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Pediatric Investigation Jun 2024Critically ill children with pre-existing mental health conditions may have an increased risk of poor health outcomes.
IMPORTANCE
Critically ill children with pre-existing mental health conditions may have an increased risk of poor health outcomes.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to evaluate if pre-existing mental health conditions in critically ill pediatric patients would be associated with worse clinical outcomes, compared to children with no documented mental health conditions.
METHODS
This retrospective observational cohort study utilized the TriNetX electronic health record database of critically ill subjects aged 12-18 years. Data were analyzed for demographics, pre-existing conditions, diagnostic, medication, procedural codes, and mortality.
RESULTS
From a dataset of 102 027 critically ill children, we analyzed 1999 subjects (284 [14.2%] with a pre-existing mental health condition and 1715 [85.8%] with no pre-existing mental health condition). Multivariable analysis demonstrated that death within one year was associated with the presence of pre-existing mental health conditions (odds ratio 8.97 [3.48-23.15], < 0.001), even after controlling for the presence of a complex chronic condition.
INTERPRETATION
The present study demonstrates that the presence of pre-existing mental health conditions was associated with higher odds of death within 1 year after receiving critical care. However, the confidence interval was wide and hence, the findings are inconclusive. Future studies with a larger sample size may be necessary to evaluate the true long-term impact of children with pre-existing mental health conditions who require critical care services.
PubMed: 38910847
DOI: 10.1002/ped4.12422 -
Journal of Environmental Management Jun 2024In this study, treated wastewater and Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) brine were integrated into the Forward Osmosis (FO) system using pressure stimuli-responsive Nanofiltration...
In this study, treated wastewater and Multi-Stage Flash (MSF) brine were integrated into the Forward Osmosis (FO) system using pressure stimuli-responsive Nanofiltration (PSRNF) membranes to dilute magnesium, calcium, and sulfate MSF plant brine reject. The deposition of magnesium sulfate and calcium sulfate in the heat exchanger is one of the main issues affecting the performance and efficiency of MSF thermal desalination plants. Reducing the concentration of the divalent ions can minimize scale formation and deposition to a level that allows the MSF plant to operate at high top brine temperature (TBT) and without scale problems. The PSRNF membranes were chosen in the FO process because of their high water permeability, rejection of divalent and monovalent ions, small structure parameter (S), and inexpensiveness compared to commercial FO membranes. Three PSRNF membranes were tested in the FO process with the feed solution facing the active membrane layer to avoid active layer delamination. Although the PSRNF membrane exhibited negligible water flux at 0 bar, it increased when a 2-4 bar was applied to the feed solution. The wastewater temperature was set at 25 °C while 40 °C was the brine operational temperature to mimic the field situation. A maximum average water flux of 39.5 L/mh was recorded at 4 bar feed pressure when the PSRNF membrane was used for the brine dilution, achieving up to 42% divalent ions dilution at 0.02 kWh/m specific power consumption. The average water flux in the PRSNF membrane was 35% higher than that in the commercial TFC FO membrane. Notably, the PSRNF membrane is ten times cheaper than commercial FO membranes. Notably, the PSRNF membrane is ten times cheaper than commercial FO membranes, achieving substantial cost reductions and pioneering advancements in FO purification technology.
