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Nitrogenous flame retardants (NFRs) have aroused worldwide public concern as their nephrotoxic effect. However, knowledge regarding the pathogenesis mechanism of their exposure to induce kidney injury remains largely unknown. In this study, eight NFRs, four oxidative stress biomarkers (OSBs), and one kidney injury biomarker, namely neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), were measured in urine specimens collected from residents living around e-waste disassembly and reference areas, representing two exposure scenarios. Significant higher concentrations of Σ

Many environmental phenols, such as bisphenols, benzophenones and parabens, are known as endocrine disruptors and can adversely affect human health. However, the knowledge of human exposure to common environmental phenols in Chinese rural areas is insufficient. In this context, 181 urine samples were collected from participants in a rural area in Northwest China and were analyzed for nine bisphenols, three benzophenones and four parabens. Bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol S, benzophenone-1 (BP-1), benzophenone-3 (BP-3), 4-hydroxybenzophenone, methylparaben (MeP), ethylparaben and propylparaben (PrP) were detected in more than 50% of the urine samples, with median concentrations of 0.938 ng/mL, 0.0111 ng/mL, 0.191 ng/mL, 1.30 ng/mL, 0.0320 ng/mL, 25.9 ng/mL, 4.31 ng/mL and 1.94 ng/mL, respectively. A significant positive correlation was observed between BP-1 and BP-3, as well as between MeP and PrP, indicating metabolic transformation and combined use, respectively. The concentrations of MeP and PrP in females were significantly higher than those in males, suggesting that females were exposed to more MeP and PrP than males. Urinary concentrations of BPA, BP-3, MeP and PrP could be influenced by age. Other demographic information, such as annual household income, education and occupation was not associated with the exposure level of the targeted phenols in adults. The estimated daily intakes of the analytes except BPA were all below their respective tolerable/acceptable daily intake levels. This study profiles the demographic differences in the exposure to environmental phenols in general populations from rural areas and provides information on risk assessments.

Objective: To study the correlation between condylar morphology and clinical manifestations in patients with degenerative joint disease (DJD) of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). Methods: A total of 175 joints of 131 patients with DJD were included. Data on patients’ basic information and symptoms were collected and analyzed. Condylar morphology was evaluated using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). The correlation between the condylar morphology and clinical manifestations was analyzed. Results: The prevalence of joint noises, clicks, and crepitus was 93/175 (53%), 73/175 (42%), and 20/175 (11%), respectively. Condylar anteroposterior diameter and condylar height were correlated with pain. There was a correlation between the shape of the condyle in the sagittal plane and joint noise. Conclusion: Condylar morphology and clinical features of DJD were correlated to some extent.

Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a hair loss disease. At present, use of the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) are thought to be the novel, safe, and effective treatment options of AGA, but the mechanism by which SVF and PRP promote hair growth is unclear. Here, we investigated the mechanism underlying the effects of SVF and PRP on hair growth by in vitro culture and in vivo modeling. SVF and PRP promoted hair growth, as was evident from the observation and counting of hair on the back skin of nude mice using ImageJ software. SVF and PRP promoted hair growth, and SVF worked better. We performed nucleic acid extraction with nanomagnetic beads, and the protein levels were extracted with a bicinchoninic acid protein assay kit. The results of western blot analysis and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) showed that both SVF and PRP promoted the expression of anti-apoptotic genes. The effect of SVF was better than that of PRP. The results of EdU and hematoxylin and eosin staining showed that SVF and PRP induced the proliferation of hair follicle cells. SVF exerted better effects on the proliferation of hair follicle cells than PRP. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) results showed that the expression of the proteins associated with the Wnt/β-catenin process, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Wnt10b, and β-catenin, significantly increased in the SVF-treated and PRP-treated dermal/epidermal cells as compared with the control cells. Therefore, SVF and PRP increased the expression of VEGF and PDGF through the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway to promote hair growth. The effect of SVF on dermal cells/epidermal cells was stronger than that of PRP, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05).

Summary The biosynthesis of metal nanoparticles from precious metals has been of wide concern. Their antibacterial activity is a main bottleneck restricting the bacterial activity and reduction performance. Here, bio-electrochemical systems were used to harvest electroactive biofilms (EABs), where bacteria were naturally protected by extracellular polymeric substances to keep activity. The biofilm was further encapsulated with polydopamine (PDA) as additional shield. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were biosynthesized on EABs, whose electroactivity could be fully recovered after Ag+ reduction. The PDA increased bacterial viability by 90%–105%, confirmed as an effective protection against antibacterial activity of Ag+/AgNPs. The biosynthetic process changed the component and function of the microbial community, shifting from bacterial Fe reduction to archaeal methanogenesis. These results demonstrated that the electrochemical acclimation of EABs and encapsulation with PDA were effective protective measures during the biosynthesis of AgNPs. These approaches have a bright future in the green synthesis of nanomaterials, biotoxic wastewater treatment, and sustainable bio-catalysis., Graphical abstract, Highlights • The EABs formed using BESs had an efficient ability to recover Ag+ to AgNPs • The bio-reduction efficiencies of AgNPs reached more than 94% • The PDA increased by 90%–105% of the bacterial viability • The biosynthesis process changed the microbial community, Electrochemistry; Microbiofilms; Nanoparticles

