Using microalgae to treat coking wastewater has important application prospects and environmental significance. Previous studies have suggested that phycoremediation of pollutants from coking wastewater is feasible and can potentially enhance biodiesel production. This work investigates the effects of phenol in coking wastewater on C. pyrenoidosa and S. obliquus growth, photosynthesis activity, and intracellular components. The results indicated that when the phenol concentration was lower than 300 mg L−1, both microalgae maintained good photosynthetic and physiological activity, with a maximum quantum yield potential ranging from 0.6 to 0.7. At the phenol concentration of 300 mg L−1, the biomass of C. pyrenoidosa was 2.4 times that of the control group. For S. obliquus, at the phenol concentration of 150 mg L−1, the biomass was approximately 0.85 g L−1, which increased by 68% than that of the control group (0.58 g L−1). The lipid content in both microalgae increased with the phenol concentrations, with the maximum content exceeding 40%. The optimal phenol concentrations for C. pyrenoidosa and S. obliquus growth were determined to be 246.18 and 152.73 mg L−1, respectively, based on a developed kinetic model. This work contributes to further elucidating the effects of phenol on microalgae growth, photosynthesis, and intracellular components, and suggests that using microalgae to treat phenol-containing coking wastewater for producing biofuel is not only environmentally friendly but also holds significant energy promise.

Microalgae coculture has the potential to promote microalgae biofilm growth. Herein, three two-species cocultured biofilms were studied by determining biomass yields and detailed microstructure parameters, including porosity, average pore length, average cluster length, etc. It was found that biomass yields could reduce by 21-53 % when biofilm porosities decreased from about 35 % to 20 %; while at similar porosities (-20 %), biomass yields of cocultured biofilms increased by 37 % when they possessed uniform microstructure and small cell-clusters (pores and clusters of 1 - 10 mu m accounted for 96 % and 68 %, respectively). By analyzing morphologies and surface properties of cells, it was found that cells with small size, spherical shape, and reduced surface polymers could hinder the cell-clusters formation, thereby promoting biomass yields. The study provides new insights into choosing cocultured microalgae species for improving the biomass yield of biofilm via manipulating biofilm microstructures.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in oceans poses a significant threat to human health through the seafood supply chain. Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) are important marine microorganisms and play a key role in the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle around the world. However, the AMR of marine AOA to aquicultural antibiotics is poorly explored. Here, Raman-deuterium isotope probing (Raman-DIP), a single-cell tool, was developed to reveal the AMR of a typical marine species of AOA, Nitrosopumilus maritimus (designated SCM1), against six antibiotics, including erythromycin, tetracycline, novobiocin, neomycin, bacitracin, and vancomycin. The D2O concentration (30% v/v) and culture period (9 days) were optimized for the precise detection of metabolic activity in SCM1 cells through Raman-DIP. The relative metabolic activity of SCM1 upon exposure to antibiotics was semi-quantitatively calculated based on single-cell Raman spectra. SCM1 exhibited high resistance to erythromycin, tetracycline, novobiocin, neomycin, and vancomycin, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values between 100 and 400 mg/L while SCM1 is very sensitive to bacitracin (MIC: 0.8 mg/L). Notably, SCM1 cells were completely inactive under the metabolic activity minimum inhibitory concentration conditions (MA-MIC: 1.6∼800 mg/L) for the six antibiotics. Further genomic analysis revealed the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) of SCM1 including 14 types categorized into 33 subtypes. This work increases our knowledge of the AMR of marine AOA by linking the resistant phenome to the genome, contributing to the risk assessment of AMR in the underexplored ocean environment. As antibiotic resistance in marine microorganisms is significantly affected by the concentration of antibiotics in coastal environments, we encourage more studies concentrating on both the phenotypic and genotypic antibiotic resistance of marine archaea. This may facilitate a comprehensive evaluation of the capacity of marine microorganisms to spread AMR and the implementation of suitable control measures to protect environmental safety and human health.

Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) poses considerable challenges in various industries, prompting the exploration of advanced materials to mitigate microbial threats. This study successfully synthesized nanoscale vermiculite (VMT) from natural seawater and utilized it as a foundation to integrate magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4) and chlorhexidine acetate (CA) for inhibiting MIC. A comprehensive investigation encompassing the synthesis, characterization, and application of these VMT/Fe3O4/CA composites was conducted to evaluate their antimicrobial effectiveness against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), demonstrating an efficacy exceeding 99.5%. Moreover, the composite material demonstrated the capability to align with a magnetic field, enabling precise drug targeting and release, thereby facilitating biofilm removal. This research makes a significant contribution to the advancement of intelligent, efficient, and eco-friendly corrosion protection solutions.

A highly efficient and sustainable Cu/CN@CA composite membrane was synthesized for the removal of typical dyes and antibiotics by incorporating a Cu2(OH)2CO3/g-C3N4 heterojunction (Cu/CN) onto a cellulose acetate (CA) membrane. The 0.2Cu/CN@CA membrane with optimized Cu/CN doping achieved superior Congo red (CR) and tetracycline (TC) adsorption capacities of 250.8 and 48.43 mg/g, respectively. Notably, the exhausted 0.2Cu/CN@CA after adsorption saturation could be effectively self-cleaned under natural solar irradiation. Consecutive adsorption-photocatalytic experiments revealed its fine stability and recyclability. Mechanistic exploration based on experimental analysis and DFT (Density Function Theory) calculations revealed that cellulose acetate accommodates the charge transfer interactions between g-C3N4 and Cu2(OH)2CO3, wherein many photogenerated electrons were generated and migrated from g-C3N4 to Cu2(OH)2CO3. This type II heterojunction transfer pathway induced the strong oxidizability of the 0.2Cu/CN@CA membrane with plenty of active species for the photocatalytic degradation of the adsorbed CR and TC contaminants under solar light irritation. This study provided a novel sustainable membrane-based adsorbent for the enhanced dye and antibiotic contaminant remediation of aquatic environments.

Microalgae biofilm-based culture has the advantages of less water requirement and higher biomass productivity. Generally, microalgae biofilms are collected by mechanical scraping, which easily leads to the damage of sub-strates and low harvest efficiency. In this work, a novel method to harvest microalgae biofilms by interfacial interactions was proposed and studied. The results indicated that N. oculata and Chlorella sp. biofilms could be peeled off from substrates when the biofilm was slowly immersed into liquids with surface tensions higher than 40 mJ center dot m-2. By developing a model, we found that when the detachment force of liquid applied onto cells was higher than -60 x 10-6 mN, microalgae biofilms could be peeled off with efficiency of over 94 %. Although water was convenient to peel microalgae biofilms, the biofilms would break into loose pieces in the water within a short time after peeling. We found that saline was suitable to peel off microalgae biofilms and maintain biofilms with a stable structure. This work can provide valuable insights into developing new methods to harvest microalgae biofilms.

Excessive toxic arsenic in surface water and groundwater is a prevalent worldwide problem. A novel hierarchical porous fibrous membrane (PG/MOF), incorporating Zr-based metal organic framework (MOF-808) and graphene oxide (GO), was fabricated for arsenate removal. The well-developed nanoporous fibrous skeleton allows the exposure of adsorption sites of MOF-808 for effective arsenate removal and avoids leakage. Systematic studies on adsorption isotherms, kinetics, and filtration processes determined the practical applicability of the PG/MOF. The maximum adsorption capacity obtained from the Langmuir model was over 180 mg/g. Mechanistic analysis via SEM, FTIR, and XPS revealed that coordination and n -n interaction is responsible for the superior adsorption performance. Adsorption energy and Bader charge analysis based on DFT calculations indicated that arsenate anions are spontaneously adsorbed near the benzene ring of MOF-808 on PG/MOF. This study identified a promising method for fabricating hierarchical porous MOF-based nanofibers and provides insight into the mechanisms of arsenate adsorption.

