Metabolic consequences and gut microbiome alterations in rats consuming pork or a plant-based meat analogue.

It is unknown how human health is affected by the current increased consumption of ultra-processed plant-based meat analogues (PBMA). In the present study, rats were fed an experimental diet based on pork or a commercial PBMA, matched for protein, fat, and carbohydrate content for three weeks. Rats on the PBMA diet exhibited metabolic changes indicative of lower protein digestibility and/or dietary amino acid imbalance, alongside increased mesenteric (+38%) and retroperitoneal (+20%) fat depositions despite lower food and energy intake.

Augmenting water quality resilience in water distribution systems: A stress-driven model for ice slurry pigging optimisation strategy.

Pipeline cleaning is essential for maintaining water quality and safeguarding public health within water distribution networks. Although ice slurry pigging is widely adopted due to its effectiveness and environmental advantages, challenges remain in accurately quantifying cleaning efficacy and optimising maintenance intervals. This study develops a stress-driven wall material removal model calibrated using field-measured turbidity data, allowing for a comprehensive assessment of cleaning effectiveness based on post-cleaning shear resistance.

Interplay between temperature and redox conditions regulates wetland biogeochemistry and greenhouse gas emissions.

Wetlands play a crucial role in global greenhouse gas (GHG) dynamics, yet their response to climate change is not yet fully understood. Here, we investigate how increasing temperature and oxygen availability interact to regulate wetland GHG emissions through combined analysis of biogeochemical and functional gene measurements. We found distinct temperature-dependent shifts in carbon emission pathways, with CO emissions unexpectedly declining as temperature rose from 15 to 25 °C, while increasing consistently at higher temperatures (25-35 °C), reflecting a transition to more thermally-driven processes.

Food hydrocolloids κ-carrageenan and xanthan gum in processed red meat modify gut health in rats.

The food hydrocolloids κ-carrageenan and xanthan gum, used in processed foods including meat products, have unclear effects on gut health. This study investigated the effects of incorporating 1 % κ-carrageenan or xanthan gum into pork on protein digestibility, gut microbiota, oxidative stress, and gene expression using both gastrointestinal digestion/fermentation and an rodent model. , xanthan gum reduced protein digestibility (-11 %) in the simulated small intestine, thus elevating protein fermentation metabolites (up to 4-fold), but this was not observed .

Brackish Water Desalination Using Electrodialysis: Influence of Operating Parameters on Energy Consumption and Scalability.

Groundwater is one of the main water sources for consumption, domestic use, agriculture, and tourism in coastal communities. However, high total dissolved solids (TDS) levels in the water (700-2000 mg L TDS) and electrical conductivity (3000-5000 µS cm) threaten the health and economic growth opportunities for residents. This research aims to evaluate the performance of a laboratory-scale electrodialysis system as a technology for desalinating brackish water.

BIO-SPEC: An open-source bench-top parallel bioreactor system.

The BIO-SPEC is an open-source, cost-effective, and modular bench-top bioreactor system designed for batch, sequencing batch, and chemostat cultivation. Featuring thermoelectric condensers to eliminate the need for a chiller, it ensures stable long-term operation. Controlled by a Raspberry Pi, the BIO-SPEC offers flexibility in headplate design, gas supply, and feeding strategies, making it a versatile alternative to high-cost commercial systems.

Ultrasound-assisted advanced oxidation removal of contaminants of emerging concern: A review on present status and an outlook to future possibilities.

The presence of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in wastewater poses significant environmental and public health risks. In recent years, increasing efforts have focused on mitigating these risks by reducing CEC concentrations in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Ultrasonic processes, and consequent effects of generated acoustic cavitation, have emerged as a promising solution due to their reliance on physical mechanisms that are considered green.

Combining electrocoagulation-flotation with anaerobic digestion for faecal sludge treatment: Micropollutant removal with simultaneous energy recovery.