Activated carbon (AC) air-cathode is demonstrated to be promising for the energy recovery from wastewaters. However, it suffers from the performance decay after long-term operation in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Here we add a natural hierarchical porous nitrogen-rich carbon material, carbonized Artemia cyst shells (LC), to alleviate the power decay. When the air-cathode is made of a mixture of AC and LC with a mass ratio of 1:2 (named 1AC2LC), the current densities are 28% (the beginning) and 65% (after 1 year's operation) higher than AC cathodes, and the long-term power densities increase from 0.871 ± 0.002 (AC) to 1.296 ± 0.005 W m−2 (1AC2LC) after one year's operation. The Coulombic efficiency increases by 20% than the control. This can be primarily attributed to these inerratic hierarchical pores enhancing oxygen transfer in the catalyst layer since the oxygen mass transfer coefficient is increased by 3.4 times, where the meso- and macro-pores are enlarged, showing the importance of oxygen transfer on the longevity and energy production. Our results show a novel way, addition of inexpensive carbonized Artemia cyst shells, to optimize cathodic porous structure and enhance the longevity of MFCs.

The recovery of precious metals by biosynthesis of metal nanoparticles (NPs) has been a wide concern. The biotoxicity of metal ions and metal NPs is the main bottleneck restricting the bacterial activity and reduction performance. Here, bio-electrochemical systems were used to harvest electroactive biofilms (EABs), where cells were naturally protected by extracellular polymeric substances to keep the activity of the bacteria during this process. The biofilm with polydopamine (PDA) was further encapsulated as additional shield. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were formed on the surface of bacterial cells, while the electroactivity of the biofilm could be fully recovered after Ag+ reduction. The PDA increased the bacterial viability by 90%–105%, confirmed as an effective protection against biotoxic Ag+ and AgNPs. The exposure to Ag+ and AgNPs changed the component and the main function of the microbial community, shifting from bacterial Fe reduction to archaeal methanogenesis. These results demonstrated that the electrochemical acclimation of EABs and encapsulation with PDA were effective in protecting bacteria from being inhibited by toxic metal ions. These approaches have a bright future in the green synthesis of nanomaterials, biotoxic wastewater treatment, and sustainable bio-catalysis.

Biochar was for the first time produced from Suaeda glauca. The immobilization of Pb and Cd by this biochar and pig manure biochar was examined in two types of soils by diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) extraction. Addition of biochars decreased DTPA extractable Pb and Cd in Fluvo-aquic soil with reduction rates being 11.3%-48.4% and 0.74%-64.9% compared with the control treatment. The pig manure biochar favored the immobilization of Pb and S. glauca biochar favored the immobilization of Cd. Biochars can effectively immobilize heavy metals in Fluvo-aquic soil. However, the addition of biochars increased extractable Pb and Cd in red soil, with pig manure biochars showing greater rates. This is ascribed to that the competition effects of ions released from biochar enhanced the moving of heavy metals from iron and manganese oxides bound form to organic matter bound form, and hence enhanced the mobility and bioavailability of heavy metals.

Hydrochars were obtained by hydrothermal carbonization treatment of municipal sewage sludge. Effects of reaction temperature (180–300 °C) and reaction time (2–15 h) on structural characteristics of the hydrochars, and changes and release risk of typical pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the hydrochars were investigated. Reaction temperature played a more important role than reaction time on hydrochar properties and decarboxylation reaction was the primary process during the converting of sludge to hydrochars. The sludge hydrochars had higher yields, carbon recovery rates, polarity and less aromaticity than biochars. Hydrothermal process reduced PPCPs’ load in sludge hydrochars effectively except caffeine and acetaminophen. The hydrochars prepared at intermediate and high temperatures (240 and 300 °C) had higher caffeine concentrations than the original sludge, which can be ascribed to the transformation of N-containing precursors. The highest CaCl2 extracted caffeine concentration occurred at intermediate temperature of 240 °C (48.1 μg/kg) due to the stronger affinity of caffeine in the high-temperature hydrochars. Caffeine was not detected in hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPCD) extract. Hydrochars prepared at low temperature (180 °C) had a higher acetaminophen concentration than the original sludge, which was attributed to the high thermal stability temperature of acetaminophen. Low- and intermediate-temperature hydrochars had higher CaCl2 extracted acetaminophen concentrations. The HPCD extracted acetaminophen was low with a range of nd to 6.72 μg/kg. In conclusion, PPCPs are less likely to constitute a limiting factor on the farm application of sludge hydrochar. This study provides theoretical support for the safe application of sludge hydrochar in the farmland.

