Increased industrial and agricultural activity has affected the availability of phosphorus (P) in nature and has caused a significant imbalance in the P cycle with long-term consequences on ecosystem health and sustainability. While P is an essential element for food production as well as plant and animal nutrition, it is also a limited nonrenewable resource whose availability is expected to decrease in the next century. Widespread application of P-based fertilizers and their excessive accumulation in water bodies leads to eutrophication which is associated with overgrowth of harmful algal blooms and degradation of water quality. This paper provides an overview of contemporary challenges and methodologies for improving P use efficiency and sustainability in the environment. Technologies and processes for the removal of P-containing compounds from water through the use of functional nanomaterial sorbents with tailored surface properties for capture, removal, and recycling are described. Various classes of materials including carbon-based, zeolites, mesoporous silica, metal organic frameworks, metal oxides and hydroxides, biomass-derived materials, and P-binding receptors are reviewed along with their properties, binding affinity, and adsorption capacity. The potential of these materials to control the amount of P in the environment and create decision support tools for water resource management is also discussed, with examples of applications.

BackgroundSome authors have hypothesized that Treatment-Resistant Unipolar Depression (TRD-UP) should be considered within the bipolar spectrum disorders and that hidden bipolarity may be a risk factor for TRD-UP. However, there are neither studies comparing clinical and sociodemographic data of patients with TRD-UP versus Bipolar (BP) disorders nor are there any examining differences versus Bipolar type I (BP-I) and Bipolar type II (BP-II).MethodsCharts analysis was conducted on 194 patients followed at the Mood Disorders Clinic of the McGill University Health Center. Sociodemographic, clinical features and depression scales were collected from patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for TRD-UP (n = 100) and BP (n = 94). Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine clinical predictors independently associated with the two disorders.ResultsCompared to BP, TRD-UP patients exhibited greater severity of depression, prevalence of anxiety and panic disorders, melancholic features, Cluster-C personality disorders, later onset of depression and fewer hospitalizations. Binary logistic regression indicated that higher comorbidity with anxiety disorders, higher depression scale scores and lower global assessment of functioning (GAF) scores, and lower number of hospitalizations and psychotherapies differentiated TRD-UP from BP patients. We also found that the rate of unemployment and the number of hospitalizations for depression was higher in BP-I than in BP-II, while the rate of suicide attempts was lower in BP-I than in BP-II depressed patients.ConclusionsThese results suggest that TRD-UP constitutes a distinct psychopathological condition and not necessarily a prodromal state of BP depression.

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