Hazardous oxyanions in water bodies are potentially toxic to aquatic life, and the coexistence of multiple anions aggravates the toxicity. Herein, bowknot-like Zr/La bimetallic organic frameworks (Zr/La-BTC) were developed with superior hazardous oxyanion adsorption capacities, i.e., approximately 102 mg/g for arsenate and 159 mg/g for phosphate, respectively. The molar ratio of Zr to La in Zr/La-BTC plays a significant role in the structure and the adsorption efficiencies. Notably, the experiment-derived adsorption capacities of various Zr/La-BTC samples were consistent with their adsorption energies calculated by density-function theory (DFT). Further mechanism analysis revealed that coordination of Zr/La atoms with the target anion groups occurred during adsorption. The positive shift of binding energies in La 3d and Zr 3d XPS spectra and Bader charge analysis unveiled that back-donation interactions dominated the adsorption process. The reliable adsorption selectivity and reusability of 0.1Zr/La-BTC were verified with anion competition experiments and four adsorption-desorption cycles. Overall, this study provides significant insight into the design of high-performance bimetallic organic frameworks for the enhanced removal of hazardous oxyanions from water.

Developing a common medication strategy for disease control and management could be greatly beneficial. Investigating the differences between diseased and healthy states using differentially expressed genes aids in understanding disease pathophysiology and enables the exploration of protein-drug interactions. This study aimed to find the most common genes in diarrhea-causing bacteria such as Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae (CESS) to find new drugs. Thus, differential gene expression datasets of CESS were screened through computational algorithms and programming. Subsequently, hub and common genes were prioritized from the analysis of extensive protein-protein interactions. Binding predictions were performed to identify the common potential therapeutic targets of CESS. We identified a total of 827 dysregulated genes that are highly linked to CESS. Notably, no common gene interaction was found among all CESS bacteria, but we identified 3 common genes in both Salmonella-Escherichia and Escherichia-Campylobacter infections. Later, out of 73 protein complexes, molecular simulations confirmed 5 therapeutic candidates from the CESS. We have developed a new pipeline for identifying therapeutic targets for a common medication strategy against CESS. However, further wet-lab validation is needed to confirm their effectiveness.

Phosphate-induced water eutrophication has attracted global attention. Fabricating adsorbents with both high phosphate adsorption affinity and accessible separation property is challenging. Herein, PG@NZL, a hierarchical nanocomposite fibrous membrane, was fabricated via in-situ growth of La-doped NiZn-LDH (NiZnLa0.1) over electrospun graphene oxide-polymer composite fibers (PG). The porous surface of the PG fibers provided abundant anchor sites for the vertical self-supported growth of NiZnLa0.1 nanosheets, contributing to a high surface area. The La-doped NiZnLa0.1 trimetallic LDH achieved a much higher adsorption capacity than NiZn-LDH. The negative adsorption energy (-1.45 eV), calculated with DFT, confirmed its spontaneous adsorption potential for phosphate. Interestingly, the PG fibers contributed to oxygen vacancies and the metal center electronic structure evolution of NiZnLa0.1, thus strengthening the coordination with phosphate. Mechanistic analysis revealed that the high adsorption capacity of PG@NZL is attributed to its superior anion exchange property, oxygen vacancies, and inner-sphere complexation. Therefore, the flexible and easily separated PG@NZL nanocomposite fibrous membrane is a promising adsorbent for effectively treating phosphate-bearing wastewater.

Microorganisms in natural environments are crucial in maintaining the material and energy cycle and the ecological balance of the environment. However, it is challenging to delineate environmental microbes' actual metabolic pathways and intraspecific heterogeneity because most microorganisms cannot be cultivated. Raman spectroscopy is a culture-independent technique that can collect molecular vibration profiles from cells. It can reveal the physiological and biochemical information at the single-cell level rapidly and non-destructively in situ. The first part of this review introduces the principles, advantages, progress, and analytical methods of Raman spectroscopy applied in environmental microbiology. The second part summarizes the applications of Raman spectroscopy combined with stable isotope probing (SIP), fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), Raman-activated cell sorting and genomic sequencing, and machine learning in microbiological studies. Finally, this review discusses expectations of Raman spectroscopy and future advances to be made in identifying microorganisms, especially for uncultured microorganisms.