PubMed: 38908153
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121517 -
Journal of Environmental Health Science... Jun 2024The escalating cadmium influx from industrial activities and anthropogenic sources has raised serious environmental concerns due to its toxic effects on ecosystems and... (Review)
Review
The escalating cadmium influx from industrial activities and anthropogenic sources has raised serious environmental concerns due to its toxic effects on ecosystems and human health. This review delves into the intricate mechanisms underlying microbial resistance to cadmium, shedding light on the multifaceted interplay between microorganisms and this hazardous heavy metal. Cadmium overexposure elicits severe health repercussions, including renal carcinoma, mucous membrane degradation, bone density loss, and kidney stone formation in humans. Moreover, its deleterious impact extends to animal and plant metabolism. While physico-chemical methods like reverse osmosis and ion exchange are employed to mitigate cadmium contamination, their costliness and incomplete efficacy necessitate alternative strategies. Microbes, particularly bacteria and fungi, exhibit remarkable resilience to elevated cadmium concentrations through intricate resistance mechanisms. This paper elucidates the ingenious strategies employed by these microorganisms to combat cadmium stress, encompassing metal ion sequestration, efflux pumps, and enzymatic detoxification pathways. Bioremediation emerges as a promising avenue for tackling cadmium pollution, leveraging microorganisms' ability to transform toxic cadmium forms into less hazardous derivatives. Unlike conventional methods, bioremediation offers a cost-effective, environmentally benign, and efficient approach. This review amalgamates the current understanding of microbial cadmium resistance mechanisms, highlighting their potential for sustainable remediation strategies. By unraveling the intricate interactions between microorganisms and cadmium, this study contributes to advancing our knowledge of bioremediation approaches, thereby paving the way for safer and more effective cadmium mitigation practices.
PubMed: 38887775
DOI: 10.1007/s40201-023-00887-6 -
RSC Advances Jun 2024Predicting the efficacy of micropollutant separation through functionalized membranes is an arduous endeavor. The challenge stems from the complex interactions between...
Predicting the efficacy of micropollutant separation through functionalized membranes is an arduous endeavor. The challenge stems from the complex interactions between the physicochemical properties of the micropollutants and the basic principles underlying membrane filtration. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of a modest dataset on various machine learning tools (ML) tools in predicting micropollutant removal efficiency for functionalized reverse osmosis (RO) and nanofiltration (NF) membranes. The inherent attributes of both the micropollutants and the membranes are utilized as input factors. The chosen ML tools are supervised algorithm (adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (NF), linear regression framework (linear regression (LR)), stepwise linear regression (SLR) and multivariate linear regression (MVR)), and unsupervised algorithm (support vector machine (SVM) and ensemble boosted tree (BT)). The feature engineering and parametric dependency analysis revealed that characteristics of micropollutants, such as maximum projection diameter (MaxP), minimal projection diameter (MinP), molecular weight (MW), and compound size (CS), exhibited a notably positive impact on the correlation with removal efficiency. Model combination with key variables demonstrated high prediction accuracy in both supervised and unsupervised ML for micropollutant removal efficiency. An NF-grid partitioning (NF-GP) model achieved the highest accuracy with an value of 0.965, accompanied by low error metrics, specifically an RMSE and MAE of 3.65. It is owed to the handling of the complex spatial and temporal aspects of micropollutant data through division into consistent subsets facilitating improved identification of rejection efficiency and relationships. The inclusion of inputs with both negative and positive correlations introduces variability, amplifies the system responsiveness, and impedes the precision of predictive models. This study identified key micropollutant properties, including MaxP, MinP, MW, and CS, as crucial factors for efficient micropollutant rejection during real-time filtration applications. It also allowed the design of pore size of self-prepared membranes for the enhanced separation of micropollutants from wastewater.
PubMed: 38887641
DOI: 10.1039/d4ra02475c -
RSC Advances Jun 2024Because of its great efficiency and widespread application, reverse osmosis (RO) is a popular tool for water desalination and purification. However, traditional RO... (Review)
Review
Because of its great efficiency and widespread application, reverse osmosis (RO) is a popular tool for water desalination and purification. However, traditional RO membranes have a short lifespan due to membrane fouling, deterioration, decreased salt rejection rate, and the low water flux with aging. As a result, membrane modification has received a lot of attention recently, with nanomaterials being extensively researched to improve membrane efficacy and lifespan. Herein, we present an in-depth analysis of recent advances of RO membranes modification utilizing nanomaterials. An overview of the various nanomaterials used for membrane modification, including metal oxides, zeolites, and carbon nanomaterials, is provided. The synthesis techniques and methods of integrating these nanomaterials into RO membranes are also discussed. The impacts of nanomaterial change on the performance of RO membranes are addressed. The underlying mechanisms responsible for RO membrane enhancements by nanomaterials, such as improved surface hydrophilicity, reduced membrane fouling surface repulsion and anti-adhesion properties, and enhanced structural stability, are discussed. Furthermore, the review provides a critical analysis of the challenges and limitations associated with the use of nanomaterials to modify RO membranes. Overall, this review provides valuable insights into the modification of RO membranes with nanomaterials, providing a full grasp of the benefits, challenges, and future prospects of this challenging topic.
