in order to test three solutions classically used at the industrial level slowing down the press, using a precompression and using a tapered die. Results shows that, in coherence with the proposed mechanisms, lamination type 1 can be mitigated by slowing down the press or using a precompression. For type 2, only the tapered die solution stopped lamination. None of the solutions completely solved lamination type 3. Nevertheless, the use of a tapered die decreased the severity of the problem avoiding the propagation of the crack until the surface.This commentary presents contributions and accomplishments of Professor Saranjit Singh, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), SAS Nagar, India, to pharmaceutical research and education. Prof Singh completed his successful tenure in October, 2021. Over his 40+ years of illustrious academic career, he trained 147 Masters and 15 PhD students in the fields of drug stability testing, degradation chemistry, impurity and metabolite characterization, and advanced analytical technologies. He has published ∼300 research articles, reviews, editorials, patent, books, and book chapters, and received numerous awards, including the Professor M.L. Khorana Memorial Lecture Award from the Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA) and the Outstanding Analyst and Eminent Analyst awards from the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association (IDMA). This commentary highlights Prof. Singh’s inspiring personal and renowned professional journey, including early life, education, career, accomplishments, as well as his services to academia, industry, and regulatory. By sharing the contributions and accomplishments of Prof. Singh, we strongly believe that his story will inspire the next generation of scientists to continue his legacy to advance the field.Tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2) has gained much research interest in recent years because of its potential pivotal role in autoimmune disease and cancer. However, its function in regulating different immune cells is not well understood. There is a need for well-characterized reagents to selectively modulate TNFR2 function, thereby enabling definition of TNFR2-dependent biology in human and mouse surrogate models. Here, we describe the generation, production, purification, and characterization of a panel of novel antibodies targeting mouse TNFR2. The antibodies display functional differences in binding affinity and potency to block TNFα. Furthermore, epitope binding showed that the anti-mTNFR2 antibodies target different domains on the TNFR2 protein, associated with varying capacity to enhance CD8+ T-cell activation and costimulation. Moreover, the anti-TNFR2 antibodies demonstrate binding to isolated splenic mouse Tregs ex vivo and activated CD8+ cells, reinforcing their potential use to establish TNFR2-dependent immune modulation in translational models of autoimmunity and cancer.s New four steroid conjugates have been prepared from bile acids and sterol derivatives using click chemistry method. The azide-alkyne Huisgen cycloaddition (intermolecular 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition) of the propargyl ester of lithocholic, deoxycholic, cholic acid as well as dehydrocholic acids and azide derivatives of cholesterol gave a new bile acid-sterol conjugates linked with a 1,2,3-triazole ring. Previously, bile acids were converted into bromoacetyl substituted derivatives by the reaction of propargyl esters of lithocholic, deoxycholic, cholic with bromoacetic acid bromide in toluene with TEBA and sodium hydride. All conjugates were obtained in good yields using an efficient synthesis method. The structures of all products were confirmed by spectral (1H- and 13C NMR, and FT-IR) analysis, mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), as well as PM5 semiempirical methods. Estimation of the pharmacotherapeutic potential has been accomplished for the synthesized compounds on the basis of Prediction of Activity Spectra for Substances (PASS).Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is one of the most common causes of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cardiovascular (CV) disease. Until recently, glycemic and BP control were the cornerstones for preventing progression of CKD and CV disease associated with T2D. However, there has been a paradigm shift in treatment since the publication of the first clinical trial demonstrating benefits of sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors in 2015. SGLT2 inhibitors have been shown to reduce the risk of major adverse CV events and progression of kidney disease in the setting of T2D. However, the elucidation of mechanisms of underlying these clinical benefits is the subject of ongoing investigation. Experimental studies have shown that SGLT2 inhibitors have diverse pleiotropic effects such as modulation of neurohormones such as the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, increasing hematocrit, altering energy substrate use, and attenuating systemic inflammation and oxidative stress, all of which have been implicated in the CV and kidney protective effects of SGLT2 inhibitors. In this review, we highlight biomarkers linked with diabetic kidney disease and heart failure and discuss how SGLT2 inhibitor-associated changes potentially mediate the cardiorenal protection observed with these therapies.Heavy metal concentrations and physicochemical parameters in coastal waters were measured to analyze the