Regulatory feedback loop between circ-EIF4A3 and EIF4A3 Enhances autophagy and growth in colorectal cancer cells.

Recent studies indicate that circular RNAs (circRNAs) are crucial in the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC). Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4A3 (EIF4A3) has been identified as a promoter of circRNA production. The biological roles and mechanisms of EIF4A3-derived circRNA (circEIF4A3) in CRC cell autophagy remain poorly understood. This study explores the effects of circEIF4A3 on CRC cell growth and autophagy, aiming to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. We discovered that EIF4A3 and circEIF4A3 synergistically enhance CRC cell growth. CircEIF4A3 sequesters miR-3126-5p, consequently upregulating EIF4A3. Further, circEIF4A3 increases EIF4A3 expression, which promotes autophagy by stabilizing ATG5 mRNA and enhances ATG7 protein stability through the stabilization of USP14 mRNA, a deubiquitinating enzyme. Upregulation of ATG5 and ATG7 counteracts the growth-inhibitory effects of EIF4A3 knockdown on CRC cells. Moreover, our findings demonstrate that EIF4A3 induces the formation of circEIF4A3 in CRC cells. In conclusion, a positive feedback loop between circEIF4A3 and EIF4A3 supports CRC cell growth by facilitating autophagy.

Anhydrous volatile fatty acid extraction through omniphobic membranes by hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents: Mechanistic understanding and future perspective.

Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) derived from arrested anaerobic digestion (AD) can be recovered as a valuable commodity for value-added synthesis. However, separating VFAs from digestate with complex constituents and a high-water content is an energy-prohibitive process. This study developed an innovative technology to overcome this barrier by integrating deep eutectic solvents (DESs) with an omniphobic membrane into a membrane contactor for efficient extraction of anhydrous VFAs with low energy consumption. A kinetic model was developed to elucidate the mechanistic differences between this novel omniphobic membrane-enabled DES extraction and the previous hydrophobic membrane-enabled NaOH extraction. Experimental results and mechanistic modeling suggested that VFA extraction by the DES is a reversible adsorption process facilitating subsequent VFA separation via anhydrous distillation. High vapor pressure of shorter-chain VFAs and low Nernst distribution coefficients of longer-chain VFAs contributed to DES-driven extraction, which could enable continuous and in-situ recovery and conversion of VFAs from AD streams.

Effects of Hydrothermal Pretreatment and Anaerobic Digestion of Pig Manure on the Antibiotic Removal and Methane Production.

Whether advanced biological waste treatment technologies, such as hydrothermal pretreatment (HTP) integrated anaerobic digestion (AD), could enhance the removal of different antibiotics remains unclear. This study investigated the outcome of antibiotics and methane productivity during pig manure treatment via HTP, AD, and HTP + AD. Results showed improved removal efficiency of sulfadiazine (SDZ), oxytetracycline (OTC), and enrofloxacin (ENR) with increased HTP temperatures (70, 90, 120, 150, and 170 °C). OTC achieved the highest removal efficiency of 86.8% at 170 °C because of its high sensitivity to heat treatment. For AD, SDZ exhibited resistance with a removal efficiency of 52.8%. However, OTC and ENR could be removed completely within 30 days. When HTP was used prior to AD, OTC and ENR could achieve complete removal. However, residual SDZ levels reduced to 20% and 16% at 150 and 170 °C, respectively. The methanogenic potential showed an overall upward trend as the HTP temperature increased. Microbial analysis revealed the antibiotics-induced enrichment of specific microorganisms during AD. Firmicutes were the dominant bacterial phylum, with their abundance positively correlated with the addition of antibiotics. Methanobacterium and Methanosarcina emerged as the dominant archaea that drove methane production during AD. Thus, HTP can be a potential pretreatment before AD to reduce antibiotic-related risks in manure waste handling.

Enhanced nutrient recovery from anaerobically digested poultry wastewater through struvite precipitation by organic acid pre-treatment and seeding in a bubble column electrolytic reactor.