PubMed: 38873545
DOI: 10.1039/d4ra01796j -
Frontiers in Microbiology 2024DNA extraction yield from drinking water distribution systems and premise plumbing is a key metric for any downstream analysis such as 16S amplicon or metagenomics...
DNA extraction yield from drinking water distribution systems and premise plumbing is a key metric for any downstream analysis such as 16S amplicon or metagenomics sequencing. This research aimed to optimize DNA yield from low-biomass (chlorinated) reverse osmosis-produced tap water by evaluating the impact of different factors during the DNA extraction procedure. The factors examined are (1) the impact of membrane materials and their pore sizes; (2) the impact of different cell densities; and (3) an alternative method for enhancing DNA yield via incubation (no nutrient spiking). DNA from a one-liter sampling volume of RO tap water with varying bacterial cell densities was extracted with five different filter membranes (mixed ester cellulose 0.2 μm, polycarbonate 0.2 μm, polyethersulfone 0.2 and 0.1 μm, polyvinylidene fluoride 0.1 μm) for biomass filtration. Our results show that (i) smaller membrane pore size solely did not increase the DNA yield of low-biomass RO tap water; (ii) the DNA yield was proportional to the cell density and substantially dependent on the filter membrane properties (i.e., the membrane materials and their pore sizes); (iii) by using our optimized DNA extraction protocol, we found that polycarbonate filter membrane with 0.2 μm pore size markedly outperformed in terms of quantity (DNA yield) and quality (background level of 16S gene copy number) of recovered microbial DNA; and finally, (iv) for one-liter sampling volume, incubation strategy enhanced the DNA yield and enabled accurate identification of the core members (i.e., and as the most abundant indicator taxa) of the bacterial community in low-biomass RO tap water. Importantly, incorporating multiple controls is crucial to distinguish between contaminant/artefactual and true taxa in amplicon sequencing studies of low-biomass RO tap water.
PubMed: 38855767
DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1339844 -
Next Materials Jan 2024Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are oxidatively recalcitrant organic synthetic compounds. PFAS are an exceptional group of chemicals that have significant...
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are oxidatively recalcitrant organic synthetic compounds. PFAS are an exceptional group of chemicals that have significant physical characteristics due to the presence of the most electronegative element (i.e., fluorine). PFAS persist in the environment, bioaccumulate, and have been linked to toxicological impacts. Epidemiological and toxicity studies have shown that PFAS pose environmental and health risks, requiring their complete elimination from the environment. Various separation technologies, including adsorption with activated carbon or ion exchange resin; nanofiltration; reverse osmosis; and destruction methods (e.g., sonolysis, thermally induced reduction, and photocatalytic dissociation) have been evaluated to remove PFAS from drinking water supplies. In this review, we will comprehensively summarize previous reports on the photodegradation of PFAS with a special focus on photocatalysis. Additionally, challenges associated with these approaches along with perspectives on the state-of-the-art approaches will be discussed. Finally, the photocatalytic defluorination mechanism of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) following complete mineralization will also be examined in detail.
PubMed: 38840836
DOI: 10.1016/j.nxmate.2023.100077 -
The European Physical Journal. E, Soft... Jun 2024In this study, we demonstrate the fabrication of polymersomes, protein-blended polymersomes, and polymeric microcapsules using droplet microfluidics. Polymersomes with...
In this study, we demonstrate the fabrication of polymersomes, protein-blended polymersomes, and polymeric microcapsules using droplet microfluidics. Polymersomes with uniform, single bilayers and controlled diameters are assembled from water-in-oil-in-water double-emulsion droplets. This technique relies on adjusting the interfacial energies of the droplet to completely separate the polymer-stabilized inner core from the oil shell. Protein-blended polymersomes are prepared by dissolving protein in the inner and outer phases of polymer-stabilized droplets. Cell-sized polymeric microcapsules are assembled by size reduction in the inner core through osmosis followed by evaporation of the middle phase. All methods are developed and validated using the same glass-capillary microfluidic apparatus. This integrative approach not only demonstrates the versatility of our setup, but also holds significant promise for standardizing and customizing the production of polymer-based artificial cells.
