The proposed methodology for optimizing energy efficiency, based on good management of the aeration process through the implementation of an appropriate control strategy, achieved reductions of more ...than 40% in energy consumption at the San Pedro del Pinatar Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) (Murcia, Spain). Phases I and II of this methodology managed to reduce the oxygen needs of the microorganisms in the biological system, optimize the efficiency of oxygen transfer to the biological reactor and redesign the installation to correct abnormal energy loss situations. In addition, we established the basis for Phase III, which implemented a control strategy to achieve stable values close to the setpoints of the fundamental operating parameters of the aeration process. The control system is based on the measurements recorded by strategically installed sensors and mathematical algorithms based on models, achieving an expert adaptive-predictive system that regulates aeration both in the biological stage by activated sludge and the aeration of the installed ultrafiltration membrane system. The objectives were: (i) to achieve automatic execution of the best management strategy; (ii) to reduce the energy demand; (iii) to improve the operation and stability of the process; (iv) to reduce operating costs; and (v) to contribute to the fulfillment of the sustainable development objectives.
•HIV-2 misdiagnosis is frequent in the absence of clinical suspicion.•We report 424 individuals with HIV-2 recorded in the Spanish registry.•Although 76% are Sub-Saharan migrants, native Spaniards ...represent 14%.•The annual incidence of HIV-2 in Spain is declining after peaking 15 years ago.•The current number of HIV-2 cases reported in Spain is below 10 per year.
HIV-2 infection is a neglected disease caused by a human retrovirus that causes AIDS more slowly than HIV-1. Infection with HIV-2 is endemic in West Africa. Given its differential features, guidelines recommend ruling out HIV-2 infection in all newly diagnosed HIV-seropositive individuals.
A national registry of HIV-2 cases was created in Spain in 1989, following the first report of three HIV-2+ individuals in Barcelona. The main demographics, clinical, and virological data are reported up to December 2023.
A total of 424 individuals with HIV-2 infection were recorded in the Spanish registry. After a peak in 2009 when 31 cases were reported, new HIV-2 diagnoses steadily decreased. Less than 10 cases/year have been notified since the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, only eight cases were reported.
Mean age at HIV-2 diagnosis was 44 years old, ranging from birth to 83 years. A total of 265 (62.5%) were male. Migrants predominated, being 322 (76%) Sub-Saharan Africans; however, 60 (14.2%) were native Spaniards. Heterosexual exposure was the most likely route of infection in at least 287 (67.7%) cases. A few cases could be traced to transfusions (n = 4), vertical infection (n = 2), or injection drug use (n = 7). In addition, 15 individuals (3.5%) were men who had sex with men. Coinfection with HIV-1 was recognized in 39 (9.2%) individuals. Molecular characterization of HIV-2 subtypes was performed in 139 individuals, 121 being infected with subtype A and 18 with subtype B.
The annual incidence of HIV-2 infection in Spain has decreased after peaking 15 years ago, being the current number of cases below 10 per year. Three-quarters are African migrants, and two-thirds are male. Circulation of HIV-2 in Spain is limited and steadily decreasing.
Considering the important role that wastewater reuse plays in the water cycle and in the current water scenario immersed in a severe drought, the search for technologies that allow obtaining quality ...water for reuse is increasingly relevant. In this sense, the membrane biological reactor (MBR) is an alternative to traditional activated sludge systems, in which the separation of biomass and treatment water is carried out by membrane filtration instead of decantation. This study made it possible to confirm the presence of emerging pollutants in the wastewater entering the WWTPs under study, to study the behavior and performance of MBR systems with hollow fiber membranes and flat membranes in obtaining reclaimed wastewater for subsequent reuse, and to compare it with the degree of elimination obtained in conventional biological treatment. It has been demonstrated that this technology is almost 100% effective in the elimination of nutrients, organic matter, pathogens, organic micropollutants, metals, etc., and has achieved different percentages of success in eliminating emerging pollutants depending on their nature: 35% in insecticides and herbicides, 45% in anxiolytics, psychiatric drugs, and industrial disinfectants, 75% in antibiotics, and around 100% in analgesics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and hormones. It has also contributed to the establishment of monitoring protocols for emerging pollutants in the WWTPs under study and to the evaluation of their risks, as well as the development and implementation of advanced regeneration systems that are economically favorable for increasing the quality of WWTP effluents for their reuse.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
Background
Microscopy continues to be the mainstay for the evaluation of parasitaemia in malaria but requires laboratory support and microbiological experience. Other fast and simple methods ...are necessary.