Limited mineralization of organic phosphorus to phosphate during the anaerobic digestion process poses a significant challenge in the development of cost-effective nutrient recovery strategies from anaerobically digested poultry wastewater (ADPW). This study investigated the influence of organic acids on phosphorus solubilization from ADPW, followed by its recycling in the form of struvite using a bubble column electrolytic reactor (BCER) without adding chemicals. The impact of seeding on the efficiency of PO43- and NH3-N recovery as well as the size distribution of recovered precipitates from the acid pre-treated ADPW was also evaluated. Pre-treatment of the ADPW with oxalic acid achieved complete solubilization of phosphorus, reaching ∼100% extraction efficiency at pH 2.5. The maximum removal efficiency of phosphate and ammonia-nitrogen from the ADPW were 88.9% and 90.1%, respectively, while the addition of 5 and 10 g/L struvite seed to the BCER increased PO43- removal efficiency by 9.6% and 11.5%, respectively. The value of the kinetic rate constant, k, increased from 0.0176 min-1 (unseeded) to 0.0198 min-1, 0.0307 min-1, and 0.0375 min-1 with the seed loading rate of 2, 5, and 10 g/L, respectively. Concurrently, the average particle size rose from 75.3 µm (unseeded) to 82.1 µm, 125.7 µm, and 148.9 µm, respectively. Results from XRD, FTIR, EDS, and dissolved chemical analysis revealed that the solid product obtained from the recovery process was a multi-nutrient fertilizer consisting of 94.7% struvite with negligible levels of heavy metals.

Robust voltage-controlled transcutaneous energy transfer system for artificial anal sphincter.

BACKGROUND: The artificial anal sphincter (AAS) system has gained significant attention as a solution for treating fecal incontinence (FI). It relies on transcutaneous energy transfer (TET) as its primary energy source. However, changes in posture or biological tissue can cause misalignment of the coil, resulting in unstable power reception. Inadequate power affects charging efficiency, while excessive power leads to excessive heating at the receiver side. Consequently, achieving safe and constant voltage charging for the AAS becomes a complex challenge. METHODS: To maintain a consistent charging voltage and overcome the issue of variations in load and coil coupling strength, this article proposes a wireless charging control system that utilizes an LCC-S-type resonant network and phase shift to adjust the transmitting voltage based on feedback charging voltage in real time. In particular, the PI controller and neural network are introduced to change the phase-shift angle swiftly. The dynamic performance is then evaluated under different misalignments and presented with comparative results. RESULTS: The results indicate that the multilayer perceptron control system outperforms the PI. Under the complex misalignment disturbance, the average error of receiver side load voltage is only 0.007 V, with an average settling time of 960 ms. Additionally, the average temperature at the receiver side is 40.4°C. CONCLUSION: The experiments demonstrate that the proposed system effectively addresses the misalignment issue in TET during the charging, ensuring constant voltage charging at the receiver side and thermal safety.

Recent antitumor therapy does not increase Omicron COVID-19 severity in cancer patients: a two-center retrospective study in China.

Background: The impact of anticancer therapy and related clinical factors on the severity of COVID-19 in cancer patients during the Omicron pandemic has not been established. The recent outbreak in China caused predominantly by the BA.5.2 and BF.7 strains of Omicron provided us with the opportunity to observe objectively the impact of this strain in oncology patients. We initiated this two-center retrospective study in China to determine the impact of anti-cancer treatment, other clinical factors, and cancer characteristics on COVID-19 severity in cancer patients infected with coronavirus during the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant pandemic in China. Methods: We retrospectively included 554 cancer patients infected with COVID-19 from two medical centers. Data on their anticancer treatment prior to COVID-19 infection and general clinical characteristics (sex, age, past medical history, etc.) were collected. Univariate statistical analysis was performed to identify the factors associated with the severity of COVID-19. Results: Among 554 cancer patients infected with COVID-19, there were 15 (2.7%) severe/critical cases, 86 (15.5%) cases with medium severity, and 453 (81.8%) cases with mild severity. Univariate analysis revealed that advanced age, male sex, worse ECOG score, unvaccinated status, and previous liver, kidney, and brain diseases were associated with more severe COVID-19. However, recent antitumor therapy, including cytotoxic chemotherapy within two weeks did not have a significant correlation with the severity of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant. Conclusion: The severity of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant is not exacerbated by recent anticancer therapy in cancer patients. Therefore, anticancer therapy should not be discontinued in such cases, especially those with mild severity.

High BRCA1 expression is an independent prognostic biomarker in LUAD and correlates with immune infiltration.

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients with elevated breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 (BRCA1) expression had markedly worse overall survival and progression-free survival compared to those with reduced BRCA1 levels. In contrast, BRCA1 expression did not correlate with survival outcomes in squamous cell carcinoma patients. The overexpression of BRCA1 was an independent risk factor for LUAD and was indicative of an immune-suppressive tumor microenvironment.