Faecal sludge (FS) management in most developing countries remains inadequate. This study investigates the integration of electrocoagulation-flotation (ECF) with anaerobic digestion (AD) for sustainable FS treatment. A continuous-flow ECF reactor using iron electrodes was optimized across varying current densities (40-200 A/m) and residence times (13-264 s) to assess the removal of heavy metals and organic micropollutants, including bisphenol A (BPA), 17α-ethynylestradiol (EE2) and carbamazepine (CBZ).

Biofilm detachment significantly affects biological stability of drinking water during intermittent water supply in a pilot scale water distribution system.

Intermittent service provision (IWS) in piped drinking water distribution systems is practiced in countries with limited water resources; it leads to stagnant periods during which water drains completely from de-pressurized pipes, increasing the likelihood of biofilm detachment upon reconnection when water is supplied to the consumer and thus affecting water quality. Our study examines the impact of uninterrupted or continuous water supply (CWS) and IWS on microbial communities and biofilm detachment, using data from three 30-day experiments conducted in an above-ground drinking water testbed with 90-m long PVC pipes containing residual monochloramine. Flow cytometry (FCM) revealed a significant increase in total and intact cell concentrations when water was supplied intermittently compared to CWS, and the microbial alpha-diversity was significantly higher in CWS sections by both 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding and phenotypic fingerprinting of flow cytometry data.

Selective Na/K separation from greenhouse wastewater concentrate streams using Donnan dialysis for sustainable water and nutrient recovery.

Greenhouse horticulture plays a crucial role in addressing global food demand; however, the discharge of nutrient-rich wastewater presents challenges for environmental protection and resource recovery. Effective sodium (Na⁺) removal is critical for reusing these streams in irrigation, as excess Na⁺ inhibits plant growth. While electrodialysis (ED) has shown potential, it currently lacks sufficient Na⁺/potassium (K⁺) selectivity, limiting K recovery, a valuable nutrient that accumulates in the concentrate stream.

Integrating taxonomic and phenotypic information through FISH-enhanced flow cytometry for microbial community dynamics analysis.

Unlabelled: Flow cytometry is a powerful tool to monitor microbial communities, as it allows tracking both changes in the subpopulations and cell numbers at high throughput and a low sample cost. This information can be combined in a phenotypic fingerprint that can be leveraged for diversity analysis. However, as isogenic individuals can manifest phenotypic diversity, for example, due to differing physiological state and phenotypic plasticity, combining the phenotypic information with taxonomic information adds an extra dimension for describing the dynamics of a microbial community.

Establishing a co-culture aggregate of N-cycle bacteria to elucidate flocculation in biological wastewater treatment.

Biological flocculation is a complex phenomenon that is often treated as a black box. As a result, flocculation problems are usually remediated without knowledge of the exact causes. We show that it is feasible to exploit a model (N-cycle) consortium with reduced complexity to fundamentally study bioflocculation.

Environmental impact of integrating decentralized urine treatment in the urban wastewater management system: A comparative life cycle assessment.

As municipal wastewater treatment regulations become more stringent, integrating source-separated urine treatment into centralized urban wastewater management offers a 'hybrid' solution. However, it is not clear how the environmental impacts of such hybrid systems compare to highly efficient centralized wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) with low NO emissions and electricity use. In this study, a consequential life cycle assessment was used to compare the environmental impact of three urine separation hybrid wastewater treatment systems - which combine decentralized urine treatment with a highly efficient central WWTP- to a centralized WWTP treating mixed wastewater (baseline).

Dietary fiber mitigates the differential impact of beef and chicken meat consumption on rat intestinal health.

In this rat feeding study, it was hypothesized that the impact of red ( white) meat consumption on gut health is more pronounced in fiber-deprived diets, whereas fiber-rich diets may attenuate meat-related differences. For this purpose, rats were fed a red (beef) or white (chicken) meat diet with and without fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) for three weeks. Gut health was assessed through colonic microbiota, fermentation metabolites, oxidative stress, inflammation, DNA adducts and histology.

Reverse Osmosis in an Advanced Water Treatment Train Produces a Simple, Consistent Microbial Community.