Methods
A retrospective observational study of imported malaria treated from July-2007 to December-2020 was carried out to evaluate the association between the degree of parasitaemia and both rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) reactivity patterns and haematological parameters.
Plasmodium falciparum
monoinfections diagnosed by peripheral blood smear and/or polymerase chain reaction (PCR),which also had a positive RDT result in the same blood sample, were included in the study.
Results
A total of 273 patients were included. Most of them were male (n = 256; 93.8%) and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travellers (n = 252; 92.3%). Patients with plasmodial lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH) or aldolase and histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP-2) co-reactivity (Pan/Pf pattern) had a parasitaemia range between 0 and 37% while those with just HRP-2 reactivity (
P. falciparum
pattern) had ranges between 0 and 1%. Not a single case of
P. falciparum
pattern was found for parasitaemia ranges greater than 1%, showing a negative predictive value of 100% for high parasitaemia. All the correlations between haematological parameters and parasitaemia resulted to be weak, with a maximum rho coefficient of -0.35 for lymphocytes and platelets, and of 0.40 for neutrophils-to-lymphocytes count ratio. Multivariate predictive models were constructed reflecting a poor predictive capacity.
Conclusions
The reactivity pattern of RDT allows a rapid semi-quantitative assessment of
P. falciparum
parasitaemia in travellers with imported malaria, discriminating patients with lower parasite loads. Haematological parameters were not able to estimate parasitaemia with sufficient precision.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Phase I of the proposed energy optimization methodology showed how the selection of best management criteria for the biological aeration process, and the guarantee of its control at the wastewater ...treatment plant (WWTP) in San Pedro del Pinatar (Murcia, Spain) produced reductions of around 20% in energy consumption by considerably reducing the oxygen needs of the microorganisms in the biological system. This manuscript focused on phase II of this methodology, which describes the tools that can be used to detect and correct deviations in the optimal operating points of the aeration equipment and the intrinsic deficiencies in the installation, in order to achieve optimization of the oxygen needs by the microorganisms and improve the efficiency of their transfer from the gas phase to the liquid phase. The objectives pursued were: (i) to minimize the need for aeration, (ii) to reduce the pressure losses in the installation, (iii) to optimize the air supply pressures to avoid excessive energy consumption for the same airflow, and (iv) to optimize the control strategy for the actual working conditions. The use of flow modeling and simulation techniques, the measurement and calculation of air transfer efficiency through the use of off-gas hoods, and the redesign of the aeration facility at the San Pedro del Pinatar WWTP were crucial, and allowed for reductions in energy consumption in Phase II of more than 20%.
Most purification systems work correctly from the point of view of water quality; purification, like any industrial process, must also be carried out efficiently with a minimization of costs. The ...overall project examined the potential benefits of using a recommended methodology for process evaluation and energy optimization in the aeration stage of activated sludge in the biological reactor at wastewater treatment plants (WWTP), which accounts for more than 44% of total operating costs. This energy control methodology encompasses the process, the installation and the control system. These three phases are examined in separate articles to make it easier to guide the user in the arduous task of optimizing energy efficiency of the WWTP from start to finish. This article focuses on Phase I of the methodology, the stage in charge of selecting the correct variables to control the best process conditions in the activated sludge system of the WWTP. Operating conditions that are a function of the recommended sludge age are influenced by exogenous factors such as temperature. The implementation of a real-time control system of the selected process variables, adapted to the needs, achieves reductions in the overall energy consumption of the installation, in this phase alone, of more than 15%, by reducing the oxygen requirements of the system and the recirculation ratios.