Wireless power transfer system for capsule robot designed by radial square transmitting coil pair with novel ferrite structure.

BACKGROUND: Wireless power transmission for capsule robots has always posed challenges due to the unpredictable postures. METHODS: A radial transmitting coil with a novel ferrite structure is proposed, which consists of two parts with the function of converging magnetic induction lines and reducing magnetic leakage. To improve the flux density, uniformity, and shielding effectiveness, the design parameters are discussed and optimized on the basis of analytical calculations and simulation analysis. RESULTS: The proposed ferrite structure improves the power transfer efficiency from 2.78% to 5.21%. Additionally, the power transfer stability showed a slight improvement from 76.4% to 77.6%, while magnetic leakage was reduced by 84%. Finally, the human tissue safety is also discussed and verified. CONCLUSIONS: The wireless power transfer system is shown to be feasible and safe.

Simulation of artificial anal sphincter motion and interaction with intestinal environment using SOFA.

BACKGROUND: Artificial anal sphincter is an implantable medical device for treating fecal incontinence. Reasonable simulation facilitates the advancement of research and reduces experiments on biological tissue. However, the device's clamping motion and sensor interaction with the intestine in the simulation still require further exploration. This article presents a simulation of the artificial anal sphincter's clamping and sensing and its interaction with the intestinal environment using the Simulation Open Framework Architecture (SOFA). METHODS: Firstly, the proposed simulation algorithm and its principles in SOFA are analyzed. Secondly, the clamping motion and sensor system of the artificial anal sphincter are simulated. Thirdly, a finite element model of intestine is established based on the properties of intestinal soft tissue. Finally, the in vitro experiments are performed. RESULTS: The simulation results indicate that the sensor system of the artificial anal sphincter has good sensing performance during the clamping motion and fecal accumulation process. Experiments have shown that optimal sensory capabilities can be achieved as the posture of the artificial anal sphincter with a roll angle between 20° and 40°. The comparison demonstrates a mean absolute error of 10%-20% between simulation and in vitro experimental results for sensor forces, which verifies the effectiveness of the simulation. CONCLUSION: The proposed novel simulation achieves a more comprehensive interaction between the artificial anal sphincter motion and intestinal environment. This study may provide more effective simulation data for guidance in improving the performance of sensor perception of artificial anal sphincter for further research.

Metagenomic Analysis of a Continuous-Flow Aerobic Granulation System for Wastewater Treatment.

Aerobic granulation is an emerging process in wastewater treatment that has the potential to accelerate sedimentation of the microbial biomass during secondary treatment. Aerobic granulation has been difficult to achieve in the continuous flow reactors (CFRs) used in modern wastewater treatment plants. Recent research has demonstrated that the alternation of nutrient-abundant (feast) and nutrient-limiting (famine) conditions is able to promote aerobic granulation in a CFR. In this study, we conducted a metagenomic analysis with the objective of characterizing the bacterial composition of the granular biomass developed in three simulated plug flow reactors (PFRs) with different feast-to-famine ratios. Phylogenetic analyses revealed a clear distinction between the bacterial composition of aerobic granules in the pilot simulated PFRs as compared with conventional activated sludge. Larger and denser granules, showing improved sedimentation properties, were observed in the PFR with the longest famine time and were characterized by a greater proportion of bacteria producing abundant extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Functional metagenomic analysis based on KEGG pathways indicated that the large and dense aerobic granules in the PFR with the longest famine time showed increased functionalities related to secretion systems and quorum sensing, which are characteristics of bacteria in biofilms and aerobic granules. This study contributes to a further understanding of the relationship between aerobic granule morphology and the bacterial composition of the granular biomass.

Mainstream nitrogen removal from low temperature and low ammonium strength municipal wastewater using hydrogel-encapsulated comammox and anammox.

