Sewage sludge, which acts like a sink for many pollutants, including metals, pathogens and organic pollutants, that are not completely removed in waste water treatment plants (WWTPs), is applied as a ...nutrient rich organic fertilizer in many agricultural applications. In the present work, carrot and lettuce crops were grown in two different compost amended soils fortified with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorosulfonate acid (PFOS) and perfluorosulfonamide (FOSA) and cultivated in a greenhouse. The plants were harvested and divided into root core, root peel and leaves in the case of carrots and into heart and leaves for lettuces. Concentrations for all the different compartments were determined to assess the bioconcentration factors (BCFs) and the plant distribution of the target analytes. The highest carrot BCFs for PFOA and PFOS were determined in the leaves (0.6–3.4), while lower values were calculated in the core (0.05–0.6) and the peel (0.05–1.9) compartments. However, PFOA was taken up in the translocation stream and accumulated more than PFOS in the edible part of lettuce.
FOSA was totally degraded in the presence of carrot; however, a lower FOSA degradation was observed in presence of the lettuce, which was dependent on the total organic carbon (TOC) content of the soil. The higher the TOC value, the higher the FOSA degradation observed. No degradation was observed in the crop absence.
In the case of the carrot experiments, different polymeric materials (polyethersulfone, PES, polyoxymethylene, and silicone rod) were tested to predict the concentration in the cultivation media. A high correlation (r2>0.63) was observed for the BCFs in the PES and in the carrot core and peel for PFOA and PFOS. It could be, concluded that the PES can be used as a first approach for the determination of the uptake of compounds such as PFOS and PFOA in carrot.
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•BCFLeaves>BCFPeel~BCFCore for PFOS and PFOA in carrot•Leaves PFOA concentrations were obtained higher than PFOS and FOSA.•In presence of crop FOSA was partially (lettuce) or totally (carrot) degraded.•Analytes presence in leaves was due to root uptake and not to foliar uptake.•Good correlation between BCF PES and BCF Peel was obtained for carrot.
Spitzer Space Telescope imaging spectrometer observations of comet 9P/Tempel 1 during the Deep Impact encounter returned detailed, highly structured, 5- to 35-micrometer spectra of the ejecta. ...Emission signatures due to amorphous and crystalline silicates, amorphous carbon, carbonates, phyllosilicates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, water gas and ice, and sulfides were found. Good agreement is seen between the ejecta spectra and the material emitted from comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) and the circumstellar material around the young stellar object HD100546. The atomic abundance of the observed material is consistent with solar and C1 chondritic abundances, and the dust-to-gas ratio was determined to be greater than or equal to 1.3. The presence of the observed mix of materials requires efficient methods of annealing amorphous silicates and mixing of high- and low-temperature phases over large distances in the early protosolar nebula.
Introduced in 1999 as a novel solventless sample preparation method, stir-bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) has become a popular analytical technique for the pre-concentration of organic compounds into ...a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-coated stir-bar. In the last 10 years, hundreds of applications in the environmental, food and biomedical fields can be found in the literature. However, only PDMS-coated stir-bars are commercially available, which reduces the applicability of SBSE to the extraction of the non-polar compounds due to the poor extractability of more polar analytes. In this review, a view on method optimisation, limitations, potential solutions such as in-house coatings and derivatisation and novel applications in multi-residue analysis and passive sampling are revised.
The present work studied the uptake of 8:2 perfluoroalkyl phosphate diester (diPAP) by two different crops (lettuce and carrot) and two different amended soils. Firstly, the possible degradation of ...8:2 diPAP in the absence of crop was studied and 8:2 monoPAP (monophosphate), 8:2 FTCA (saturated fluorotelomer carboxylate), 8:2 FTUCA (unsaturated fluorotelomer carboxylate), 7:3 FTCA (saturated fluorotelomer carboxylate), PFHpA (perfluoroheptanoic acid), PFHxA (perfluorohexanoic acid) and PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) were detected. In the presence of crops, different degradation products were detected in the soil and, while PFNA (perfluorononanoic acid), PFHpA, PFHxA, PFPeA (perfluoropentacoic acid), PFBA (perfluorobutanoic acid), 7:3 FTCA and PFOA were determined in the cultivation media when carrot was grown, PFOA was the only degradation product detected in the case of lettuce experiments.
Regarding the uptake in carrot, all the degradation products except 7:3 FTCA were translocated from the soil to the carrot. Carrot core, peel and leaves bioconcentration factors, BCFs, were determined for 8:2 diPAP and its degradation products. Values lower than method detection limits for core and low BCFs in peel (0.025–0.042) and leaves (0.028–0.049) were achieved for 8:2 diPAP. Regarding to the degradation products, the higher their water solubility, the higher the plant translocation. In this sense, the lower the carbon chain length of PFCAs, the higher the BCFs determined (PFBA > PFHxA > PFHpA > PFOA > PFNA). In general, lower total BCFs were achieved when the total organic carbon of the soils increased. For lettuce experiments, 8:2 diPAP (0.04–0.18) and PFOA (0.28–1.57) were only determined in lettuce heart.
