•A concept of AnMBR-PN/A process was proposed for mainstream treatment.•In-situ FA/FNA exposure eliminated Nitrospira while retained Nitosonomas community.••DO limitation prevented switch of the NOB ...community in the mainstream conditions.•The effluent TN of the mainstream PN/A system was lower than 10 mg-N/L.•Enhanced hydrodynamic shear force resulted in sludge settleability deterioration.
In this pilot-scale study, an innovative mainstream treatment process that couples the anaerobic membrane reactor (AnMBR) with a one-stage PN/A system was proposed for advancing the concept of carbon neutrality in the municipal wastewater treatment plant. This work demonstrates the start-up procedure of a pilot-scale one-stage PN/A system for mainstream treatment. The 255-day start-up of the one-stage PN/A system involved the cultivation of ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) from the activated sludge, suppression of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB), investigation of in-situ growth kinetics of anammox bacteria (AnAOB), and the 50-day operation of the pilot-scale AnMBR-PN/A process for natural mainstream treatment. It is verified in the pilot-scale system for the first time that the in-situ free ammonia (FA) and free nitrous acid (FNA) exposure could effectively eliminate the Nitrospira (the NOB genus) while retaining the Nitosonomas (the AOB genus) community in the suspended sludge. NOB community rebounding was not detected even at the mainstream conditions with low nitrogen concentrations (Influent ammonium concentration=38±6 mg-NH4+-N/L) by intermittent aeration to control the system dissolved oxygen (DO) below 0.5 mg/L. The results of the mainstream treatment showed that the average effluent total nitrogen (TN) in the coupled process was generally lower than 10 mg-N/L, which meets the discharge limits of most prefectures in Japan. The investigated results of the in-situ anammox bacteria (AnAOB) growth kinetics suggested that the promoted start-up strategy of taking advantage of the warm months with higher mainstream temperature to achieve the rapid in-situ growth of the AnAOB is applicable in the investigated regions. From the perspective of the removal performance of the TN and organic substance, the AnMBR-PN/A process has great potential as the layouts of the carbon-neutral mainstream wastewater treatment plants.
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•A 1670-L mainstream IFAS type PN/A at decreasing temperatures of 25, 20 and 15°C.•The NLR was 0.21–0.24 kg-N/m3/d and the NRE was 65.9–75.4%.•Insufficient treatment capacity of AOB results in ...reduction of nitrogen removal at 15°C.•Candidatus Brocadia and Candidatus Kuenenia were main AnAOB and almost enriched on carriers.•NOB was suppressed by the strategy of intermittent aeration and low DO.
Partial nitritation-anammox (PN/A) is a promising deammonification process to develop energy-neutral wastewater treatment plants. However, the mainstream application of PN/A still faces the challenges of low nitrogen concentration and low temperatures, and has not been studied under a realistic condition of large-scale reactor (kiloliter level), real municipal wastewater (MWW) and seasonal temperatures. In this research, a pilot-scale one-stage PN/A, with integrated fixed-film activated sludge (IFAS) configuration, was operated to treat the real MWW pretreated by anaerobic membrane bioreactor. The removal efficiency of total nitrogen (TN) was 79.4%, 75.7% and 65.9% at 25, 20 and 15°C, corresponding to the effluent TN of 7.3, 9.7 and 12.0 mg/L, respectively. The suppression of ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and anammox bacteria (AnAOB) occurred at lower temperatures, and the significant decrease in AOB treatment capacity was the reason for the poorer nitrogen removal at 15°C. Biomass retention and microbial segregation were successfully achieved. Specifically, Candidatus_Brocadia and Candidatus_Kuenenia were main AnAOB genera and mainly enriched on carriers, Nitrosomonas and uncultured f_Chitinophagaceae were main AOB genera and mainly distributed in suspended sludge and retained by sedimentation tank. Moreover, nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) were sufficiently suppressed by intermittent aeration and low dissolved oxygen, the presence of heterotrophic bacteria upgraded the PN/A to a simultaneous partial nitritation, anammox, denitrification, and COD oxidation (SNADCO) system, which improved the overall removal of TN and COD. The results of this investigation clearly evidence the strong feasibility of PN/A as a mainstream nitrogen removal process in temperate climates.
