Article
Engineering, Environmental
Eskandar Poorasgari, Banu Ormeci
Summary: This study developed multiple regression models to estimate the abundance of carbapenem resistance genes (CRGs) in sludge during anaerobic digestion. The non-linear models provided more accurate estimation of gene abundance, which could benefit researchers and practitioners in estimating the removal rate of target genes under different operational conditions.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2022)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Yan Zhang, Qiuyan Mao, Yu-ao Su, Huimin Zhang, He Liu, Bo Fu, Zhiguo Su, Donghui Wen
Summary: The abundance of sludge ARGs and plasmid ARGs in thermophilic digesters was significantly lower than in mesophilic digesters, while the cellfree ARGs abundance was similar. Thermophilic digesters had higher archaea abundance, lower bacteria abundance, and a different microbial community compared to mesophilic ones. Firmicutes may be potential hosts of ARGs in sludge anaerobic digestion. The distinct microbial community was the main contributor to the low ARGs abundance in thermophilic sludge AD, indicating that thermophilic operation at 55 ?C is more conducive to control ARGs.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Chunxing Li, Ruming Wang, Xiaoyong Yang, Mingdian Zhou, Xiaofang Pan, Guanjing Cai, Yifeng Zhang, Gefu Zhu
Summary: The study successfully operated methanogenic fermentation under acidic conditions to treat wastewater containing oxytetracycline. Addition of oxytetracycline had little impact on methane generation but significantly influenced the microbial communities. Methanosaeta showed the highest tolerance to oxytetracycline under acidic conditions.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Marinus J. Moerland, Laura Castanares Perez, Maria E. Ruiz Velasco Sobrino, Paraschos Chatzopoulos, Brendo Meulman, Vinnie de Wilde, Grietje Zeeman, Cees J. N. Buisman, Miriam H. A. van Eekert
Summary: Thermophilic and hyper-thermophilic anaerobic digestion are effective methods for treating concentrated black water, achieving efficient COD removal and methane production with a shorter start-up time, but may result in lower methane production rates at high temperatures.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Min Zhang, You-Sheng Liu, Jian-Liang Zhao, Wang-Rong Liu, Jun Chen, Qian-Qian Zhang, Liang-Ying He, Guang-Guo Ying
Summary: The removal efficiencies of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in swine wastewater varied among three on-farm full-scale anaerobic digesters, with UASB and HDPE-BD showing better removal efficiencies than BBD. Pathogens could not be effectively removed by all three digesters, and accumulation of pathogens was found in UASB.
ENVIRONMENT INTERNATIONAL
(2021)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Qiuping Zhang, Jifei Xu, Xiujun Wang, Wenbo Zhu, Xiaoke Pang, Ji Zhao
Summary: The study explored changes and distributions of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the liquid and solid fractions during anaerobic digestion of dairy manure. It found that ARGs were enriched in the solid fraction after digestion, with high total solids promoting their enrichment. Increased abundances of certain bacterial genera were responsible for the enrichment of most ARGs in the solid fraction.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Eskandar Poorasgari, Banu Ormeci
Summary: Experimental and computational approaches were used to model the kinetics of volatile solids destruction during wastewater sludge digestion, taking into account the effects of water evaporation. New kinetic models were developed to predict volatile solids concentrations in different conditions. The study found that water evaporation is an important factor to consider for accurate determination of kinetic rate constants and solids reduction.
JOURNAL OF WATER PROCESS ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Bikash R. Tiwari, Satinder Kaur Brar, Rao Y. Surampalli
Summary: Thermophilic anaerobic digestion is a viable strategy to reduce municipal sludge volume and generate renewable energy. In this study, ultrasonication was found to be the best pretreatment method to enhance the digestion process.
JOURNAL OF WATER PROCESS ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Song Wang, Danfei Zeng, Biao Jin, Yanyan Su, Yifeng Zhang
Summary: This study revealed the impact of polyethylene microplastics (PE-MP) on the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in sewage sludge. Microbiological analysis identified potential hosts enriched under the stress of PE-MP. The results showed that PE-MP had both direct and indirect effects on the abundance of ARGs and MGEs.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Marinus J. Moerland, Koen van Gijn, Xiangyu Ji, Cees J. N. Buisman, Huub H. M. Rijnaarts, Alette A. M. Langenhoff, Miriam H. A. van Eekert
Summary: The removal of micropollutants during thermophilic and hyper-thermophilic anaerobic digestion of concentrated black water was assessed in this study. It was found that the micropollutant loading rate did not affect the removal efficiency, and some pharmaceuticals were almost completely removed (>95% removal). However, the removal efficiency of certain micropollutants was lower. Additionally, there were no differences in micropollutant removal efficiencies between thermophilic and hyper-thermophilic anaerobic digestion of concentrated black water.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Eva Maria Prem, Rudolf Markt, Mathias Wunderer, Andreas Otto Wagner
Summary: Efficient biogas production from organic waste is crucial for achieving carbon neutrality in the future. This study investigated the further digestion of thermophilic press water from a municipal solid waste digester using a combination of thermo- and mesophilic posttreatment methods. The results demonstrated that the press water still had significant biogas potential, particularly during the high season in central Europe. While there was an initial decrease in biogas production during the mesophilic posttreatment, the overall losses could be compensated, resulting in no significant difference in biogas production between the thermo- and mesophilic approaches. These findings suggest that the change in microbial community and the enhanced degradation of problematic intermediates, such as valerate, in the mesophilic reactor contribute to this compensatory effect.