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•8:2 diPAP was degraded in the presence and absence of crops (lettuce and carrot).•PFOA was always the major metabolite both in the presence and absence of crops.•Low accumulation in carrot and lettuce of 8:2 diPAP was observed.•The higher the solubility of the metabolites, the higher the BCFs observed in carrot.•PFOA was the only metabolite detected in lettuce uptake experiments.
For the first time, organic semiconducting polymer dots (Pdots) based on poly(9,9′‐dioctylfluorenyl‐2,7‐diyl)‐co‐(1,4‐benzo‐{2,1′,3} thiadiazole) (PFBT) and polystyrene grafting with ...carboxyl‐group‐functionalized ethylene oxide (PS‐PEG‐COOH) are introduced as a photocatalyst towards visible‐light‐driven hydrogen generation in a completely organic solvent‐free system. With these organic Pdots as the photocatalyst, an impressive initial rate constant of 8.3 mmol h−1 g−1 was obtained for visible‐light‐driven hydrogen production, which is 5‐orders of magnitude higher than that of pristine PFBT polymer under the same catalytic conditions. Detailed kinetics studies suggest that the productive electron transfer quench of the excited state of Pdots by an electron donor is about 40 %. More importantly, we also found that the Pdots can tolerate oxygen during catalysis, which is crucial for further application of this material for light‐driven water splitting.
Organic polymer dots were used as a photocatalyst for visible‐light‐driven hydrogen generation for the first time and showed impressive activity with an initial hydrogen generation rate of 8.3 mmol h−1 g−1 without the assistance of any co‐catalysts. Do=donor.
An increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) has been reported. Whether COVID-19 increases the risk of VTE in non-ICU ...wards remains unknown. We aimed to evaluate the burden of asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in COVID-19 patients with elevated D-dimer levels.
In this prospective study consecutive patients hospitalized in non-intensive care units with diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia and D-dimer > 1000 ng/ml were screened for asymptomatic DVT with complete compression doppler ultrasound (CCUS). The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee.
The study comprised 156 patients (65.4% male). All but three patients received standard doses of thromboprophylaxis. Median days of hospitalization until CCUS was 9 (IQR 5–17). CCUS was positive for DVT in 23 patients (14.7%), of whom only one was proximal DVT. Seven patients (4.5%) had bilateral distal DVT. Patients with DVT had higher median D-dimer levels: 4527 (IQR 1925-9144) ng/ml vs 2050 (IQR 1428-3235) ng/ml; p < 0.001. D-dimer levels > 1570 ng/ml were associated with asymptomatic DVT (OR 9.1; CI 95% 1.1–70.1). D-dimer showed an acceptable discriminative capacity (area under the ROC curve 0.72, 95% CI 0.61–0.84).
In patients admitted with COVID-19 pneumonia and elevated D-dimer levels, the incidence of asymptomatic DVT is similar to that described in other series. Higher cut-off levels for D-dimer might be necessary for the diagnosis of DVT in COVID-19 patients.
•An increased risk of VTE in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia admitted to intensive care unit has been reported.•The most consistent hemostatic abnormalities with COVID-19 include mild thrombocytopenia and increased D-dimer levels.•In COVID-19 patients with high D-dimer levels, the incidence of asymptomatic DVT is similar to that described in other series.•Higher cut-off levels for D-dimer might be necessary for the diagnosis of DVT in COVID-19 patients.
We report the detection of the 1.3 mm continuum and the molecular emission of the disks of the young triple system SR24 by analyzing ALMA (The Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimter Array) ...subarcsecond archival observations. We estimate the mass of the disks (0.025 M☉ and 4 × 10−5 M⊕ for SR24S and SR24N, respectively) and the dynamical mass of the protostars (1.5 M☉ and 1.1 M☉). A kinematic model of the SR24S disk to fit its C18O (2-1) emission allows us to develop an observational method to determine the tilt of a rotating and accreting disk. We derive the size, inclination, position angle, and sense of rotation of each disk, finding that they are strongly misaligned ( ) and possibly rotate in opposite directions as seen from Earth, in projection. We compare the ALMA observations with 12CO SMA archival observations, which are more sensitive to extended structures. We find three extended structures and estimate their masses: a molecular bridge joining the disks of the system, a molecular gas reservoir associated with SR24N, and a gas streamer associated with SR24S. Finally, we discuss the possible origin of the misaligned SR24 system, concluding that a closer inspection of the northern gas reservoir is needed to better understand it.