spatial distribution characteristics, pollution degrees, and sources of heavy metals in the heavily urbanized Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) in China. Heavy metal concentrations in the eastern GBA were higher than those in the west, and the levels of Pb and Zn in seawater were higher than those in groundwater and river water. Both the pollution factors and comprehensive water quality index demonstrated that seawater was not contaminated with As, Cd, Cr, and Ni, whereas low to considerable levels of contamination of Pb and Zn were observed in the central and eastern sections of the GBA. Multiple statistical analyses suggested that the Pb and Zn contaminations in seawater were probably derived from atmospheric deposition and human activities, and the excess amounts of As, Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn in groundwater were attributed to anthropogenic activities. The heavy metal fluxes from submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) were comparable to, or even greater than, those from local rivers. Therefore, SGD is a significant invisible contributor of heavy metals into the coastal ocean that has often been overlooked in comparison to other visible pollution sources. This study suggests that SGD should be considered in the assessment of heavy metal pollution and future water quality management protocols in marine ecosystems.Drought-induced die-off in forests is becoming a widespread phenomenon across biomes, but the factors determining potential shifts in taxonomic and structural characteristics following mortality are largely unknown. We report on short-term patterns of resilience after drought-induced episodes of tree mortality across 48 monospecific forests from Morocco to Slovenia. Field surveys recorded plants growing beneath a canopy of dead, defoliated and healthy trees. Site-level structural characteristics and management legacy were also recorded. Resilience was assessed with reference to forest composition (self-replacement), structure, and changes in the climatic suitability of the replacing community relative to the climatic suitability of the dominant pre-drought species. Species climatic suitability was estimated from species distribution models calculated for the baseline 1970-2000 period. Short-term resilience decreased under higher levels of drought-induced damage to the dominant species and with evidences of management legacy. Greater resilience of structural features (fewer gaps, greater canopy height) was observed overall in forests with a larger basal area. Less gaps were also associated with greater woody species richness after drought. Overall, Fagaceae-dominated forests exhibited greater structural resilience than conifer-dominated ones. On those sites that were more climatically suited to the dominant pre-drought species, replacing communities tended to exhibit lower climatic suitability than pre-drought dominant species. There was a greater loss of climatic suitability under a legacy of management and drought intensity, but less so in the replacing communities with higher woody species richness. Our study reveals that short-term forest resilience is determined by pre-drought stand characteristics, often reflecting previous management legacies, and by the impact of drought on both the dominant pre-drought species and post-drought replacing species in terms of their climatic suitability.Reefs are biogenic structures that result in three-dimensional accumulations of calcium carbonate. Over geological timescales, a positive balance between the production and accumulation of calcium carbonate versus erosional and off-reef transport processes maintains positive net accretion on reefs. Yet, how ecological processes occurring over decadal timescales translate to the accumulation of geological structures is poorly understood, in part due to a lack of studies with detailed time-constrained chronologies of reef accretion over decades to centuries. Here, we combined ecological surveys of living reefs with palaeoecological reconstructions and high-precision radiometric (U-Th) age-dating of fossil reefs represented in both reef sediment cores and surficial dead in situ corals, to reconstruct the history of community composition and carbonate accumulation across the central and southern Saudi Arabian Red Sea throughout the late Holocene. We found that reefs were primarily comprised of thermally tolerant arge portion of the reef area in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea.Land application of biosolids can improve soil fertility and enhance crop production. However, the occurrence and persistence of pharmaceutical compounds in the biosolids may result in leaching of these contaminants to surface water and groundwater, causing environmental contamination. This study evaluated the effectiveness of two organic amendments [biochar (BC) and woodchips (WC)] for reducing the concentration and leachability (mobility) of five pharmaceuticals in biosolids derived from wastewater treatment plants in southern Ontario, Canada. The effect of 360-d composting on fate and leachabilities of target pharmaceuticals in biosolid mixtures were also investigated. Composting decreased total and leachable concentrations of pharmaceuticals in unamended and BC- and WC-amended biosolids to various degrees, from 10% up to 99% depending on the compound. Blending BC or WC into the biosolids greatly increased the removal rates of the target pharmaceuticals, while simultaneously decreasing their