Carbon performance analysis of upgraded wastewater treatment plants in key control areas of the Ziya River Basin in China.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and they are also one of the largest energy consumption industries in urban systems. With the progression of upgrading and standard-rising, WWTPs both directly and indirectly increase carbon emissions from the increased investments in facilities and usages in electricity as well as chemical agents. Here, we collected operational data from 15 WWTPs in the key control areas of the Ziya River Basin in North China and accounted for the changes in carbon performance at different technical upgrade methods. Results showed that the average carbon emission performance increased by 0.487 kg CO2/m3 after the upgrade. Carbon emissions from electricity consumption, chemical usage, biochemical process and sludge treatment accounted for 42%, 17%, 24%, and 17% of the total improvement in carbon emission performance, respectively. Reducing energy consumption, regulating chemical use and sludge comprehensive utilization are the key to carbon emission reduction. It further proposes that the development of wastewater treatment discharge standards should fully consider the comprehensive utilization of water quality classification. Regions with favorable natural conditions should make full use of their advantages by adopting economically feasible, low-energy-consuming technologies such as constructed wetlands, which offer carbon sequestration and landscaping benefits. This study provides guidance on the selection of technological pathways for pollution reduction and carbon mitigation in the wastewater treatment industry and on achieving sustainable water resource utilization.

Depression and academic engagement among college students: the role of sense of security and psychological impact of COVID-19.

Background: The negative consequences of depression in college students have garnered global attention, especially in relation to academic achievement during the COVID-19 pandemic, which need critical assessment. Aim: This study investigated whether a sense of security mediated the relationship between depression and academic engagement among college students during the pandemic and whether the moderating psychological impact of COVID-19 has a moderating effect on this relationship. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we recruited 466 college students from 30 provincial-level administrative regions in China via the Internet and used established scales to measure depression, academic engagement, a sense of security, and the psychological impact of COVID-19. The mediating and moderating effects were tested using the bootstrap method. Results: Depression was found to negatively influence academic engagement, with a sense of security partially mediating this relationship. Moreover, the psychological impact of COVID-19 was shown to have a moderating effect on this mediating process. Conclusion: This study could aid in crafting pertinent strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of depression on learning amid unexpected public health crises and foster better mental health among college students.

Relationship between emotional intelligence and learning motivation among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A serial mediation model.

The vital influence of emotional intelligence on college students' learning motivation has received considerable attention. This study analyzed not only the relationship between emotional intelligence and college students' learning motivation during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also the serial mediating roles that self-efficacy and social support play in this relationship. Using a cross-sectional survey design, we collected data from 336 college students across 30 provinces in China, using four well-established scales measuring emotional intelligence, learning motivation, self-efficacy, and social support. We analyzed the mediating effects using the Bootstrap method. The results showed that emotional intelligence positively predicted learning motivation, and that self-efficacy and social support played serial mediating roles between emotional intelligence and learning motivation. This finding suggests the need for interventions to help college students develop emotional intelligence during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that fostering college students' self-efficacy and providing multiple social supports would help improve their motivation and academic performance.

Meta-analysis of the relationship between university students' anxiety and academic performance during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the mental health and academic performance of university students worldwide. Anxiety is one of the most commonly reported mental health issues among this population, but its relationship with academic performance during the pandemic has not been fully explored. Methods: A meta-analysis was conducted following the PRISMA-P guidelines to synthesize existing research on the relationship between anxiety and academic performance in university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Four databases were searched (PsycINFO, Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus) for articles published between December 2019 and June 2022, and studies from five different countries were included in the analysis. A heterogeneity test was performed, and a fixed-effects model was used to calculate the main results. Results: The meta-analysis revealed a negative correlation between university students' anxiety and academic performance (r = -0.211, k = 5, N = 1,205). Subgroup analysis found no significant regulatory effects for the year of publication, country development level, student type, or anxiety type. The results suggest that negative emotions induced by the pandemic are the most significant factor linking anxiety to poor academic performance. Discussion: During pandemics with severe global consequences, such as COVID-19, interventions against and for the prevention of university students' negative emotions are important ways to improve university students' mental health and academic achievement.

Corrigendum: Immunogenomic landscape in breast cancer reveals immunotherapeutically relevant gene signatures.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.805184.].

Emotion Regulation and Psychological Capital of Chinese University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Serial Mediation Effect of Learning Satisfaction and Learning Engagement.

The mediating mechanism between the emotion regulation and psychological capital of university students is currently unclear. This study analyzed the serial mediation of learning satisfaction and learning engagement on the relationship between the emotion regulation and psychological capital of university students during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. A total of 328 undergraduates and postgraduates from universities in different regions of China were surveyed through an online questionnaire. The tools used in the study were the emotion regulation questionnaire, university student learning satisfaction questionnaire, learning engagement questionnaire, and psychological capital questionnaire. The analysis revealed both direct and indirect mediation effects. It was found that emotion regulation can positively predict psychological capital. Further, learning satisfaction and learning engagement can act as mediating variables between emotion regulation and psychological capital, respectively. Learning satisfaction and learning engagement can also have a serial mediation effect between emotion regulation and psychological capital. The results show that learning support should be strengthened to improve the learning satisfaction and learning engagement of students and, consequently, enhance their psychological capital.

Immunogenomic Landscape in Breast Cancer Reveals Immunotherapeutically Relevant Gene Signatures.

Breast cancer is characterized by some types of heterogeneity, high aggressive behaviour, and low immunotherapeutic efficiency. Detailed immune stratification is a prerequisite for interpreting resistance to treatment and escape from immune control. Hence, the immune landscape of breast cancer needs further understanding. We systematically clustered breast cancer into six immune subtypes based on the mRNA expression patterns of immune signatures and comprehensively depicted their characteristics. The immunotherapeutic benefit score (ITBscore) was validated to be a superior predictor of the response to immunotherapy in cohorts from various datasets. Six distinct immune subtypes related to divergences in biological functions, signatures of immune or stromal cells, extent of the adaptive immune response, genomic events, and clinical prognostication were identified. These six subtypes were characterized as immunologically quiet, chemokine dominant, lymphocyte depleted, wounding dominant, innate immune dominant, and IFN-γ dominant and exhibited features of the tumor microenvironment (TME). The high ITBscore subgroup, characterized by a high proportion of M1 macrophages:M2 macrophages, an activated inflammatory response, and increased mutational burden (such as mutations in TP53, CDH1 and CENPE), indicated better immunotherapeutic benefits. A low proportion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and an inadequate response to immune treatment were associated with the low ITBscore subgroup, which was also associated with poor survival. Analyses of four cohorts treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) suggested that patients with a high ITBscore received significant therapeutic advantages and clinical benefits. Our work may facilitate the understanding of immune phenotypes in shaping different TME landscapes and guide precision immuno-oncology and immunotherapy strategies.