The surface water in coastal areas involving algae, is often affected by saline and emerging contaminants caused by saltwater intrusion, and expanding aquaculture industry. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct studies to address the issues that affect ecological safety and health of aquatic environments. This study presents the development of an enhanced electrooxidation/electrocoagulation-ultrafiltration (EO/EC-UF) membrane process using S2O4[2-] (DTN@EO/EC-UF) for the treatment of saline water containing algae. Our results have shown that significant removal of NH3-N (95.1 %), UV254 (89.4 %) and algae (75.7 %) was achieved with the addition of S2O4[2-] (DTN). Additionally, an optimal DTN dosage of 40 mg/L was used in the DTN@EO/EC process to enhance water purification, utilizing reactive species such as SO4[·-] and ·OH. After coupling with the ultrafiltration (UF) process, optimal operating conditions (DTN: 40 mg/L, current density: 4.65 mA/cm[2], electrolysis: 60 s) were applied to treat the saline algae-containing surface water. The generated free chlorine, including NHCl2, accounted for approximately 22 % (0.14 mg/L). In addition, DTN significantly improved the ceramic membrane's permeability and anti-fouling characteristics, with a maximum increasing specific flux from 0.76 to 0.93, mainly attributing to the reduced the irreversible fouling resistance. Furthermore, we discovered that common membrane cleaning using acid or base enhanced the DTN@EO/EC-UF process. In conclusion, this study established an innovative DTN@EO/EC-UF process with excellent performance in terms of water purification and membrane self-cleaning. The results provided a promising alternative for treating saline algae-containing surface water.

Widespread occurrence of sulfides in domestic and industrial wastewater contributes to environmental pollution and poses risks to human health. Therefore, the development of highly selective, sensitive, and rapid sulfur ion (S[2-]) detection probes in aquatic ecosystems is of paramount importance. In this study, lignin-stabilized silver nanoprisms (EHL@AgNPRs) were prepared using the seed growth and self-assembly methods. Based on this, a novel, high-performance, and environmentally friendly S[2-] colorimetric detection method was proposed. Lignin is believed to coat the surface of AgNPRs through cation-π and electrostatic interactions, acting as an excellent dispersant and stabilizer to prevent aggregation and shape deformation. This allows AgNPRs to maintain localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) characteristics and superior colorimetric sensing sensitivity towards S[2-] even after 30 d. The EHL@AgNPRs exhibited remarkable selectivity towards S[2-] with a minimum detection limit of 41.3 nM. The conjugation of lignin with AgNPRs offers a highly promising approach for the rapid detection of S[2-] in natural aquatic environments and for the valorization of lignin.

In this work, selenium and nitrogen co-doped carbon dots (SeN-CDs) possessing highly efficient electrochemiluminescence (ECL) and excellent biocompatibility were synthesized as a new emitter with S2O8[2-] as a coreactant for constructing a biosensor to detect microRNA-221 (miRNA-221) sensitively. Notably, the SeN-CDs exhibited superior ECL performance compared with the N-doped CDs, in which selenium with excellent redox activity served as a coreaction accelerator for facilitating the electroreduction of S2O8[2-] to significantly improve ECL efficiency. Furthermore, target-induced T7 exonuclease (T7 Exo)-assisted double cycle amplification strategy could convert traces of target miRNA-221 into large amounts of output DNA to capture three-dimensional (3D) nanostructures (DTN-Au NPs-DOX-Fc) loaded with large amounts of ECL signal quencher. The constructed biosensor could realize ultrasensitive detection of miRNA-221 and has a low detection limit reaching 2.3 aM, with a successful application to detect miRNA-221 in lysate of Hela and MHCC97-L cancer cell. This work explored a novel method to strengthen the ECL performance of CDs to construct an ECL biosensing platform with sensitive detecting of biomarkers and disease diagnosis.

Fully halogenated compounds are difficult to remediate by in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) because carbon-halogen bonds react very slowly with the species that typically initiate contaminant transformation: sulfate radical (SO4[•-]) and hydroxyl radical ([•]OH). To enable the remediation of this class of contaminants by persulfate (S2O8[2-])-based ISCO, we employed a two-phase process to dehalogenate and oxidize a representative halogenated compound (i.e., hexachloroethane). In the first phase, a relatively high concentration of ethanol (1.8 M) was added, along with concentrations of S2O8[2-] that are typically used for ISCO (i.e., 450 mM). Hexachloroethane underwent rapid dehalogenation when carbon-centered radicals produced by the reaction of ethanol and radicals formed during S2O8[2-] decomposition reacted with carbon-halogen bonds. Unlike conventional ISCO treatment, hexachloroethane transformation and S2O8[2-] decomposition took place on the time scale of days without external heating or base addition. The presence of O2, Cl[-], and NO3[-] delayed the onset of hexachloroethane transformation when low concentrations of S2O8[2-] (10 mM) were used, but these solutes had negligible effects when S2O8[2-] was present at concentrations typical of in situ remediation (450 mM). The second phase of the reaction was initiated after most of the ethanol had been depleted when thermolytic S2O8[2-] decomposition resulted in production of SO4[•-] that oxidized the partially dehalogenated transformation products. With proper precautions, S2O8[2-]-based ISCO with ethanol could be a useful remediation technology for sites contaminated with fully halogenated compounds.