half-lives (t0.5), compared to unamended biosolids. The t0.5 of contaminants in this study followed the order carbamazepine (304-3053 d) > gemfibrozil (42.3-92.4 d) > naproxen (15.3-104 d) > ibuprofen (12.5-19.0 d). Amendment with BC and(or) WC significantly reduced the leachability of carbamazepine, ibuprofen, and gemfibrozil to variable extents, but significantly enhanced the leachability of naproxen, compared to unamended biosolids (P  less then  0.05). Biochar and WC exhibited different (positive or negative) effects on the leachability of individual pharmaceuticals. Significantly lower concentrations of total and(or) leachable (mobile) pharmaceuticals were observed in amended biosolids than unamended biosolids (P  less then  0.05). Biochar and WC are effective amendments that can reduce the environmental impact of biosolid land applications with respect to pharmaceutical contamination.Storage of selenium and iodine can greatly vary between forest ecosystems, but the influence of tree species on partitioning and recycling of those elements remains elusive. In this study, contents of Se and I were measured in tree compartments, litterfall, humus, and soil horizons in monospecific stands of Douglas fir, pine, spruce, beech, and oak under identical climatic and edaphic conditions. The cycle of each element was characterized in terms of stocks and fluxes. Lowest concentrations were in wood (Se 8-13 μg kg-1; I less then 16.5 μg kg-1). Senescing organs had higher Se and I content, than the living parts of trees due to direct exposure to atmospheric deposition, with some variation between coniferous and deciduous trees. For all stands, low amounts of Se and I were involved in biological cycle as reflected by low root uptake. In humus, the enrichment of elements greatly increased with the stage of organic matter (OM) degradation with average factors of 10 and 20 for Se and I. OM degradation and element persistence in humus was influenced by tree species. Deciduous trees, with low biomass, and fast degradation of OM stored less Se and I in humus compared to fir and spruce with high humus biomass. Interestingly, tree species did not affect soil reserves of Se and I. Concentration ranges were 331-690 μg Se kg-1 and 4.3-14.5 mg I kg-1. However, the divergent vertical profiles of the elements in the soil column indicated greater mobility of I. Selenium concentrations regularly decreased with depth in correlation with OM and Fe oxides content. For iodine, the maximum iodine concentration at a soil depth of 15 to 35 cm was caused by a parallel precipitation/sorption behavior of aluminium and organic iodine dissolved in the topsoil.Plant roots generally enhance soil strength and stabilize slopes through hydro-mechanical effects, especially in forested areas prone to shallow slope failure. Forest fires can severely weaken the hydro-mechanical contribution of roots to slopes, however, the hydro-mechanical characteristics of soil-root systems (SRS) affected by wildfire remain poorly understood. To obtain insight into the post-fire hydro-mechanical characteristics of SRS, a subalpine conifer forested area in Sichuan Province, China that suffered a wildfire on March 30, 2019 was continuously monitored over two consecutive years. Samples from zones with different degrees of burn severity were collected and tests both for roots and SRS were performed. The results revealed a substantial decline in root number, which decreased by 46%-58% two years after the wildfire in the medium- and high-severity areas. The tensile strength tests indicated a reduction of root tensile strength by 36%-47% for roots with diameters less than 2 mm. The shear strength of the SRS determined from saturated direct shear tests strongly and had degraded by 55%-82% two years after the wildfire because of root death and reduced root reinforcement. The results of hydraulic conductivity tests over the same time period indicated an abrupt reduction of SRS hydraulic conductivity within several months after the fire owing to ash clogging and the formation of a hydrophobic layer. After more time had elapsed, however, hydraulic conductivity had increased unexpectedly by a factor of 2.2-3.2 greater than that of unburned soil. We attribute this observation to the formation of macropore flow pathways from decayed roots, which was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The findings presented here provide important insight into the temporal changes of the hydro-mechanical characteristics of SRS in burned areas and their associated mechanisms and could be a useful reference to better evaluate post-wildfire stability of subalpine conifer forest in similar environmental conditions.Water-soluble organic matter (WSOM) is a complex mixture of organic compounds affecting global climate change and carbon cycle. Herein, Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR MS) was used for identification of WSOM molecular compositions in annual atmospheric particulate matter with diameters ≤10 μm (PM10). Totally 6538 unambiguous monoisotopic molecular formulas were assigned to WSOM with m/z values concentrating in 150-600 Da. The CHO compounds with high unsaturation degrees contributed most (51.7-52.1%) to WSOM in spring and summer. However, the S-containing compounds (CHOS and CHNOS) with higher O/C and H/C ratios accounted for 56.8-63.2% of WSOM in autumn and winter. Temperature (r = 0.82) and O3 (r = 0.89) showed higher correlation with CHO compounds, which were mainly aliphatics and highly unsaturated