Aims
This study aimed to evaluate in vitro individual and combined antifungal activity of propolis extract (PE) and oregano essential oil (OEO) against Penicillium allii, causal agent of blue mould ...disease. The chemical characterization of both products was also included.
Methods and Results
Chromatographic analysis of PE and OEO confirmed the presence of bioactive compounds. The antifungal susceptibility assays showed that PE and OEO were highly active against the mycelial growth and conidial germination of P. allii. PE and OEO MICs were 12·5 and 1·5 μl ml−1, respectively. The MFCs of these products were 50 and 3·1 μl ml−1, respectively. PE acted mainly through diffusion, while OEO acted by a mixed contribution of vapour and diffusion. Synergism and additive effect between both products were found in some combination ratios.
Conclusion
PE and OEO, both natural products with different chemical composition, have a strong antifungal activity against P. allii and show a favourable interaction causing synergism.
Significance and Impact of the Study
The results of this study indicated the potential use of PE combined with OEO as a non‐conventional strategy towards the formulation of a biofungicide to control blue mould disease in garlic seed‐cloves.
Aims
The present study analyses molecular characteristics of the locus coeruleus (LC) and projections to the amygdala and hippocampus at asymptomatic early and middle Braak stages of neurofibrillary ...tangle (NFT) pathology.
Methods
Immunohistochemistry, whole‐transcriptome arrays and RT‐qPCR in LC and western blotting in hippocampus and amygdala in a cohort of asymptomatic individuals at stages I–IV of NFT pathology were used.
Results
NFTs in the LC increased in parallel with colocalized expression of tau kinases, increased neuroketal adducts and decreased superoxide dismutase 1 in neurons with hyperphosphorylated tau and decreased voltage‐dependent anion channel in neurons containing truncated tau were found. These were accompanied by increased microglia and AIF1, CD68, PTGS2, IL1β, IL6 and TNF‐α gene expression. Whole‐transcriptome arrays revealed upregulation of genes coding for proteins associated with heat shock protein binding and genes associated with ATP metabolism and downregulation of genes coding for DNA‐binding proteins and members of the small nucleolar RNAs family, at stage IV when compared with stage I. Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactivity was preserved in neurons of the LC, but decreased TH and increased α2A adrenergic receptor protein levels were found in the hippocampus and the amygdala.
Conclusions
Complex alteration of several metabolic pathways occurs in the LC accompanying NFT formation at early and middle asymptomatic stages of NFT pathology. Dopaminergic/noradrenergic denervation and increased expression of α2A adrenergic receptor in the hippocampus and amygdala occur at first stage of NFT pathology, suggesting compensatory activation in the face of decreased adrenergic input occurring before clinical evidence of cognitive impairment and depression.
Novel alterations in metabolic pathways in the locus coeruleus accompany tau pathology in pre‐symptomatic Alzheimer's disease have implications for disease mechanisms and developing treatment strategies.
BACKGROUNDPassive immunotherapy with convalescent plasma (CP) is a potential treatment for COVID-19. Evidence from controlled clinical trials is inconclusive.METHODSWe conducted a randomized, ...open-label, controlled clinical trial at 27 hospitals in Spain. Patients had to be admitted for COVID-19 pneumonia within 7 days from symptom onset and not on mechanical ventilation or high-flow oxygen devices. Patients were randomized 1:1 to treatment with CP in addition to standard of care (SOC) or to the control arm receiving only SOC. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients in categories 5 (noninvasive ventilation or high-flow oxygen), 6 (invasive mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation ECMO), or 7 (death) at 14 days. Primary analysis was performed in the intention-to-treat population.RESULTSBetween April 4, 2020, and February 5, 2021, 350 patients were randomly assigned to either CP (n = 179) or SOC (n = 171). At 14 days, proportion of patients in categories 5, 6, or 7 was 11.7% in the CP group versus 16.4% in the control group (P = 0.205). The difference was greater at 28 days, with 8.4% of patients in categories 5-7 in the CP group versus 17.0% in the control group (P = 0.021). The difference in overall survival did not reach statistical significance (HR 0.46, 95% CI 0.19-1.14, log-rank P = 0.087).CONCLUSIONCP showed a significant benefit in preventing progression to noninvasive ventilation or high-flow oxygen, invasive mechanical ventilation or ECMO, or death at 28 days. The effect on the predefined primary endpoint at 14 days and the effect on overall survival were not statistically significant.TRIAL REGISTRATIONClinicaltrials.gov, NCT04345523.FUNDINGGovernment of Spain, Instituto de Salud Carlos III.
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