Application of partial nitritation (PN)-anammox to mainstream wastewater treatment faces challenges in low water temperature and low ammonium strength. In this study, a continuous flow PN-anammox reactor with hydrogel-encapsulated comammox and anammox was designed and operated for nitrogen removal from mainstream wastewater with low temperature. Long-term operation with synthetic and real wastewater as the feed demonstrated nearly complete ammonium and total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) removal by the reactor at temperatures as low as 10 °C. A significantly decreased nitrogen removal performance and biomass activity was observed in the reactor at 4 °C before a selective heating strategy was employed. A novel heating technology using radiation to heat carbon black co-encapsulated in the hydrogel matrix with biomass was used to selectively heat biomass but not water in the treatment system. This selective heating technology enabled nearly complete ammonium removal and 89.4 ± 4.3 % TIN removal at influent temperature of 4 °C and reactor temperature 5 °C. Activity tests suggested selective heating brought the biomass activity at influent temperatures of 4 °C and reactor temperature 5 °C to a level comparable to that at 10 °C. Comammox and anammox were consistently present in the system and spatially organized in the hydrogel beads as revealed by qPCR and fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH). The abundance of comammox largely decreased by 3 orders of magnitude during the operation at 4 °C, and rapidly recovered after the application of selective heating. The anammox-comammox technology tested in this study essentially enabled mainstream shortcut nitrogen removal, and the selective heating ensured good performance of the technology at temperature as low as 5 °C.

Coupling physical selection with biological selection for the startup of a pilot-scale, continuous flow, aerobic granular sludge reactor without treatment interruption.

This study removes two technical constraints for transitioning full-scale activated sludge infrastructure to continuous flow, aerobic granular sludge (AGS) facilities. The first of these is the loss of treatment capacity as a result of the rapid washout of flocculent sludge inventory and in turn the potential loss of nitrification during initial AGS reactor startup. The second is the physical selector design which currently is limited to either the complex sequencing batch reactor selection or sidestream hydrocyclones. Briefly, real wastewater data collected from this study suggested that by increasing the surface overflow rate (SOR) of an upflow clarifier to 10 m h - 1, the clarifier can be taken advantage of as a physical selector to separate flocculant sludge from AGS. Redirecting the physical selector underflow and overflow sludge to the feast and famine zones of a treatment train, respectively, can create a biological selection that not only promotes AGS formation but also safeguards the effluent quality throughout the AGS reactor startup period. This study provides a novel concept for economically implementing continuous flow AGS within existing full-scale, continuous flow treatment trains.

Efficacy of radiomics model based on the concept of gross tumor volume and clinical target volume in predicting occult lymph node metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer.

Objective: This study aimed to establish a predictive model for occult lymph node metastasis (LNM) in patients with clinical stage I-A non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) based on contrast-enhanced CT. Methods: A total of 598 patients with stage I-IIA NSCLC from different hospitals were randomized into the training and validation group. The "Radiomics" tool kit of AccuContour software was employed to extract the radiomics features of GTV and CTV from chest-enhanced CT arterial phase pictures. Then, the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis was applied to reduce the number of variables and develop GTV, CTV, and GTV+CTV models for predicting occult lymph node metastasis (LNM). Results: Eight optimal radiomics features related to occult LNM were finally identified. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of the three models showed good predictive effects. The area under the curve (AUC) value of GTV, CTV, and GTV+CTV model in the training group was 0.845, 0.843, and 0.869, respectively. Similarly, the corresponding AUC values in the validation group were 0.821, 0.812, and 0.906. The combined GTV+CTV model exhibited a better predictive performance in the training and validation group by the Delong test (p<0.05). Moreover, the decision curve showed that the combined GTV+CTV predictive model was superior to the GTV or CTV model. Conclusion: The radiomics prediction models based on GTV and CTV can predict occult LNM in patients with clinical stage I-IIA NSCLC preoperatively, and the combined GTV+CTV model is the optimal strategy for clinical application.

Simultaneous anaerobic carbon and nitrogen removal from primary municipal wastewater with hydrogel encapsulated anaerobic digestion sludge and AOA-anammox coated hollow fiber membrane.

In this study, a one-stage continuous-flow membrane-hydrogel reactor integrating both partial nitritation-anammox (PN-anammox) and anaerobic digestion (AD) was designed and operated for simultaneous autotrophic nitrogen (N) and anaerobic carbon (C) removal from mainstream municipal wastewater. In the reactor, a synthetic biofilm consisting of anammox biomass and pure culture ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) were coated onto and maintained on a counter-diffusion hollow fiber membrane to autotrophically remove nitrogen. Anaerobic digestion sludge was encapsulated in hydrogel beads and placed in the reactor to anaerobically remove COD. During the pilot operation at three operating temperature (25, 16 and 10 °C), the membrane-hydrogel reactor demonstrated stable anaerobic COD removal (76.2 ± 15.5 %) and membrane fouling was successfully suppressed allowing a relatively stable PN-anammox process. The reactor demonstrated good nitrogen removal efficiency, with an overall removal efficiency of 95.8 ± 5.0 % for NH4+-N and 78.9 ± 13.2 % for total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) during the entire pilot operation. Reducing the temperature to 10 °C caused a temporary reduction in nitrogen removal performance and abundances of AOA and anammox. However, the reactor and microbes demonstrated the ability to adapt to the low temperature spontaneously with recovered nitrogen removal performance and microbial abundances. Methanogens in hydrogel beads and AOA and anammox on the membrane were observed in the reactor by qPCR and 16S sequencing across all operational temperatures.