structures with high oxygen compounds (80.7-90.8%). The concentrations of SO42- (r = 0.33) and NO3- (r = 0.46) in PM10 both showed a positive correlation with the abundances of the S-containing compounds due to their direct participation in atmospheric reactions. Among them, 96-100% and 78-96% of the CHOS and CHNOS compounds were confirmed to be organosulfates (OSs) and nitrooxy-organosulfates (NOSs) by MS/MS analysis, respectively. These findings illustrate the strong association of atmospheric conditions with molecular chemodiversity of WSOM.Convective mixing, mesoscale eddies and regenerated production sustain an above-average biological productivity in the North East Arabian Sea (NEAS) during the winter-spring transition period. Satellite-derived long-term data sets on Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), Sea Surface Height Anomaly (SSHA), Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and Okubo-Weiss parameterization show existence of number of mesoscale eddies, propagating and non-propagating, that contribute to the regional production. The dominance of Eddy Kinetic Energy (EKE) over the Available Potential Energy (APE) in the core depth and the diameter (120 km) of the observed eddy being wider than the Rossby Radius of Deformation (RRD, 55 km), it is suggested that the baroclinic instability is a possible mechanism for the eddy formation. Spatial variation in APE and its influences on the regional dynamics, including chemical and biological response are explained. In the non-eddy areas, where convective mixing is active, diatoms (96.74%) dominated than dinoflagellates (3n and hence altered production patterns in the NEAS.In this work a novel nano-formulation is proposed to control leaching and volatilization of a broadly used herbicide, dicamba. Dicamba is subject to significant leaching in soils, due to its marked solubility, and to significant volatilization and vapor drift, with consequent risks for operators and neighbouring crops. Natural, biocompatible, low-cost materials were employed to control its dispersion in the environment among four tested candidate carriers, a nanosized natural clay (namely, K10 montmorillonite) was selected to adsorb the pesticide, and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), a food-grade biodegradable polymer, was employed as a coating agent. The synthesis approach is based on direct adsorption at ambient temperature and pressure, with a subsequent particle coating to increase suspension stability and control pesticide release. The nano-formulation showed a controlled release when diluted to field-relevant concentrations in tap water, the uncoated K10 released approximately 45% of the total loaded dicarget species.Land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) is the main cause of mangrove deforestation and degradation. However, the effect of LULCC on mangrove soil organic carbon (SOC) fractions and metal pollution risks, and the difference between the effects of those two soil evolutions are largely unknown. Here, we collected soil samples from natural systems (mangroves and mudflat), land-cover changes (Spartina alterniflora invasion), and anthropogenic land-use changes (cropland and culture pond) in Zhangjiang Estuary. We determined the soil aggregate fractions (macro-aggregate, micro-aggregate, and silt-clay fraction) and the associated carbon, and heavy metal dynamics. Our findings suggested that LULCC did not remarkably affect SOC contents, but changed the soil aggregate structures. LULCC significantly increased aggregate-associated carbon fractions, especially macro-aggregate carbon fraction. The large proportion of silt-clay fraction in natural systems was corresponding to a high percentage of mineral organic carbon, ion risk, and are of great significance for designing the long-term management and conservation policies for mangrove managers.In this study, a two-stage combined process of partial nitrification-Anammox (PNA) and partial denitrification-Anammox (PDA) was established achieving advanced nitrogen removal from landfill leachate. The PNA sludge used to treat reject water adapted to the leachate in 37 days, resulting in fast start-up of the PNA process with a nitrogen removal rate (NRR) of 0.22 kgN/(m3·d). Partial denitrification (PD) was induced using sodium acetate and proceeded in a stepwise manner using sludge fermentation liquid (SFL), achieving a NO3–N to NO2–N transformation ratio (NTR) of 52.1 ± 1.1% within 16 days. PDA was established via the addition of mature Anammox biofilms. The nitrogen removal efficiency (NRE) of this system was 97.6 ± 1.5%, of which PNA and PDA contributed 74.8 ± 4.0% and 18.7 ± 4.1%, respectively. Nitrosomonas (2.6% in PNA), Thauera (16.0% in PDA) and Candidatus Brocadia (23.0% in PNA, 1.4% in PDA) were dominant in the two-stage system. This study provides valuable and novel insights, supporting the practical application of PNA-PDA processes in landfill sites.Wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been a successful indicator of COVID-19 outbreaks in populations prior to clinical testing. However, this has been mostly conducted in high-income countries, which means there is a dearth of performance investigations in low- and middle-income countries with different socio-economic settings. This study evaluated the applicability of SARS-CoV-2 RNA monitoring in wastewater (n = 132) to inform COVID-19 infection in the city of Bangkok, Thailand using CDC N1 and N2 RT-qPCR assays. Wastewater influents (n = 112) and effluents (n = 20) were collected from 19 centralized wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) comprising four large, four medium, and 11 small WWTPs during seven sampling events from January to April 2021 prior to the third COVID-19 resurgence that was officially declared in April 2021. The CDC N1 assay showed higher detection rates and lower Ct values than the CDC N2. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was first detected at the first event when new reported cases were low. Increased positive detection rates preceded an increase in the number of newly reported cases and increased over time with the reported infection incidence. Wastewater surveillance (both positive rates and viral loads) showed strongest correlation with daily new COVID-19 cases at 22-24 days lag (Spearman’s Rho = 0.74-1.00). Large WWTPs (serving 400,000-580,000 of the population) exhibited similar trends of viral loads and new cases to those from all 19 WWTPs, emphasizing that routine monitoring of the four large WWTPs could provide sufficient information for the city-scale dynamics. Higher sampling frequency at fewer sites, i.e., at the four representative WWTPs, is therefore suggested especially during the subsiding period of the outbreak to indicate the prevalence of COVID-19 infection, acting as an early warning of COVID-19 resurgence.The continuous growth of population and the steady improvement of people’s living standards have accelerated the generation of massive food waste. Untreated food waste has great potential to harm the environment and human health due to bad odor release, bacterial leaching, and virus transmission. However, the application of traditional disposal techniques like composting, landfilling, animal feeding, and anaerobic digestion are difficult to ease the environmental burdens because of problems such as large land occupation, virus transmission, hazardous gas emissions, and poor efficiency. Pyrolysis is a practical and promising route to reduce the environmental burden by converting food waste into bioenergy. This paper aims to analyze the characteristics of food waste, introduce the production of biofuels from conventional and advanced pyrolysis of food waste, and provide a basis for scientific disposal and sustainable management of food waste. The review shows that co-pyrolysis and catalytic pyrolysis significantly impact the pyrolysis process and product characteristics. The addition of tire waste promotes the synthesis of hydrocarbons and inhibits the formation of oxygenated compounds efficiently. The application of calcium oxide (CaO) exhibits good performance in the increment of bio-oil yield and hydrocarbon content. Based on this literature review, pyrolysis can be considered as the optimal technique for dealing with food waste and producing valuable products.Epidemiological evidence linking metals bound to ambient particulate matters with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and maternal thyroid function is limited. In this study, we investigated the association of PM2.5-bound metals with maternal thyroid hormones (TH) during the first trimester. We retrospectively reviewed data for 2528 pregnant women attending prenatal care in Jinhua Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Jinhua, China, from January to December 2018. Information including thyroid hormone levels and demographics was retrieved from existing medical records. We analyzed the concentration of 10 metals for collected particulate samples, and estimated their exposure levels during the first trimester for each woman. We employed multivariate linear regression models to estimate the association of exposure to individual PM2.5-bound metals with serum levels of maternal TH, and weighted quantile sum (WQS) to estimate the overall association of exposure to PM2.5-bound metals within a mixture. Higher exposures to most of the PM2.5-bound metals were associated with lower levels of maternal free thyroxine (FT4) and free triiodothyronine (FT3). The thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) or thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) status had no effect modification on the observed associations. WQS analyses further suggested that Be, Ni, Tl and Ba contributed the most to the associations. These findings highlight the associations of exposure to PM2.5-bound metals with maternal thyroid function, and emphasize the public health significance of commitments to improve air quality.Airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has been object of debate in the scientific community since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic. This mechanism of transmission could arise from virus-laden aerosol released by infected individuals and it is influenced by several factors. Among these, the concentration and size distribution of virus-laden particles play an important role. The knowledge regarding aerosol transmission increases as new evidence is collected in different studies, even if it is not yet available a standard protocol regarding air sampling and analysis, which can create difficulties in the interpretation and application of results. This work reports a systematic review of current knowledge gained by 73 published papers on experimental determination of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in air comparing different environments outdoors, indoor hospitals and healthcare settings, and public community indoors. Selected papers furnished 77 datasets outdoor studies (9/77, 11.7%) and indoor studies (68/77. 