Based on the unsteady state heat transfer model, production solution method is proposed to calculate the thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity of loose coal. By constructing the heat transfer model of the infinite large plate and the infinitely long cylinder, the temperature rise formula of the production solution method is established. The measured temperature rise is then used by the MATLAB programming software to inversely calculate the thermophysical parameters of the loose coal. During the experiment, a constant temperature boundary was constructed using an incubator and a high thermal conductivity copper cylindrical case. The experiment selected anthracite, bituminous coal in Panyi Mine, and bituminous coal in Lizuo Mine for thermophysical property measurement. The results show that the relative deviation between each measurement result and related literature is within 5 %, and each sample is tested three times. The deviations are less than 5 %, which verify the stability of the test method. Finally, the experimental model was established in the ANSYS FLUENT simulation software, and the thermophysical parameters of the measured coal samples were substituted into the model for simulation calculation. It was found that the simulation temperature rise was consistent with the measured temperature rise.

Artificial sweeteners (ASs) are emerging polar organic contaminants, which can chelate with heavy metals in the environment. Recently, the ASs have been widely detected in the aquatic environment. However, little is known about the influence of ASs on the mobility and toxicity of heavy metals associated in sediment. In the present study, the release of heavy metals from a lake sediment and the toxicity to a green algae Scenedesmus obliquus were examined in the presence of two most frequently detected ASs, acesulfame and sucralose, and humic acid (HA), respectively. The existence of 1.00–100 mg/L of acesulfame, sucralose, and HA enhanced the release rates (Rrelease) of Cd, Cu, and Pb from the virgin lake sediment significantly by up to 46.7%, 86.0%, and 79.9%, respectively. Further, the results from microcosm experiments revealed that the existence of 1.00–10.0 mg/L of acesulfame, sucralose, and HA in the water phase prompted the release and toxicity of heavy metals associated with Cd- and Cu-spiked sediment, and the promotion capacity followed the order of HA > acesulfame > sucralose. The inhibitions on cell-specific growth rate (μ) of the algae were found increasing significantly with the elevated levels of acesulfame and HA (p

The effects of humic acid (HA) and heavy metals (Cu2+ and Ag+) on the sorption of polar and apolar organic pollutants onto biochars that were produced at temperatures of 200 °C (BC200) and 700 °C (BC700) were studied. Due to the plentiful polar functional groups on BC200, cationic propranolol exhibited higher levels of sorption than naphthalene on BC200 while naphthalene and propranolol showed similar sorption capacities on BC700. HA changed the characteristics of biochars and generally inhibited the sorption of target organic pollutants on biochars; however, enhancement occurred in some cases depending on the pollutants involved and their concentrations, biochars used and the addition sequences and concentrations of HA. On BC200, HA modifications mainly influenced sorption by decreasing its polarity and increasing its aromaticity, while on BC700, the surface area and pore volume greatly decreased due to the pore-blocking effects of HA. Residue dissolved HA in solution may also contribute to sorption inhibition. Complexation between polar functional groups on BC200 and heavy metals slightly enhanced the sorption of neutral naphthalene and significantly enhanced that of anionic 4-nitro-1-naphtol, while limited the sorption of cationic propranolol. Heavy metals together with their associated water molecules decreased the sorption of target chemicals on BC700 via pore-filling or pore-mouth-covering. Inhibition of heavy metals for 4-nitro-1-naphthol was found to be the weakest due to the bridge effects of heavy metals between 4-nitro-1-naphtol and BC700. The higher polarizability of Ag+ led to the increase of its sorption on biochars in the presence of organic aromatic pollutants. The results of the present study shed light on the sorption mechanisms of bi-solute systems and enable us to select suitable biochar sorbents when chemicals co-exist.

Pig farm is an important potential source for artificial sweeteners (ASs) in the environment due to their wide use as additives in pig feed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the fate of typical ASs in pig farm and neighboring farmland. For this purpose, the levels of four typical artificial ASs, i.e. saccharin (SAC), cyclamate (CYC), acesulfame (ACE) and sucralose (SUC), in pig feed and manure from a pig farm and water samples from an on-farm wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Tianjin, China were measured and the mass loadings and removal efficiencies were assessed. Moreover, the levels of ASs in different layers of soil and vegetables in neighboring farmland that received manure fertilizers and wastewater from the farm were consecutively monitored for 60-80days. The SAC, CYC and ACE were widely determined in all kinds of the samples, while SUC was only found in few soil samples. The mass loadings of the ASs in pig feed were estimated up to 311kg/year for SAC, 59.1kg/year for CYC, and 17.1kg/year for ACE, respectively. The fractions of the total mass of ASs excreted via manure were estimated to be 36.0% for SAC, 59.4% for CYC, and 36.7% for ACE as compared to those in pig feed. High removal efficiencies (>90%) of ASs in the on-farm WWTP was achieved. In greenhouse soils, CYC, SAC, ACE, and SUC were degraded quickly, with half-lives of 4.3-5.9 d, 2.7-4.2 d, 8.4-12.3 d, and 7.3-10.8 d, respectively. Lower levels of ASs were found in deeper soil layer (20-30cm). The ASs were considerably absorbed by plants when the ASs' concentrations were high in soil. This study presents the first comprehensive overview of ASs fate from a pig farm to the neighboring agricultural ecosystem.