Topics: Artificial Cells; Polymers; Emulsions; Capsules; Microfluidics; Water; Microfluidic Analytical Techniques; Proteins
PubMed: 38829453
DOI: 10.1140/epje/s10189-024-00428-5 -
PeerJ 2024The burgeoning issue of landfill leachate, exacerbated by urbanization, necessitates evaluating its biological impact, traditionally overshadowed by physical and...
The burgeoning issue of landfill leachate, exacerbated by urbanization, necessitates evaluating its biological impact, traditionally overshadowed by physical and chemical assessments. This study harnesses , a model organism, to elucidate the physiological toxicity of landfill leachate subjected to different treatment processes: nanofiltration reverse osmosis tail water (NFRO), membrane bioreactor (MBR), and raw leachate (RAW). Our investigation focuses on the modulation of sugar metabolism, particularly trehalose-a disaccharide serving dual functions as an energy source and an anti-adversity molecule in invertebrates. Upon exposure, showcased a 60-70% reduction in glucose and glycogen levels alongside a significant trehalose increase, highlighting an adaptive response to environmental stress by augmenting trehalose synthesis. Notably, trehalose-related genes in the NFRO group were up-regulated, contrasting with the MBR and RAW groups, where trehalose synthesis genes outpaced decomposition genes by 20-30 times. These findings suggest that predominantly counters landfill leachate-induced stress through trehalose accumulation. This research not only provides insights into the differential impact of leachate treatment methods on but also proposes a molecular framework for assessing the environmental repercussions of landfill leachate, contributing to the development of novel strategies for pollution mitigation and environmental preservation.
Topics: Animals; Caenorhabditis elegans; Trehalose; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Stress, Physiological
PubMed: 38799059
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.17332 -
Chemosphere Aug 2024The present study describes a novel double-modified strategy for developing high-performance thin-film composite reverse osmosis (TFC-RO) membranes by incorporating...
The present study describes a novel double-modified strategy for developing high-performance thin-film composite reverse osmosis (TFC-RO) membranes by incorporating titanium-based metal organic frameworks (NH-MIL-125) and functionalised multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into the support layer and selective layer, respectively. Initially, the support layer was subjected to successive modifications using NH-MIL-125 mixed with polysulfone (PSF) in dimethylformamide DMF solution to investigate their impact on the performance and properties of the support layer and resultant TFC-RO membranes. Results indicated that the new structure of the modified support layer had significant influences on the developed TFC-RO membranes. Notably, the pristine PSF support exhibited a large surface pore size, medium porosity, and strong hydrophobicity, resulting in a low-flux TFC-RO membrane. However, after modification with NH-MIL-125, the optimal blend support demonstrated a small surface pore size, high porosity, and improved hydrophilicity, favouring the formation of a high performance TFC-RO membrane. The incorporation of functionalised MWCNTs nanochannels into the selective layer, using the optimal NH-MIL-125-PSF blended support, resulted in a smoother and more hydrophilic TFC-RO membrane with enhanced negative charge to improve antifouling properties against negative foulants (i.e., nanoplastics (NPs) and bovine serum albumin (BSA)). The double-modified membrane (TFC-RO-DM) exhibited superior performance over the conventional PSF-TFC-RO membrane. Notably, the maximum water flux reached 39 L m.h with 98.4% NaCl rejection. The membrane exhibited a high flux recovery rate of 92% following a 30-min physical cleaning process. Additionally, the TFC-RO-DM membrane displayed reduced fouling against NPs suggesting the great promise of this innovative double-modification approach for the advancement of high-performance TFC-RO membranes.
Topics: Nanotubes, Carbon; Osmosis; Membranes, Artificial; Water Purification; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; Metal-Organic Frameworks; Porosity; Water Pollutants, Chemical; Polymers; Titanium
PubMed: 38795918
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142401