88.3%). The indoor datasets in hospitals were the vast majority (58/68, 85.3%), and the remaining (10/68, 14.7%) were classified as community indoors. The fraction of studies having positive samples, as well as positivity rates (i.e. ratios between positive and total samples) are significantly larger in hospitals compared to the other typologies of sites. Contamination of surfaces was more frequent (in indoor datasets) compared to contamination of air samples; however, the average positivity rate was lower compared to that of air. Concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in air were highly variables and, on average, lower in outdoors compared to indoors. Among indoors, concentrations in community indoors appear to be lower than those in hospitals and healthcare settings.In this work, a bimetallic Ni/La nanoparticle-laded biosorbent was fabricated from pomegranate fibers by solvothermal synthesis method. The material exhibited a high-efficient phosphate removal capability. The results of the characterization analysis showed that the surface of pomegranate fibers was rough and evenly coated with Ni and La after modification, and the specific surface area of Ni-La@Peel increased to 50.20 m2/g, providing a large number of adsorption sites for phosphate removal. The maximum phosphate removal rate of adsorbent was higher than 97% in a wide pH range (3.7-10.8). The maximum adsorption capacities of Ni-La@Peel were 226.55 mg-P/g and 220.31 mg-P/g under alkaline and acidic conditions, respectively, as calculated using the Langmuir model. Meanwhile, all the results were consistent with the Langmuir isothermal (R2 = 0.99) and kinetic pseudo-second order models (R2 = 0.99), indicating that the phosphate removal mechanism of Ni-La@Peel was mainly related to homogeneous chemisorption. Experimental results showed that in the presence of other anions, such as chloride, sulfate, nitrate, bromide and fluoride, the adsorption capacity of phosphate was only reduced by about 10% compared to the blank sample individually. In addition, the phosphate removal efficiency of Ni-La@Peel remained 82.05% at 7th adsorption-desorption cycle. These findings show that Ni-La@Peel is a promising material for purification of phosphate-containing wastewater.The treatment and disposal of residual activated sludge is a worldwide problem and the research on its reuse is still only in the earliest stages. Selenite is a toxic pollutant, while selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) are environmentally friendly and have promising application prospects. At present, the reduction mechanism of selenite under the complex system is still poorly understood. In order to explore the mechanism of SeNPs synthesis by activated sludge resource utilization, SeNPs were synthesized by activated sludge extracts of domestic sewage (DSeNPs) and coking sewage (CSeNPs), respectively. The synthesis process, zeta potential and morphology size of SeNPs were changed by pH value, extract concentration and extract composition. Under the same synthesis conditions, the morphologies of DSeNPs and CSeNPs were mainly spherical and pseudo-spherical, while CSeNPs also contained pseudo-rod shape particles. The sizes and crystal grains of CSeNPs were smaller than those of DSeNPs. Compared with DSeNPs, a specific protein (~35 kDa) was found on the surface of CSeNPs using SDS-PAGE. By analyzing the fluorescence images of the two SeNPs, it was found that the relative contents of proteins, α-d-glucopyranose polysaccharides, and β-d-glucopyranose polysaccharides on their surfaces were obviously different (P less then 0.05). The present study demonstrated that proteins, polysaccharides, humic-like and fulvic acid-like substances cooperated in the formation and stabilization of SeNPs. Furthermore, CSeNPs (bandgap 1.68 eV) had more desirable photocatalytic performance than DSeNPs (bandgap 1.84 eV). Under the light condition, CSeNPs could degrade Rhodamine B faster without adding hydrogen peroxide. This experiment provided a new insight into the resource utilization of activated sludge and a reference for the synthesis of nanometer selenium with excellent performance.Determining appropriate farming management practices to adapt to climate change with lower environmental costs is important for sustainable agricultural production. In this study, a long-term experiment (1985-2019) was conducted under different management practices combining fertilization rate (no, low and high N fertilizer, N0, N1 and N2), straw additions (no, low and high addition, S0, S1 and S2) with conservation tillage (no-tillage, NT) in the North China Plain (NCP). The Denitrification-Decomposition (DNDC) model was firstly evaluated using the experimental data, and then applied to simulate the changes of crop yields, soil organic carbon (SOC), and N2O emissions under different management practices combined with climate change scenarios, under low and high emission scenarios of societal development pathways (SSP245 and SSP585, respectively) with climate projections from 2031 to 2100. Under the low emission scenario (SSP245), wheat yields were the highest with the NT-N1-S2 treatment (a 23% increase relative to the baseline (1981-2010)). For maize yields, the NT-N1-S1 treatment increased 46% relative to baseline under the SSP585, whereas, the yields increased less in all treatments under SSP245-2040s. The SOC was predicted to increase by 6-60% by 2100 under SSP245. Straw addition and