Introduction A series of retrospectively recorded patients with cleft lip and palate was uniquely investigated to demonstrate and analyze the complications after cleft repairing operations in a selected Chinese population. Material and methods From January 2005 to January 2012, a selected group of 2100 patients with cleft lip and/or palate who have complete records were chosen from a large sample in the units. Complete data were retrieved, including sex, age, clinical classification, surgical modality, complications, and follow-up results. The complications were classified into 2 categories: early and long-term complications. After surgery, most patients with cleft lip remained in the hospital for 7 days and cleft palate repairs for 10 days. A standard regimen of antibiotics was administered for 3 to 5 days clinically. Results Of the 2100 patients, there were 1360 males and 760 females who had congenital cleft deformity with complete clinical records in the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery. The age distribution was as follows: 1600 patients in the group of 3 months to 2 years, 320 patients in the group of 2 to 10 years, 130 patients in the group of 11 to 19 years, and 50 patients in the group of older than 20 years. As to the treatment modality, cleft lips were repaired by rotation advancement method with various minor modifications or Tennison modality. The cleft palates were closed using the von Langenbeck, Veau/Wardill/Kilner, or Furlow technique. The overall complication rate was 16.8% of the patients. Of the early complications, there were 6 cases of asphyxia, 17 cases of pyrexia, 5 cases of edema of the respiratory tract, 8 cases of upper respiratory tract infection, 6 cases of bronchiolitis, 7 cases of pneumonia, 9 cases of diarrhea and vomiting, 6 cases of hemorrhage, 5 patients of odontoptosis, 11 cases of erosion of the corner of mouth, 5 cases of drowsiness, 11 cases of incision dehiscence, 9 cases of wound infection, 6 cases of palatal dehiscence/fistula, 3 cases of nostril floor breakdown, 7 cases of conjunctivitis, as well as 3 cases of mortality. The long-term complications included 30 cases of secondary lip/nasal deformity, 10 cases of dehiscence of lip, 14 cases of palatal fistula/decencies, 18 cases of hearing problem/otitis media, 21 cases of poor ventilation/snoring, 66 cases of velopharyngeal incompetence, and 58 cases of voice disorder. Conclusions Complications after cleft surgery are unavoidable clinically. More attention should be paid to the etiologic factors to minimize the prevalence of complications. Mortality can be found in patients with cleft, which is a deadly complication. Problems of respiratory tract and hemorrhage should be emphasized and treated seriously.

Escherichia coli O157:H7 associated with food has caused many serious public health problems in recent years. However, only viable cells of this pathogen can cause infections, and false-positive detection caused by dead cells can lead to unnecessary product recalls. The objective of this study was to develop and optimize a method that combines propidium monoazide (PMA) staining with real-time PCR to detect only viable cells of E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef. PMA is a DNA intercalating dye that can penetrate compromised membranes of dead cells and bind to cellular DNA, preventing its amplification via a subsequent PCR. Three strains of E. coli O157:H7 (505B, G5310 and C7927) at concentrations of 10(0) to 10(8)CFU/mL were used as live cells. Dead cells were obtained by heating cell suspensions at 85°C for 15 min. Suspensions were treated with PMA and the optimized assay was applied to artificially contaminated ground beef with two different fat contents (10% and 27%). DNA was extracted and amplified by TaqMan® real-time PCR assay targeting the uidA gene for detection of E. coli O157:H7. Plasmid pUC19 was added as an internal amplification control (IAC). A treatment of 25 μM PMA with a 10-min light exposure on ice was sufficient to eliminate DNA from 10(8) dead E. coli O157:H7 cells/mL. The optimized assay could detect as low as 10(2) CFU/mL viable E. coli O157:H7 in pure culture and 10(5) CFU/g in ground beef, in the presence of 10(6)/mL or g of dead cells. With an 8-h enrichment, 1 CFU/g viable E. coli O157:H7 in ground beef was detectable without interference from 10(6) dead cells/g. In conclusion, the PMA real-time PCR could effectively detect viable E. coli O157:H7 without being compromised by dead cells.