Succession-driven potential functional shifts in microbial communities in the Tire-plastisphere:Comparison of pristine and scrap tire.

Tire microplastics (TMPs) represent a major contributor to microplastic pollution, posing threats to aquatic ecosystems. As carbon-rich substrates, TMPs influence microbial colonization and ecological functions. This study investigates the impacts of pristine (P-TMPs) and scrap (S-TMPs) TMPs from the same brand on microbial communities within the tire-plastisphere.

Polydopamine-modified foam iron for hydrogen production from herbal medicine residues via dark fermentation.

To address the critical challenges of clean utilization of herbal medicine residues, this study developed a polydopamine-modified foam iron (PDA-FI) material and systematically evaluated its enhancement effects and metabolic regulatory mechanisms during dark fermentation hydrogen production. Optimal process conditions were identified by combining single-factor experiments with an Extreme Learning Machine-Bayesian Optimization algorithm. The results showed that under optimal conditions, the cumulative hydrogen production was increased by 25.

Dual acute effects of tire microplastics and their leachates on Spirodela polyrhiza and phyllosphere bacteria.

Tire microplastics (TMPs) significantly contribute to global plastic pollution, entering aquatic environments primarily through runoff, where they pose potential threats to aquatic ecosystems. Beyond the particles themselves, TMPs-derived leachates further exacerbate environmental risks. Despite growing concern over plastic pollution, the influences of TMPs and their leachates on aquatic systems remain largely understudied.

Lakeshore plant removal intensifies microbial phosphorus limitation and weakens multinutrient cycling-bacterial diversity relationship.

Rational management of lakeshore plants can achieve ecological protection and restoration purposes for lakes, whereas influences of lakeshore plant removal on microbial nutrient limitation and linkage between biodiversity and multinutrient cycling (MNC) remain largely unclear. Molecular and statistical analyses were adopted to reveal responses of microbial nutrient limitation and MNC to lakeshore plant removal as well as bacterial adaptability to environmental changes. Activities of sediment enzymes targeting carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles notably decreased after plant removal, and lakeshore plant removal rather than seasonal variation showed larger effects on enzyme activities, ecoenzymatic stoichiometric parameters (i.

A novel technique for low-rectal cancer: Pushing the anus in laparoscopic radical resection.

In sphincter-preserving surgery for low-rectal cancer, it is significant to reduce the number of stapler cartridges and the incidence of anastomotic leakage. Therefore, this study introduces a new and safer technique in laparoscopic radical resection of low-rectal cancer to reduce the number of stapler cartridges used during operation and reduce the incidence of postoperative anastomotic leakage. Information was collected on 237 patients with rectal cancer from the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University between January 2015 and July 2020.

Dynamic relationships of antibiotic resistomes and greenhouse gas-functioning microbes across diverse habitats.

Reservoir ecosystems with diverse habitats form critical interfaces where antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions converge. Despite their distribution and ecological implications of ARGs across diverse habitats remain greatly unknown. There is a critical gap in dissecting the interlinkages between antibiotic resistomes and GHG-functioning microbes.

Soil alkaline phosphatase-encoding bacteria relate closely to microbial biomass phosphorus in changing environments.

Microbial biomass phosphorus (P) is an important P pool and its turnover can supplement the P pool in soil solution promoting plant productivity, and ubiquitously distributed alkaline phosphatase-encoding bacteria (PEB) containing the phoD gene mediate organic P mineralization. Yet, linkage between soil PEB and P remains poorly understood, particularly in changing environments. Molecular and statistical tools were adopted in both environmental change simulation experiments and a field investigation to unveil the linkage between soil P and PEB.

Tire wear particles in aquatic environments: From biota to ecosystem impacts.

Tire wear particles (TWPs), mainly generated through friction between tires and road surfaces, represent a major source of traffic-related microplastic pollution, posing threats to biota and ecosystem functions. These particles are a complex mixture of toxic compounds, including heavy metals (e.g.

Fungi as a Critical Component of Lake Microbiota in Response to Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms.

Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (CyanoHABs) pose a growing threat to lake ecosystems. While microbial communities constitute the resilient power of lake ecosystems to CyanoHAB disturbances, the role of fungi remains underexplored. Here, the dynamics of size-fractionated fungal and associated bacterial communities were tracked across the peak and decline stages of a CyanoHAB event in shallow subtropical Lake Taihu.

Use of Retrieval-Augmented Large Language Model for COVID-19 Fact-Checking: Development and Usability Study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an "infodemic," where the rapid spread of misinformation has exacerbated public health challenges. Traditional fact-checking methods, though effective, are time-consuming and resource-intensive, limiting their ability to combat misinformation at scale. Large language models (LLMs) such as GPT-4 offer a more scalable solution, but their susceptibility to generating hallucinations-plausible yet incorrect information-compromises their reliability.

Gut microbial metabolite 4-hydroxybenzeneacetic acid drives colorectal cancer progression via accumulation of immunosuppressive PMN-MDSCs.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is characterized by an immune-suppressive microenvironment that contributes to tumor progression and immunotherapy resistance. The gut microbiome produces diverse metabolites that feature unique mechanisms of interaction with host targets, yet the role of many metabolites in CRC remains poorly understood. In this study, the microbial metabolite 4-hydroxybenzeneacetic acid (4-HPA) promoted the infiltration of PMN myeloid-derived suppressor cells (PMN-MDSCs) in the tumor microenvironment, consequently inhibiting the antitumor response of CD8+ T cells and promoting CRC progression in vivo.