Integration of EBPR with mainstream anammox process to treat real municipal wastewater: Process performance and microbiology.

The mainstream application of anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) for sustainable N removal remains a challenge. Similarly, with recent additional stringent regulations for P discharges, it is imperative to integrate N with P removal. This research studied integrated fixed film activated sludge (IFAS) technology to simultaneously remove N and P in real municipal wastewater by combining biofilm anammox with flocculent activated sludge for enhanced biological P removal (EBPR). This technology was assessed in a sequencing batch reactor (SBR) operated as a conventional A2O (anaerobic-anoxic-oxic) process with a hydraulic retention time of 8.8 h. After a steady state operation was reached, robust reactor performance was obtained with average TIN and P removal efficiencies of 91.3 ± 4.1% and 98.4 ± 2.4%, respectively. The average TIN removal rate recorded over the last 100 d of reactor operation was 118 mg/L·d, which is a reasonable number for mainstream applications. The activity of denitrifying polyphosphate accumulating organisms (DPAOs) accounted for nearly 15.9% of P-uptake during the anoxic phase. DPAOs and canonical denitrifiers removed approximately 5.9 mg TIN/L in the anoxic phase. Batch activity assays, which showed that nearly 44.5% of TIN were removed by the biofilms during the aerobic phase. The functional gene expression data also confirmed anammox activities. The IFAS configuration of the SBR allowed operation at a low solid retention time (SRT) of 5-d without washing out biofilm ammonium-oxidizing and anammox bacteria. The low SRT, combined with low dissolved oxygen and intermittent aeration, provided a selective pressure to washout nitrite-oxidizing bacteria and glycogen-accumulating organisms, as relative abundances of.

Employing micro-aeration in anaerobic digestion of poultry litter and wheat straw: Batch kinetics and continuous performance.

In this study, different micro-aeration (MA) strategies for anaerobic digestion (AD) of poultry litter (PL) and wheat straw (WS) were examined. MA at different stages (pretreatment, middle, pretreatment plus middle, and daily) in batch AD of WS showed that daily MA had the highest increase (16.5 %) of the cumulative methane yield (CMY) compared to the control. Batch co-digestion (Co-AD) of WS and PL with daily MA obtained a furtherly improved (15.1 %) CMY of 225.44 N mL CH4/g vS added. The modified Gompertz model and Cone model were good in fitting the methane yield kinetics of MA engaged AD process (R2 greater than 0.99). Daily MA shortened the lag phase of Co-AD by 3.4 %. The sequencing batch reactor for the Co-AD of WS and PL showed an increased (21.5 %) daily methane yield when 0.5-h/d MA was employed. The results provided support for the application of micro-aeration in the AD of agricultural wastes.

A 5-year follow-up study on the efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided laser ablation in elderly patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma: A retrospective, single-center study from China.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided percutaneous laser ablation (PLA) for the treatment of elderly patients with papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC). Methods: From September 2015 to April 2017, 38 elderly patients with PTMC confirmed through fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) were treated with PLA. Before the treatment, the location and volume of the nodule together with the patients' symptoms were evaluated. Twenty-four hours after the treatment, contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) was performed to evaluate the completeness of the ablation. To evaluate the volume of the ablation area and recurrence or metastasis, ultrasound examination was performed at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after the treatment and every 6 months thereafter. FNAB was performed for any suspicious recurrence or metastasis lesions. Result: The ablation of all the 38 patients was all achieved completely as confirmed by CEUS. No obvious complications were found. The success rate of single ablation was 100%. The average follow-up time was 64.58 ± 5.29 months (60-78 months). By the time of the last follow-up, 31 (81.58%) ablation lesions disappeared completely and seven (18.42%) ablation lesions showed scar-like changes. The volume of nodules was 40.69 ± 16.45 mm3 before operation, which decreased to 0.22 ± 0.76 mm3 by the end of 42 months, and all nodules disappeared 4 years after ablation (P < 0.01). At 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, and 42 months after ablation, the average volume reduction rates (VRRs) were 12.09%, 31.21%, 50.9%, 72.06%, 84.79%, 95.65%, and 100%, respectively. Of all the patients enrolled, one patient (2.6%) had local recurrence and was treated with PLA again. No regrowth of treated nodule or lymph node metastasis and distant metastases was detected. Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided PLA is effective and safe for the treatment of elderly patients with PTMC who are ineligible for surgery.

