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Abstract: The interacting mechanisms of metallic cations (Zn2+ and Co2+) to active chemical groups on the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) of the aerobic granules, including loosely bound EPS (LB-EPS) and tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS), were examined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. For Zn2+ and Co2+, LB-EPS showed stronger binding properties than TB-EPS and the process of them was described well by the Langmuir isotherm. Compared to the single-metal system, binary-metal addition induced competitive binding between the Zn2+ and Co2+ with reduction of the maximal binding capacity for both EPS. The main chemical groups involved in the interactions between contaminants were apparently alcohol, carboxyl and amino. These groups were part of the EPS structural polymers, namely, polysaccharides, proteins, and hydrocarbon-like products. When biosorption and flocculation occurred at the same time, the LB-EPS were used not only as chelate sorbents but also as flocculants to further enhance their sorption capacity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Attractive membranes are critical for improving efficiencies of forward osmosis (FO) desalination process. In this study, a novel FO-PES-MoS 2 thin film composite (TFC) membrane was assembled using the phase transfer method through merging MoS 2 nanosheets into substrate casting solution. A sequence of characterization techniques was applied to test microstructures and physicochemical properties of the membranes and modification mechanisms based on MoS 2 concentrations. Desalination efficiencies of the fabricated membranes were assessed by three NaCl draw solutions. Compared to the blank membrane, the MoS 2 -contained membranes had a thinner active layer, more upright and open pore structure, higher porosity, and lower surface roughness. 1 wt% MoS 2 content was the optimal modification condition, and water flux increased by 35.01% under this condition. Simultaneously, reverse salt flux of the FO-PES-1-MoS 2 membrane declined by 29.15% under 1 M NaCl draw solution, indicating increased salt ion rejection performance of the modified membranes. Moreover, J s /J v ratio indicated that MoS 2 nanosheets helped stabilize the desalination performance of the membranes. This study demonstrated that the novel FO-PES-MoS 2 TFC membranes possessed improved performances and showed promising properties for saline water desalination., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The aim was to evaluate the clinical significance and prognostic value of tissue miR-150 expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients., Materials and Methods: Quantitative real-time PCR was used to analyze the expression of miR-150. Overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the differences in survival were compared using the log-rank test. A Cox proportional hazards model was used for multivariate analysis., Results: Mean miR-150 levels were significantly higher in NSCLC tissues compared with matched non-cancerous tissues (4.07 ± 2.33 vs. 1.00 ± 0.46, P < 0.0001). The level of miR-150 in NSCLC was strongly correlated with lymph node metastasis (P = 0.04), distant metastasis (P = 0.01) and clinical TNM stage (P = 0.02). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the cumulative 5-year OS rate was 40.8% in the high expression group, and 69.2% in the low expression group. The log-rank test showed that the OS rate of patients with high miR-150 expression was significantly poorer than that of the remaining cases (P = 0.007)., Conclusion: Our data indicated that overexpression of miR-150 in NSCLC tissues has prognostic value.