Global meta-analysis deciphering ecological restoration performance of dredging: Divergent variabilities of pollutants and hydrobiontes.

Global "Sustainable Development Goals" propose ambitious targets to protect water resource and provide clean water, whereas comprehensive understanding of restoration performance and ecological mechanisms are lacking for dredging adopted for purifying polluted waterbodies and maintaining navigation channels. Here, we conducted a global meta-analysis to estimate ecological restoration consequence of dredging as pollution mitigation and navigation channel maintenance measures using a dataset compiled from 191 articles covering 696 studies and 84 environmental and ecological parameters (e.g.

AI Applications to Reduce Loneliness Among Older Adults: A Systematic Review of Effectiveness and Technologies.

Loneliness among older adults is a prevalent issue, significantly impacting their quality of life and increasing the risk of physical and mental health complications. The application of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in behavioral interventions offers a promising avenue to overcome challenges in designing and implementing interventions to reduce loneliness by enabling personalized and scalable solutions. This study systematically reviews the AI-enabled interventions in addressing loneliness among older adults, focusing on the effectiveness and underlying technologies used.

Climate-Influenced Ecological Memory Modulates Microbial Responses to Soil Moisture.

Long-term climatic differences shape the ecological memory of soil bacterial communities, which refers to the ability of past events to influence current environmental responses. However, their ecological mechanisms and consequences for bacterial responses to current environmental changes remain largely unknown, particularly in terms of temporal dynamics. Therefore, soil bacterial communities in the arid (Lhasa River Basin) and humid (Nyang River Basin) grasslands of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were compared to explore their temporal dynamics in response to current soil moisture and the resulting ecological consequences.

An enzymatically modified adsorbent derived from an agro-residue mitigates the environmental risks of toxic antibiotic mixtures.

This study developed an enzymatically modified adsorbent derived from pine bark (PBEM), an agricultural residue feedstock, for the adsorptive removal of antibiotic contaminants. PBEM was synthesized by optimizing the feedstock selection and modifying it using fungal crude enzymes sustainable recoverable from natural sources. PBEM rapidly removed the antibiotics tetracycline and sulfamethoxazole from a mixed solution much more rapidly (4-99 times faster) and in higher quantities (2-5 times higher) than without enzyme modification.

Geographic heterogeneity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Yangtze River sediments: Evidence from the longest river in Asia.

This work is the first comprehensive survey of the Yangtze River, covering its origin to the estuary mouth. It focuses on the geographical and industrial factors influencing the distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments, along with their contamination levels, sources, and ecological risks. The total concentrations of PAHs ranged from 2.

Metagenomic deciphers the mobility and bacterial hosts of antibiotic resistance genes under antibiotics and heavy metals co-selection pressures in constructed wetlands.

Both antibiotics and heavy metals exert significant selection pressures on antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs). This study aimed to investigate the co-selection effects of doxycycline (DC) and cadmium (Cd) on ARGs in constructed wetlands (CWs). The results demonstrated that under antibiotic and heavy metal co-selection pressures, single high concentration DC/Cd or double high, relative abundances of metagenomics assembled genomes all reached 55.

The response of microbial communities to environmental factors in bank soil and river sediment: A case study along the mainstream of the Yangtze River.

Microbial communities, which are crucial for ecosystem function and sustainability, are under environmental pressure. Using phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) as a measure of microbial biomass and community structure, the responses of microorganisms to environmental drivers were studied in bank soil and sediment alongside the Yangtze River in China. Thirty-eight sites were investigated over a length of 5500 km, ranging from the plateau to the estuary.

Water-logged composting with sealed system enhances phosphorus availability and changes ecological attributes of bacterial community.

Deciphering effects of sealed environment on phosphorus (P) availability and microbial community during water-logged composting is an essential but underestimated theme. Research targets are to unveil divergences in P fractions and bacterial landscapes between breathable and sealed systems using molecular and statistical tools. Water-logged composting with sealed system enhanced P availability, with soluble reactive P in overlying water notably increasing from 1.

A case of unilateral focal choroidal excavation in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease; case report.

Purpose: To report a rare case of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease complicated by unilateral focal choroidal excavation (FCE).

Methods: A 25-year-old male patient with bilateral blurred vision, tinnitus, and headache. Initial examination revealed multiple sensory retinal detachments in both eyes.

Eutrophication-induced shifts cause diverse responses in the phoD community of a plateau freshwater lake.

Eutrophication is a critical environmental challenge affecting lakes globally. Mitigating trophic level under endogenous phosphorus release is an unsolved problem in eutrophic lakes. However, understanding the dynamics and assembly of microbial communities encoding the alkaline phosphatase (phoD community) and their responses during trophic transitions in eutrophic lakes is limited.

Positive soil priming effects are the rule at a global scale.

Priming effects of soil organic matter decomposition are critical to determine carbon budget and turnover in soil. Yet, the overall direction and intensity of soil priming remains under debate. A second-order meta-analysis was performed with 9296-paired observations from 363 primary studies to determine the intensity and general direction of priming effects depending on the compound type, nutrient availability, and ecosystem type.

Quality and Accountability of ChatGPT in Health Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Simulated Patient Study.

Using simulated patients to mimic 9 established noncommunicable and infectious diseases, we assessed ChatGPT's performance in treatment recommendations for common diseases in low- and middle-income countries. ChatGPT had a high level of accuracy in both correct diagnoses (20/27, 74%) and medication prescriptions (22/27, 82%) but a concerning level of unnecessary or harmful medications (23/27, 85%) even with correct diagnoses. ChatGPT performed better in managing noncommunicable diseases than infectious ones.