The application of reverse osmosis (RO) is restricted with scaling and organic fouling problems. In this work, we reported a series of RO membranes with excellent anti-scaling and anti-fouling properties, which were fabricated through post-modification with small molecules consisting of sulfonate or phosphate groups, including L-O-Phosphoserine (L-SOP), 3-Amino-1-propanesulfonic acid (APSA) and Alendronate sodium trihydrate (AS). Detailed characterizations of modified membranes were carried out, indicating that the modified membranes had smoother surface, better hydrophilic properties and more negatively charged surface. More importantly, after simulated scaling and fouling experiments, the modified membranes exhibited lower flux decline rates and higher flux recovery ratios. The mechanisms for anti-scaling and anti-fouling properties were analyzed. The modified membranes would have promising application due to its easy-to-operate method and excellent scaling and fouling resistances.

Microalgae biofilm-based culture systems have received considerable attention because their water requirements and harvesting costs are lower, and biomass productivity is higher, than in suspended culture systems. The photosynthetic properties and microstructure of microalgae biofilms have fundamental effects on biofilm growth. We investigated the photosynthetic parameters, microstructures, biomass accumulation, and CO2 fixation rate of Chlorella sp. biofilms cultured under a series of light intensities (20, 50, 100, 200, and 400 mu mol center dot m- 2 center dot s- 1). The results indicated that microalgae biofilms had higher photosynthetic potentials and more porous microstructures under low light intensities, and that both of these promoted the efficiency of photon use. In contrast, biofilms under high light intensities exhibited higher photo-protection capabilities and more compact microstructures, which protected microalgae against photo damage. The study revealed that microalgae biofilms have excellent self-adaption capabilities to cope with varying light intensities, and these have significant implications for se-lection of the optimal light intensity when designing more efficient biofilm-based microalgae culture systems. Superscript/Subscript Available

The mobile network operators are upgrading their network facilities and shifting to the 5G era at an unprecedented pace. The huge operating expense (OPEX), mainly the energy consumption cost, has become the major concern of the operators. In this work, we investigate the energy cost-saving potential by transforming the backup batteries of base stations (BSs) to a distributed battery energy storage system (BESS). Specifically, to minimize the total energy cost, we model the distributed BESS discharge/charge scheduling as an optimization problem by incorporating comprehensive practical considerations. Then, considering the dynamic BS power demands in practice, we propose a deep reinforcement learning (DRL) based approach to make BESS scheduling decisions in real-time. The experiments using real-world BS deployment and traffic load data demonstrate that with our DRL-based BESS scheduling, the peak power demand charge of BSs can be reduced by up to 26.59%, and the yearly OPEX saving for 2,282 5G BSs could reach up to US$185,000.

The energy consumption and carbon emissions of base stations (BSs) raise significant concerns about future network deployment. Renewable energy is thus adopted and supplied to enable the net-zero (or zero-carbon) BS. However, due to severe inconsistency between renewable energy generation and power demand, the conventional one-to-one power supply architecture could cause large waste and low utilization of renewable energy. In this article, we design a many-to-many power supply architecture for BSs to maximize the utilization of renewable energy. More specifically, we strategically group multiple renewable energy generators into virtual cells to serve multiple BSs in an integrated way, thus minimizing the inconsistency between the renewable energy generation and power demand. To finetune the power mismatch between power supply and demand in each virtual cell, we propose software-defined techniques to flexibly control the discharging/charging of a battery energy storage system. Illustrative results from a case study demonstrate that high renewable energy utilization can be achieved with the proposed architecture and mechanisms.

Archaea can produce special cellular components such as polyhydroxyalkanoates, carotenoids, rhodopsin, and ether lipids, which have valuable applications in medicine and green energy production. Most of the archaeal species are uncultivated, posing challenges to investigating their biomarker components and biochemical properties. In this study, we applied Raman spectroscopy to examine the biological characteristics of nine archaeal isolates, including halophilic archaea (Haloferax larsenii, Haloarcula argentinensis, Haloferax mediterranei, Halomicrobium mukohataei, Halomicrobium salinus, Halorussus sp., Natrinema gari), thermophilic archaea (Sulfolobus acidocaldarius), and marine group I (MGI) archaea (Nitrosopumilus maritimus). Linear discriminant analysis of the Raman spectra allowed visualization of significant separations among the nine archaeal isolates. Machine-learning classification models based on support vector machine achieved accuracies of 88-100% when classifying the nine archaeal species. The predicted results were validated by DNA sequencing analysis of cells isolated from the mixture by Raman-activated cell sorting. Raman spectra of uncultured archaea (MGII) were also obtained based on Raman spectroscopy and fluorescence in situ hybridization. The results combining multiple Raman-based techniques indicated that MGII may have the ability to produce lipids distinct from other archaeal species. Our study provides a valuable approach for investigating and classifying archaea, especially uncultured species, at the single-cell level.

The antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) in human gut microbiota have significant impact on human health. While high throughput metagenomic sequencing reveals genotypes of microbial communities, the functionality, phenotype and heterogeneity of human gut microbiota are still elusive. In this study, we applied Raman microscopy and deuterium isotope probing (Raman-DIP) to detect metabolic active ARB (MA-ARB)in situat the single-cell level in human gut microbiota from two healthy adults. We analysed the relative abundances of MA-ARB under different concentrations of amoxicillin, cephalexin, tetracycline, florfenicol and vancomycin. To establish the link between phenotypes and genotypes of the MA-ARB, Raman-activated cell sorting (RACS) was used to sort MA-ARB from human gut microbiota, and mini-metagenomic DNA of the sorted bacteria was amplified, sequenced and analysed. The sorted MA-ARB and their associated ARGs were identified. Our results suggest a strong relation between ARB in human gut microbiota and personal medical history. This study demonstrates that the toolkit of Raman-DIP, RACS and DNA sequencing can be useful to unravel both phenotypes and genotypes of ARB in human gut microbiota at the single-cell level.

Microalgae biofilm-based culture has attracted much interest due to its high harvest efficiency and low energy requirements. Using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as light source for microalgae culture has been considered as a promising choice to enhance the economic feasibility of microalgae-based commodities. In this work, the LED power conversion capability and CO2 fixation rate of microalgae biofilms (Chlorella ellipsoidea and Chlorella pyrenoidosa) cultured under different light spectra (white, blue, green and red) were studied. The results indicated that the power-to-biomass conversion capabilities of these two microalgae biofilms cultured under blue and white LEDs were much higher than those under green and red LEDs (C. ellipsoidea: 32%–33% higher, C. pyrenoidosa: 34%–46% higher), and their power-to-lipid conversion capabilities cultured under blue LEDs were 61%–66% higher than those under green LEDs. The CO2 fixation rates of these two biofilms cultured under blue LEDs were 13% and 31% higher, respectively, than those under green LEDs. The results of this study have important implications for selecting the optimal energy-efficient LEDs using in microalgae biofilm-based culture systems.

Biofilm structure plays an important role in microalgae biofilm-based culture. This work aims to understand microalgal biofilm structures formed under different light conditions. Here, Scenedesmus obliquus was biofilm cultured under the light spectra of white, blue, green, and red, and the photoperiods of 5:5 s, 30:30 min, and 12:12 h (light : dark period). Biofilms were observed with confocal laser scanning microscopes and profilometry, then the porosity and roughness of biofilm were determined. We found that cells under white light formed a heterogeneous biofilm with many voids, high porosity, and roughness. While under red and blue lights, cells formed homogeneous biofilms with low porosity. Biofilm structures formed under different photoperiods were different. The mechanism of forming different biofilm structures under different light conditions was interpreted from the aspect of cell-cell interactions. Moreover, the results revealed that biomass accumulation increased with the increasing biofilm porosity due to the high effective diffusion coefficient. (c) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The light spectrum is an important parameter that affects microalgae growth, but to date has not been thoroughly studied in microalgae biofilm-based systems. In this study, the effect of light spectra on biofilms of two microalgae (Chlorella sp. and Nannochloris oculata) was explored by investigating their growth, photosynthetic property, and main organic composition cultured under white, blue, green, and red light. The results indicated that blue light and red light were more efficient in enhancing cells’ growth than white light. Microalgae cultured under blue light had higher photosynthetic and photoprotective capability. The highest lipid accumulation was achieved for microalgae cultured under blue light, while the highest carbohydrate accumulation was obtained under red light. Protein accumulation in cells cultured under these four light conditions were almost the same. The results of this study may have important implications in selecting suitable light spectra for microalgae biofilm-based cultivation systems.