Hong Kong Polytechnic University

About: Hong Kong Polytechnic University is a education organization based out in Hong Kong, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Tourism. The organization has 29633 authors who have published 72136 publications receiving 1956312 citations. The organization is also known as: HKPU & PolyU.

Metagenomic profiles of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) between human impacted estuary and deep ocean sediments

Abstract: Knowledge of the origins and dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) is essential for understanding modern resistomes in the environment. The mechanisms of the dissemination of ARGs can be revealed through comparative studies on the metagenomic profiling of ARGs between relatively pristine and human-impacted environments. The deep ocean bed of the South China Sea (SCS) is considered to be largely devoid of anthropogenic impacts, while the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) in south China has been highly impacted by intensive human activities. Commonly used antibiotics (sulfamethazine, norfloxacin, ofloxacin, tetracycline, and erythromycin) have been detected through chemical analysis in the PRE sediments, but not in the SCS sediments. In the relatively pristine SCS sediments, the most prevalent and abundant ARGs are those related to resistance to macrolides and polypeptides, with efflux pumps as the predominant mechanism. In the contaminated PRE sediments, the typical ARG profiles suggest a prevailing resistance to antibiotics commonly used in human health and animal farming (including sulfonamides, fluoroquinolones, and aminoglycosides), and higher diversity in both genotype and resistance mechanism than those in the SCS. In particular, antibiotic inactivation significantly contributed to the resistance to aminoglycosides, β-lactams, and macrolides observed in the PRE sediments. There was a significant correlation in the levels of abundance of ARGs and those of mobile genetic elements (including integrons and plasmids), which serve as carriers in the dissemination of ARGs in the aquatic environment. The metagenomic results from the current study support the view that ARGs naturally originate in pristine environments, while human activities accelerate the dissemination of ARGs so that microbes would be able to tolerate selective environmental stress in response to anthropogenic impacts.

A Survey on Energy Internet: Architecture, Approach, and Emerging Technologies

Abstract: Energy crisis and carbon emission have become two seriously concerned issues universally. As a feasible solution, Energy Internet (EI) has aroused global concern once proposed. EI is a new power generation developing a vision of evolution of smart grids into the Internet. The communication infrastructure is an essential component to the implementation of EI. A scalable and permanent communication infrastructure is crucial in both construction and operation of EI. In this paper, we present an introduction and the motivation to the evolution from smart grid to EI. We also introduce a representative EI architecture, i.e., the future renewable electric energy delivery and management system. Four critical EI features are emphasized. Then, we summarize the essential requirements that EI systems have to meet. With several key supporting technologies, EI shall realize the optimal utilization of highly scalable and distributed green energy resources, so that the situation of severe energy source crisis and carbon emission can be efficiently relieved. Since an EI system might have extensively distributed consumers and devices, the guarantee of its reliability and security is extremely significant. The further specific exploration for challenges, including reliability and security, will be stated in this paper.