In Escherichia coli, ppGpp is a major determinant of growth and glycogen accumulation. Levels of this signaling nucleotide are controlled by the balanced activities of the ppGpp RelA synthetase and ...the dual-function hydrolase/synthetase SpoT. Here we report the construction of spoT null (ΔspoT) mutants obtained by transducing a ΔspoT allele from ΔrelAΔspoT double mutants into relA+ cells. Iodine staining of randomly selected transductants cultured on a rich complex medium revealed differences in glycogen content among them. Sequence and biochemical analyses of 8 ΔspoT clones displaying glycogen-deficient phenotypes revealed different inactivating mutations in relA and no detectable ppGpp when cells were cultured on a rich complex medium. Remarkably, although the co-existence of ΔspoT with relA proficient alleles has generally been considered synthetically lethal, we found that 11 ΔspoT clones displaying high glycogen phenotypes possessed relA mutant alleles with non-inactivating mutations that encoded stable RelA proteins and ppGpp contents reaching 45-85% of those of wild type cells. None of the ΔspoT clones, however, could grow on M9-glucose minimal medium. Both Sanger sequencing of specific genes and high-throughput genome sequencing of the ΔspoT clones revealed that suppressor mutations were restricted to the relA locus. The overall results (a) defined in around 4 nmoles ppGpp/g dry weight the threshold cellular levels that suffice to trigger net glycogen accumulation, (b) showed that mutations in relA, but not necessarily inactivating mutations, can be selected to compensate total SpoT function(s) loss, and (c) provided useful tools for studies of the in vivo regulation of E. coli RelA ppGpp synthetase.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The effectiveness of targeted therapies with tyrosine kinase inhibitors in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) depends on the accurate determination of the genomic status of the tumour. For this ...reason, molecular analyses to detect genetic rearrangements in some genes (ie,
,
,
) have become standard in patients with advanced disease. Since immunohistochemistry is easier to implement and interpret, it is normally used as the screening procedure, while fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) is used to confirm the rearrangement and decide on ambiguous immunostainings. Although FISH is considered the most sensitive method for the detection of
and
rearrangements, the interpretation of results requires detailed guidelines. In this review, we discuss the various technologies available to evaluate
and
genomic rearrangements using these techniques. Other techniques such as real-time PCR and next-generation sequencing have been developed recently to evaluate
and
gene rearrangements, but some limitations prevent their full implementation in the clinical setting. Similarly, liquid biopsies have the potential to change the treatment of patients with advanced lung cancer, but further research is required before this technology can be applied in routine clinical practice. We discuss the technical requirements of laboratories in the light of quality assurance programmes. Finally, we review the recent updates made to the guidelines for the determination of molecular biomarkers in patients with NSCLC.
Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease despite of being a major public health problem affecting nearly 240 million people in the world. Due to the migratory flow from endemic countries to ...Western countries, an increasing number of cases is being diagnosed in non-endemic areas, generally in migrants or people visiting these areas. Serology is the recommended method for screening and diagnosis of schistosomiasis in migrants from endemic regions. However, serological techniques have a highly variable sensitivity. The aim of this study was to evaluate retrospectively the sensitivity of three different serological tests used in real clinical practice for the screening and diagnosis of imported schistosomiasis in sub-Saharan migrant patients, using the detection of schistosome eggs in urine, faeces or tissues as the gold standard. We evaluated three different serological techniques in 405 sub-Saharan patients with confirmed schistosomiasis treated between 2004 and 2022: an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), an indirect haemagglutination assay (IHA) and an immunochromatographic test (ICT). The overall sensitivity values obtained with the different techniques were: 44.4% for IHA, 71.2% for ELISA and 94.7% for ICT, respectively. According to species, ICT showed the highest sensitivity ('S. haematobium': 94%, 'S. mansoni': 93.3%; and 'S. intercalatum/guineensis': 100%). In conclusion, our study shows that Schistosoma ICT has the best performance in real clinical practice, when compared to ELISA and IHA, in both 'S. mansoni' and 'S. haematobium' infections.
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