Potable water reuse has become a key component of water sustainability planning in arid regions. Many advanced water purification facilities use reverse osmosis (RO) as part of treatment, including as a barrier for microorganisms; however, regrowth after RO treatment has been observed. Questions remain about the identity, source, and survival mechanisms of microorganisms in RO permeate, but the extremely low biomass of this water is a limitation for common microbiological methods.

Enhancing hydrogen sulfide control in urban sewer systems using machine learning models: Development of a new predictive simulation approach by using boosting algorithm.

Sewer networks are important urban infrastructure for transporting sewage to treatment plants, yet the generation of hydrogen sulfide within these systems poses significant challenges. This acidic toxic gas not only emits foul odors but also causes corrosion, necessitating effective control measures. Recent studies have introduced a modelling approach to predict and control the formation of hydrogen sulfide in sewer system.

Ectoine production through a marine methanotroph-microalgae culture allows complete biogas valorization.

Methanotrophs have recently emerged as a promising platform for producing bio-based chemicals, like ectoine, from biogas, offering an economical alternative to glucose. However, most studies have focused solely on CH consumption, often overlooking the CO, which is both produced by methanotrophs and present in biogas, despite its potential as a carbon source for microorganisms, such as microalgae. In this study, marine methanotrophic-microalgal cultures were enriched from environmental samples collected at the North Sea coast to explore ectoine production from both CH and CO in biogas.

Optimized hydrothermal carbonization of chicken manure and anaerobic digestion of its process water for better energy management.

Modern poultry production is faced with the challenge of properly managing its associated wastes, in particular chicken manure (CM). There is a need to improve the management of CM through conversion processes that allow the production of value-added products, particularly for energy purposes, such as hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) and anaerobic digestion (AD). The objectives of this study were: i) to optimize the CM-HTC, using response surface methodology with simultaneous optimization of mass yield and higher heating value (HHV), and ii) to evaluate the biomethane potential of the process water generated from hydrochar production under the optimized condition.

Construction of low-toxicity cadmium sulfide/nitrogen-doped muti-walled carbon nanotubes for peroxymonosulfate activation: The crucial role of electron transfer.

Cadmium sulfide is widely employed in environmental catalysis due to its excellent catalytic behaviors. However, the inherent toxicity and leaching risk of CdS-based catalyst presents significant challenges for practical applications. This study explored the incorporation of CdS nanowires on the nitrogen-doped multi-wall carbon tubes (N-MWCNTs) substrate to minimize the leaching rate and mitigate the bio-toxicity by regulating the electron transfer process.

Integrated spectral based monitoring, optimization and control of the combined ozonation and powdered activated carbon adsorption process to remove organic micropollutants from secondary effluent.

In this study, an innovative approach for the integrated monitoring, optimization and control of the combined ozonation (O) and powdered activated carbon (PAC) adsorption process is introduced making use of spectral surrogates (UVA and EEM-PARAFAC components). The combined O-PAC process is designed to remove organic micropollutants (µP) from secondary effluent. Therefore, the removal of 6 µP with varying ozone reactivity was systematically studied in both O and PAC as stand-alone systems and in the combined O-PAC system.

Recovery of purple non-sulfur bacteria-mediated single-cell protein from domestic wastewater in two-stage treatment using high rate digester and raceway pond.

Wastewater resources can be used to produce microbial protein for animal feed or organic fertiliser, conserving food chain resources. This investigation hasemployed thefermented sewage to photoheterotrophically grown purple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB) in a 2.5 m pilot-scaleraceway-pond with infrared light to produce proteinaceous biomass.

Exploring Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Presence and Potential Leaching from Reverse Osmosis Membranes: Implications for Drinking Water Treatment.

Reverse osmosis (RO) is increasingly used in drinking water production to effectively remove micropollutants, such as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). However, RO membranes themselves may contain PFAS, which can potentially leach into treated drinking water. Leaching experiments and direct total oxidizable precursor assays revealed the presence and leaching potential of PFOS (branched and linear), PFBA, PFHxA, PFNA, and PFOA in five selected commercial RO membranes.