Experimental studies and clinical trials of nanoparticles for treating diseases are increasing continuously. However, the reach to the market does not correlate with these efforts due to the enormous cost, several years of development, and off-target effects like cardiotoxicity. Multicellular organisms such as the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) can bridge the gap between in vitro and vertebrate testing as they can provide extensive information on systemic toxicity and specific harmful effects through facile experimentation following 3R EU directives on animal use. Since the nematodes' pharynx shares similarities with the human heart, we assessed the general and pharyngeal effects of drugs and polypyrrole nanoparticles (Ppy NPs) using C. elegans. The evaluation of FDA-approved drugs, such as Propranolol and Racepinephrine reproduced the arrhythmic behavior reported in humans and supported the use of this small animal model. Consequently, Ppy NPs were evaluated due to their research interest in cardiac arrhythmia treatments. The NPs' biocompatibility was confirmed by assessing survival, growth and development, reproduction, and transgenerational toxicity in C. elegans. Interestingly, the NPs increased the pharyngeal pumping rate of C. elegans in two slow-pumping mutant strains, JD21 and DA464. Moreover, the NPs increased the pumping rate over time, which sustained up to a day post-excretion. By measuring pharyngeal calcium levels, we found that the impact of Ppy NPs on the pumping rate could be mediated through calcium signaling. Thus, evaluating arrhythmic effects in C. elegans offers a simple system to test drugs and nanoparticles, as elucidated through Ppy NPs.

The coexistence of reduced sulfur (-2) compounds (S[2-], FeS and SCN[-]) are found in some industrial wastewaters due to pre-treatment of Fe(II) salts. These compounds as electron donors have attracted increasing interest in autotrophic denitrification process. However, the difference of their functions still remain unknown, which limit efficient utilization in autotrophic denitrification process. The study aimed to investigate and compare utilization behavior of these reduced sulfur (-2) compounds in autotrophic denitrification process activated by thiosulfate-driven autotrophic denitrifiers (TAD). Results showed that the best denitrification performance was observed in SCN[-]; while the reduction of nitrate was significantly inhibited in S[2-] system and the efficient accumulation of nitrite was observed in FeS system with cycle experiments continuing. Additionally, intermediates containing sulfur were produced rarely in SCN[-] system. However, the utilization of SCN[-] was limited obviously in comparison with S[2-] in coexistence systems. Moreover, the presence of S[2-] increased the accumulation peak of nitrite in coexistence systems. The biological results indicated that the TAD utilized rapidly these sulfur (-2) compounds, in which genus of Thiobacillus, Magnetospirillum and Azoarcus might play main roles. Moreover, Cupriavidus might also participate in sulfur oxidation in SCN[-] system. In conclusion, these might be attributed to the characteristics of sulfur (-2) compounds including the toxicity, solubility and reaction process. These findings provide theoretical basis for regulation and utilization of these reduced sulfur (-2) compounds in autotrophic denitrification process.

Croup is a common upper airway infection characterized by a barking cough, stridor, and hoarseness. It is usually caused by viral infection. A small number of croup caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been reported in children before the omicron variant surge. Previously reported cases indicated that croup caused by COVID-19 can be treated in the same manner as those with other viral causes. We describe two cases (9-month-old girl and 11-month-old boy) of previously healthy infants who presented with a barking cough and chest retraction and required endotracheal intubation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Despite receiving dexamethasone and nebulized racemic epinephrine (NRE) treatment for croup in the emergency department, these patients still developed acute respiratory failure. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of nasopharyngeal samples revealed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) omicron BA.2 variant (Stealth omicron) and no other common respiratory viral pathogens. Both patients were treated with mechanical ventilation, dexamethasone, and NRE in the pediatric intensive care unit. The duration of intubation was 112 hours and 80 hours, respectively. Both patients were discharged without complications. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of life-threatening croup produced by the omicron BA.2 variant and confirmed by RT-PCR. We suggest that this SARS-CoV-2 variant may cause severe croup that may not improve with conventional treatment, even in children without underlying diseases.