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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive neuronal cell loss. Recently, dysregulation of intracellular Ca
homeostasis has been suggested as a common ...proximal cause of neural dysfunction in AD. Here, we investigated (1) the pathogenic role of destabilization of ryanodine receptor (RyR2) in endoplasmic reticulum (ER) upon development of AD phenotypes in App
mice, which harbor three familial AD mutations (Swedish, Beyreuther/Iberian, and Arctic), and (2) the therapeutic effect of enhanced calmodulin (CaM) binding to RyR2. In the neuronal cells from App
mice, CaM dissociation from RyR2 was associated with AD-related phenotypes, i.e. Aβ accumulation, TAU phosphorylation, ER stress, neuronal cell loss, and cognitive dysfunction. Surprisingly, either genetic (by V3599K substitution in RyR2) or pharmacological (by dantrolene) enhancement of CaM binding to RyR2 reversed almost completely the aforementioned AD-related phenotypes, except for Aβ accumulation. Thus, destabilization of RyR2 due to CaM dissociation is most likely an early and fundamental pathogenic mechanism involved in the development of AD. The discovery that neuronal cell loss can be fully prevented simply by stabilizing RyR2 sheds new light on the treatment of AD.
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•Mass flows of C and N were redesigned by AnMBR-PN/A.•Removal efficiencies of COD and TN were 90.3%-95.1% and 75.0%-81.7%, respectively.•48.4%-63.1% of C was captured as CH4 and ...26.7%-39.7% of C was captured as sludge.•8.5%-16.1% of N was entrapped by membrane and 45.3%-58.1% of N was removed by PN/A.•AnMBR and PN/A mutually complement each other ensured excellent system performance.
A pilot-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) integrated with a one-stage partial nitritation-anammox (PN/A) reactor was operated for the treatment of municipal wastewater (MWW) at seasonal temperatures of 15–25 °C. The removal efficiencies of COD and total nitrogen (TN) were always > 90% and > 75% respectively. The methanogenesis and PN/A were identified as the primary removal pathways of COD and TN, respectively, and were suppressed at low temperatures. With the temperature dropped from 25 °C to 20 °C to 15 °C, the methane-accounted COD decreased from 63.1% to 59.6% to 48.4%, and the PN/A-accounted TN decreased from 58.1% to 51.7% to 45.3%. The AnMBR and PN/A mutually complement each other in this combined process, as the AnMBR removed 8.5%-16.1% of TN by sludge entrainment and the PN/A reactor removed 2.6%-3.4% of COD by denitrification and aerobic oxidation. These results highlighted the strong feasibility of applying the AnMBR-PN/A process to the treatment of MWW in temperate climate.
Background:In developed countries, the incidence of non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) has outpaced that of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). However, whether ...this trend is observed in Japan, in which the aging of society is rapidly progressing, remains to be elucidated.Methods and Results:This study retrospectively investigated the trends over time in the incidence of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) between August 2009 and July 2019 at 2 institutions in Izumo City (in rural Japan), which has an elderly population. Crude and age-sex-adjusted incidences of total ACS, STEMI, and non-ST-segment elevation-ACS (NSTE-ACS; including NSTEMI and unstable angina pectoris) were calculated for each year. In the total population, factors associated with the development of NSTEMI were evaluated by multivariate analysis. In total, 1,087 patients were enrolled. The age-adjusted incidence of NSTE-ACS in male patients aged ≥75 years showed a significantly increasing trend. The proportion of NSTEMI per total ACS cases showed a significantly increasing trend over the entire study period. In the multivariate analysis, pre-development use of ≥3 medications for comorbidities was associated with the development of NSTEMI, independent of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin assay use.Conclusions:This study demonstrated an increasing trend in the incidence of NSTEMI in a rural high-aged Japanese population. In addition to the widespread use of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays, early medication use for comorbidities might have contributed to this trend.
Dantrolene inhibits Ca2+ leakage from destabilized ryanodine receptors and therefore may serve as a therapeutic agent against endoplasmic reticulum stress-associated diseases. However, its ...effectiveness in treating autoimmune diseases remains unclear. Here, we investigated the effect of dantrolene on collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in mice. Oral administration of dantrolene resulted in significantly lower arthritic scores in both male and female CIA mice than in the control mice. Micro-computed tomographic and histological analyses showed that dantrolene suppressed bone and chondral destruction. The serum levels of anti-type II collagen (CII) IgG were positively correlated with the arthritic scores (r = 0.704, p < 0.01). In addition, the serum levels of anti-CII IgG were significantly lower in the dantrolene group than in the control group (p < 0.05). These results demonstrate that oral administration of dantrolene to CIA mice inhibits the production of serum anti-CII IgG and consequently prevents arthritis. Therefore, dantrolene may be a potential anti-rheumatic drug.
•Autoimmune arthritis is characterized by synovitis and autoantibody production.•Immunosuppressive effects of anti-rheumatic drugs increase the risk of infections.•Dantrolene inhibits bone and chondral destruction in collagen-induced arthritis mice.•Dantrolene administration reduces autoantibody production.•Dantrolene may be used as a potential anti-rheumatic drug.