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Hao Jiang, Fan Wu, Yuchang Wang, Lu Feng, Hongjun Zhou, Yeqing Li
Summary: In-situ hydrogen biomethanation is a promising technology for upgrading biogas quality, and investigating its characteristics under different conditions is crucial for its effectiveness. The experiments showed that hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis performed better at thermophilic conditions, with the highest methane content obtained when H2 and CO2 were fed at a 4:1 ratio with Methanothermobacter as the dominant genus.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Jingmiao Zhang, Shuai Wu, Ao Xia, Dong Feng, Yun Huang, Xianqing Zhu, Xun Zhu, Qiang Liao
Summary: Anaerobic digestion (AD) technology is an effective method for biogas production and livestock waste treatment. This study investigated the impact of oxytetracycline (OTC) on the AD process and found that OTC significantly inhibited methane production, with methane yields decreasing by 58.6% and 73.3% in mesophilic and thermophilic ADs respectively at an initial OTC concentration of 400 mg/L. OTC can be degraded by the AD process with a removal efficiency above 90% at lower concentrations. Higher OTC concentrations resulted in lower bio-methane yield, energy conversion efficiency, and contaminant removal in both mesophilic and thermophilic ADs.
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Anna Christine Trego, B. Conall Holohan, Ciara Keating, Alison Graham, Sandra O'Connor, Michael Gerardo, Dermot Hughes, Umer Zeeshan Ijaz, Vincent O'Flaherty
Summary: This study demonstrates the feasibility of high-rate, direct treatment of low-strength municipal wastewater at low temperatures for the first time. Efficient removal of BOD from wastewater and the discovery of a highly adaptable core microbiome provide a foundation for next-generation municipal wastewater treatment.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Konstantina Tsigkou, Michael Kornaros
Summary: The study focuses on developing a high-rate thermophilic anaerobic digester for treating olive mill wastewater, converting it to biogas to remove organic load amounts and achieve stable treatment conditions. The system shows high potential and can valorize olive mill wastewater without the need for co-digestion.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Qishen Huang, Peter J. Vikesland
Summary: This study demonstrates the use of flash-freeze surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to characterize the pH of micrometer-sized droplets generated from low solute concentration environmental water samples. The flash-freeze SERS approach preserves the initial droplet properties and provides greater sensitivity compared to pH paper. The results show that droplet and bulk pH were generally comparable for most environmental samples, except for one rainwater sample with a higher droplet pH. This indicates the potential influence of droplet composition on droplet pH.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LETTERS
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Asifur Rahman, Wei Wang, Divyapriya Govindaraj, Seju Kang, Peter J. Vikesland
Summary: Cellulose nanomaterials are advantageous due to their low cost, biocompatibility, and high stability and specific surface area. They can be combined with metal nanoparticles, organic polymers, and metal-organic frameworks to produce nanocomposites with various applications in environmental science and engineering.
CRITICAL REVIEWS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Correction
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Shantanu V. Bhide, Stanley B. Grant, Emily A. Parker, Megan A. Rippy, Adil N. Godrej, Sujay Kaushal, Greg Prelewicz, Niffy Saji, Shannon Curtis, Peter Vikesland, Ayella Maile-Moskowitz, Marc Edwards, Kathryn G. Lopez, Thomas A. Birkland, Todd Schenk
NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Jesada Punyafu, Sukyoung Hwang, Shiro Ihara, Hikaru Saito, Nobuhiro Tsuji, Mitsuhiro Murayama
Summary: Carbon-containing TWIP steels, which have a great strain hardening capability, suffer from serrations on the stress-strain curves, hindering their commercial development. The impact of grain size, especially in the ultrafine-grained range, and its orientation on the serrations and plastic deformation mechanism has been overlooked. This study compared the plastic deformation behavior in fine-grained and ultrafine-grained specimens and found a change in the dominant deformation mode when the grain size was equal to or smaller than 1 μm. The alteration was strongly influenced by the grain orientation and resulted in the enhancement of strain localization and the inhibition of serrations in the ultrafine-grained specimens.
MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING A-STRUCTURAL MATERIALS PROPERTIES MICROSTRUCTURE AND PROCESSING
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
J. V. Haag, J. Wang, K. Kruska, M. J. Olszta, C. H. Henager, D. J. Edwards, W. Setyawan, M. Murayama
Summary: Tungsten heavy alloys are being studied as plasma facing material components in nuclear fusion reactors. In this study, a 90W-7Ni-3Fe alloy was used to create a multiphase brick-and-mortar structure, inspired by the strength and stiffness of mollusks. The high-resolution structural and chemical characterization techniques revealed chemically diffuse phase boundaries with unexpected lattice coherency, contributing to the high strength and toughness of tungsten heavy alloys.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Review
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Wei Wang, Seju Kang, Wei Zhou, Peter J. Vikesland
Summary: Many emerging infectious diseases are caused by viruses, which can be transmitted through various environmental matrices. The development of nanosensors based on unique properties of nanomaterials offers great potential for rapid and sensitive virus detection in the environment. These nanosensors can generate detectable signals through interactions between viruses and nanomaterials, providing fast response times, high sensitivity, and specificity.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE-NANO
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Wei Wang, Asifur Rahman, Seju Kang, Peter J. Vikesland
Summary: Label-free surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a promising technique for bacterial detection. This study evaluated the impact of storage conditions on label-free SERS spectra of Pseudomonas syringae samples stored in phosphate buffered saline. The results showed that storage conditions can significantly affect bacterial SERS signals and should be considered when detecting bacteria or evaluating bacterial response to stress stimuli.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Nanoscience & Nanotechnology
Avala Lavakumar, Shuhei Yoshida, Jesada Punyafu, Shiro Ihara, Yan Chong, Hikaru Saito, Nobuhiro Tsuji, Mitsuhiro Murayama
Summary: The study focuses on the influence of grain size and temperature on the mechanical properties of equiatomic FeCoNi alloy. Different grain sizes ranging from ultra-fine to coarse were achieved by high-pressure torsion and annealing. The results show that the tensile yield strength is affected by temperature and grain size, and the grain boundary strength remains constant while the friction stress increases at lower temperature. At cryogenic temperature, the presence of nano twinning contributes to the enhancement of strength and ductility in addition to dislocation slip.
SCRIPTA MATERIALIA
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Andrea J. J. French, Alexandra K. K. Longest, Jin Pan, Peter J. J. Vikesland, Nisha K. K. Duggal, Linsey C. C. Marr, Seema S. S. Lakdawala
Summary: Efficient spread of respiratory viruses requires the virus to maintain infectivity in the environment. Our study measured the impact of initial droplet volume and relative humidity on the stability of influenza A virus, bacteriophage Phi6, and SARS-CoV-2. Virus decay rates differed between the wet and dry phases, and there were differences in virus decay characteristics by droplet size and virus. This study suggests that virus decay in media is related to droplet evaporation, which is controlled by relative humidity.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Aditya Garg, Wonil Nam, Wei Wang, Peter Vikesland, Wei Zhou
Summary: This study demonstrates the in situ spatiotemporal characterization and multivariate analysis of Pseudomonas syringae biofilms using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and nanolaminate plasmonic crystal SERS devices. The results show the potential of this method for monitoring the dynamic evolution of biofilms and their response to viral infection, offering insights for anti-biofilm therapy and viral detection.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Wei Wang, Peter J. Vikesland
Summary: In this study, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) was used to monitor the bioactive metabolites produced by ampicillin-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains and investigate the mechanisms underlying antibiotic resistance. The results showed that the blue-green pigment pyocyanin (PYO) dominated the metabolite signals and was significantly enhanced in the presence of subminimal inhibitory concentrations of ampicillin. The SERS spectra also revealed minimal impact on the production of intermediate substances and consistent nutrient consumption. Furthermore, exogenously added PYO enhanced the tolerance of ampicillin-susceptible Escherichia coli to some extent, indicating that PYO mediates antibiotic resistance in both the parent species and cocultured bacterial strains. The metabolic SERS signal provides new insights into antibiotic resistance and has promising applications in environmental monitoring and rapid clinical detection.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Editorial Material
Engineering, Environmental
Peter Vikesland
ACS ENVIRONMENTAL AU
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shiro Ihara, Mizumo Yoshinaga, Hiroya Miyazaki, Kota Wada, Satoshi Hata, Hikaru Saito, Mitsuhiro Murayama
Summary: The in situ observation of thermally activated solid reactions in nanoparticles has been achieved using electron microscopy combined with electron tomography. The study revealed a negative correlation between neck growth and particle distance, and succeeded in reducing the electron dose and preventing interference from oxidation and other artifacts.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Wei Wang, Peter J. Vikesland
Summary: This study incorporates gold nanoparticles into a hydrogel ink for 3D printing and culturing of cells, enabling the use of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for cell imaging. A random forest binary classifier is developed to accurately distinguish cell signals from the background. The results show that SERS signals provide information about cellular components.
ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Wei Wang, Peter J. Vikesland
Summary: This study demonstrates the use of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to monitor the metabolites produced by ampicillin-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains and identify the mechanisms underlying antibiotic resistance. The results indicate that the blue-green pigment pyocyanin (PYO) dominates the metabolite signals and is significantly enhanced by exposure to subminimal inhibitory concentrations of ampicillin. These findings provide new insights into antibiotic resistance.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)