Design and Analysis of a Three-Dimensional Spindle-Shaped Receiving Coil for a Targeted Therapy Capsule Robot in the Intestine.

Capsule robots capable of taking wireless power-transfer systems for diagnosis in the intestine enable the ability to avoid invasive detection, which causes damage to tissue. A targeted therapy capsule robot based on a wireless power-transfer system could move actively in the intestine, implementing diseases detection and drug delivery. Compared with traditional telescope, the capsule robot explores without pain to patients. However, the insufficient power supply has become a big issue for a targeted therapy capsule robot. To address this problem, we proposed a new type of three-dimensional spindle-shaped receiving coil that can couple well with unidirectional magnetic fields and supply sufficient energy even when there is a misalignment in position and angle, owing to which the electromagnetic energy decays quickly. The proposed receiving coil could be embedded on the capsule robot, suitable for the capsule size Φ15 mm × 25 mm. To obtain the maximum energy in three-dimensional space, an optimization model was built. The parameters of the receiving coil were optimized and analyzed. Then, the designed receiving coil was verified with an energy-transfer stability analysis based on both attitude angle and position in a bench test. Furthermore, a curved pipe experiment was conducted using a capsule robot prototype with the proposed three-dimensional spindle-shaped receiving coil. The results demonstrated that stable and sufficient power could be supplied by the proposed receiving coil for the capsule robot at any position and any attitude angle between transmitting and receiving coils.

Fate of antibiotic resistance genes and class 1 integrons during sludge treatment using pilot-scale anaerobic digestion with thermal hydrolysis pretreatment.

This work evaluated the fate of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and class 1 integron gene in sewage sludge before and after pilot-scale thermal hydrolysis pretreatment (THP) and subsequent mesophilic anaerobic digestion (AD) treatment. Variables investigated include THP temperatures, feedstock types, and AD solids retention times. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to quantify the ARGs in feedstocks, THP and AD effluent. Results show that THP significantly (t test, p < 0.05) reduced the absolute abundances of most ARGs, with the reduction ranging from 0.03 to 3.09 log units. Rebound effects of ARGs in the subsequent AD were observed and were relevant with tested variables; shorter solids retention time (10 days) and higher THP temperature (165 ℃) can significantly reduce ARGs in AD effluent. These findings provide references about the effects of the THP and AD on the control of ARG spread from sewage sludge to environments.

Unblocking the rate-limiting step of the municipal sludge anaerobic digestion.

Anaerobic digestion stabilizes municipal sludge through total solids reduction and biogas production. It is generally accepted that hydrolysis accounts for the rate-limiting step of municipal sludge anaerobic digestion, impacting the overall rates of solids reduction and methane production. Technically, the sludge hydrolysis rate can be enhanced by the application of thermal hydrolysis pretreatment (THP) and is also affected by the total solids concentration, temperature, and solids retention time used in the anaerobic digestion. This study systematically analyzed and compared ways to take these four factors into the consideration of modern anaerobic digestion system for achieving the maximum solid reduction. Results showed that thermophilic anaerobic digestion was superior to mesophilic anaerobic digestion in terms of solids reduction but vice versa in terms of the methane production when integrated with THP. This difference has to do with the intermediate product accumulation and inhibition when hydrolysis outpaced methanogenesis in THP-enhanced thermophilic anaerobic digestion, which can be mitigated by adjusting the solids retention time. PRACTITIONER POINTS: THP followed by TAD offers the greatest solids reduction rate. THP followed by MAD offered the greatest methane production rate. FAN inhibition appears to be an ultimate limiting factor constraining the methane production rate. In situ ammonia removal technique should be developed to further unblock the rate-limiting step.