tillage were the main factors influencing SOC. N fertilizer was the most important driver for wheat and maize yields, however, N2O emissions from soil increased with increased application of N fertilizer. Therefore, the no-tillage method under low N fertilizer and high straw addition (NT-N1-S2) is recommended to promote crop yields and substantially increase SOC under SSP245 and SSP585. Conservation agriculture practices can potentially offset crop yield reductions, increase soil quality, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the NCP, and ensure crop production to meet the growing demand for food under future climate change.Vertical zonation within estuarine ecosystems can strongly influence microbial diversity and function by regulating competition, predation, and environmental stability. The degree to which microbial communities exhibit horizontal patterns through an estuary has received comparatively less attention. Here, we take a multi-omics ecosurveillance approach to study environmental gradients created by the transition between dominant vegetation types along a near pristine tropical river system (Wenlock River, Far North Queensland, Australia). The study sites included intertidal mudflats fringed by saltmarsh, mangrove or mixed soft substrata habitats. Collected sediments were analyzed for eukaryotes and prokaryotes using small sub-unit (SSU) rRNA gene amplicons to profile the relative taxonomic composition. Central carbon metabolism metabolites and other associated organic polar metabolites were analyzed using established metabolomics-based approaches, coupled with total heavy metals analysis. Eukaryotic taxonomic infndancy potential of habitat microbiomes. This information is useful as a point of comparison for these sensitive ecosystems and provides a framework for identifying potentially vulnerable or at-risk systems before they are significantly degraded.Uranium (U)-containing wastewater poses serious pressure to human health and environmental safety. The treatment of U-bearing wastewater using green and facilely fabricated materials is considered a promising alternative. Herein, the raw and modified aerial roots of Ficus microcarpa (RARF and MARF, respectively) were prepared and applied to the treatment of synthesized U-containing wastewater. The results showed that the adsorption process was spontaneous and chemically controlled, which was in good accordance with the pseudo-second-order kinetic and the Redlich-Peterson isotherm adsorption model. The adsorption mechanisms were proposed to be the complexation between U(VI) and oxygen/phosphorus-containing functional groups on MARF.Quantifying the contribution of septic systems to contaminant, including nutrient, loading to streams is needed in many watersheds to inform water quality management programs. However, this quantification is challenging due to the distributed locations of septic systems and uncertainties regarding the pathways delivering effluent from septic systems (functioning and failing) to a stream. The objectives of this study were firstly to evaluate how septic effluent inputs to streams vary with stream discharge conditions for multiple subwatersheds with different characteristics (i.e., geology, septic system density, and typical age), and secondly to examine new approaches for distinguishing the pathways and the contributing areas delivering septic effluent to streams. These approaches use the artificial sweetener acesulfame as a conservative tracer for septic effluent in applications of (i) stream concentration-discharge (C-Q) relationships using low frequency sampling data, (ii) hysteresis behavior in event-based the stream. The novel approaches used here can be applied to guide future investigations aiming to quantify and manage water quality impairment from septic systems.Urban habitats offer spatially and temporally predictable anthropogenic food sources for opportunistic species, such as several species of gulls that are known to exploit urban areas and take advantage of accessible and diverse food sources, reducing foraging time and energy expenditure. However, human-derived food may have a poorer nutritional quality than the typical natural food resources and foraging in urban habitats may increase birds’ susceptibility of ingesting anthropogenic debris materials, with unknown physiological consequences for urban dwellers. Here we compare the fatty acids (FA) composition of two opportunistic gull species (the yellow-legged gull, Larus michahellis, and the lesser black-backed gull, Larus fuscus) from areas with different levels of urbanization, to assess differences in birds’ diet quality among foraging habitats, and we investigate the effects of ingesting anthropogenic materials, a toxicological stressor, on gulls’ FA composition. Using GC-MS, 23 FAs were identified in the adipose tissue of both gull species. Significant differences in gulls’ FA composition were detected among the three urbanization levels, mainly due to physiologically important highly unsaturated FAs that had lower percentages in gulls from the most urbanized habitats, consistent with a diet based on anthropogenic food resources. The deficiency in omega (ω)-3 FAs and the higher ω-6ω-3 FAs ratio in gulls from the most urbanized location may indicate a diet-induced susceptibility to inflammation. No significant differences in overall FA composition were detected between gull species. While we were unable to detect any effect of ingested anthropogenic materials on gulls’ FA composition, these data constitute a valuable contribution to the limited FA literature in gulls. We encourage studies to explore the long-term physiological effects of the lower nutritional quality diet for urban dwellers, and to detect the sub-lethal impacts of the ingestion of anthropogenic materials.The uptake of nutrients or toxicants by different organisms in aquatic systems is known to correlate with different fractions of the nutrient’s or toxicant’s total concentration. These fractions can be provided by different analytical techniques, from which the better correlation is expected to be found for those with a characteristic length comparable to that in the considered organism uptake. An effective concentration signature can be built up with the concentration values associated to the availability (i.e. fluxes in dynamic techniques) of the nutrient or toxicant measured by various analytical techniques with different characteristic lengths. Here, this new representation was obtained for the pool of Zn complexes in the Mediterranean stream Riera d’Osor (Girona, Catalonia, Spain) with a suite of four analytical techniques. Absence of Gradients and Nernstian Equilibrium Stripping (AGNES) and Polymer Inclusion Membrane (PIM) devices provided the free Zn concentration. Linear Anodic Stripping Voltammetry provided a labile fraction (defined here as cLASV, higher than the free concentration), related to the diffusion layer scale. Diffusion Gradients in Thin-films provided higher labile fractions (known as DGT concentrations, cDGT) connected to the different characteristic lengths of different configurations (e.g. one or two resin discs) longer, in any case, than that corresponding to LASV. The combination of the information retrieved by the techniques allowed to quantify lability degrees of the pool of Zn complexes and to build up the effective concentration signature for this water.In this critical review, we synthesize data from peer-reviewed literature reporting on triazole fungicide exposures in the zebrafish model. Based on their mode of action in plants (potent inhibitors of ergosterol synthesis), we focused attention on mechanisms related to cellular, lipid, and steroid metabolism. Evidence from several studies reveals that zebrafish exposed to triazoles present with impaired mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and oxidative stress, as well as dysregulation of lipid metabolism. Such metabolic disruptions are expected to underscore developmental delays, deformity, and aberrant locomotor activity and behaviors often observed following exposure. We begin by summarizing physiological and behavioral effects observed with triazole fungicide exposure in zebrafish. We then discuss mechanisms that may underlie adverse apical effects, focusing on mitochondrial bioenergetics and metabolism. Using computational approaches, we also identify novel biomarkers of triazole fungicide exposure. oxidation of lipid biomolecules as a mechanism of triazole-induced toxicity, given the strong evidence for oxidative damage in zebrafish following exposure to triazole fungicides.Since livestock product consumption could have a significant effect on tackling climate change, in the few last years, there has been an increasing consumer demand for non-dairy alternatives. Despite plant-based beverages being considered crucial to foster the transition towards sustainable diet models, no studies have yet compared the level of emissions of plant-based beverages with animal-based ones. The present study aims at computing the carbon footprint of cow milk and that of soy drink and evaluating the carbon footprint results in the light of the substitutability of cow’s milk with soy drink, analyzing the potential environmental, economic and nutritional trade-offs between the two products. Results highlight that, considering the environmental perspective, soy drink could be a valid substitute of cow milk its production has a lower carbon footprint, allowing for the achievement of food security objectives. However, focusing on the economic and nutritional perspectives, the high average consumer price of soy drink is associated with an overall lower nutritional level. In order to reach the same nutritional value as 1 L of cow milk in terms of protein intake, the consumption of soy drink should be increased by 13%. Furthermore, soy drink consumption implies paying 66% more than for cow milk, when considering the same protein content.Atmospheric humic-like substances (HULIS) are important components of biomass-burning (BB) emissions and highly associated with light-absorbing organic aerosols (often referred to as brown carbon). This study highlights the importance of BB-emitted HULIS aerosols in peninsular Southeast Asian outflow to the subtropical western North Pacific. We determined various key light-absorbing characteristics of HULIS i.e. mass absorption cross-section (MACHULIS), absorbing component of the refractive index (kHULIS), and absorption Ångström exponent (AAEHULIS) based on ground-based aerosol light absorption measurements along with HULIS concentrations in springtime aerosols at Lulin Atmospheric Background Station (LABS; 2862 m above mean sea level), which is a representative high-altitude remote site in the western North Pacific. Daily variations of HULIS (0.58-12.92 μg m-3) at LABS were mostly linked with the influence from incoming air-masses, while correlations with BB tracers and secondary aerosols indicated the attribution of primary and secondary sources.