► We mixed MSW fly ash with different types and amounts of chlorides. ► We treated the mixtures thermally in a muffle oven and a rotary reactor. ► Thermodynamic equilibrium calculations have been ...carried out. ► NaCl directly chlorinates; CaCl
2 and MgCl
2 form first HCl or Cl
2. ► CaCl
2 and MgCl2 are much more effective for heavy metal removal from ash.
Heavy metal separation from municipal solid waste (MSW) fly ash is becoming important as a source for metal recovery and as a means to reduce landfill costs.
In an indirectly heated laboratory-scale rotary reactor, mixtures of MSW fly ash with different amounts and different types of chlorides are treated batch-wise at 1000
°C for 60
min; in a muffle oven, the same samples are thermally treated between 800 and 1200
°C for 20
h. The treated samples are analyzed for the heavy metals Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn. As chlorides, CaCl
2, MgCl
2, and NaCl are used; zero to 200
g Cl is added per kg ash.
CaCl
2 and MgCl
2 are more effective for most of the heavy metals than NaCl, which evaporates in significant amounts without reacting and even decreased the removal of Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn in rotary reactor experiments. NaCl directly chlorinates; CaCl
2 and MgCl
2 first form HCl and/or Cl
2 by reacting with H
2O and/or O
2 (indirect chlorination).
Maximum amounts of heavy metals released are in the rotary reactor: ca. 95–100% Cd and Pb (MgCl
2 or CaCl
2), more than 80% Cu and Zn (MgCl
2), approx. 10% Cr (any Cl donor) and 35% Ni (CaCl
2); removals in the muffle oven were generally higher than in the rotary reactor. Depending on the Cl donor, at 1200
°C up to 100% Cd, Cu, and Pb, ca. 30% Cr, 75% Ni, and 95% Zn could be vaporized. Higher removals in the muffle oven are found to be due to lower mass transfer into and out of the crucible, increasing the residence time of HCl, Cl
2 or chloride in the crucible.
A wide range of protozoan pathogens either transmitted by vectors (
,
,
and
), by contaminated food or water (
and
), or by sexual contact (
) invade various organs in the body and cause prominent ...human diseases, such as malaria, babesiosis, leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis, diarrhea, and trichomoniasis. Humans are frequently exposed to multiple pathogens simultaneously, or sequentially in the high-incidence regions to result in co-infections. Consequently, synergistic or antagonistic pathogenic effects could occur between microbes that also influences overall host responses and severity of diseases. The co-infecting organisms can also follow independent trajectory. In either case, co-infections change host and pathogen metabolic microenvironments, compromise the host immune status, and affect microbial pathogenicity to influence tissue colonization. Immunomodulation by protozoa often adversely affects cellular and humoral immune responses against co-infecting bacterial pathogens and promotes bacterial persistence, and result in more severe disease symptoms. Although co-infections by protozoa and viruses also occur in humans, extensive studies are not yet conducted probably because of limited animal model systems available that can be used for both groups of pathogens. Immunosuppressive effects of protozoan infections can also attenuate vaccines efficacy, weaken immunological memory development, and thus attenuate protection against co-infecting pathogens. Due to increasing occurrence of parasitic infections, roles of acute to chronic protozoan infection on immunological changes need extensive investigations to improve understanding of the mechanistic details of specific immune responses alteration. In fact, this phenomenon should be seriously considered as one cause of breakthrough infections after vaccination against both bacterial and viral pathogens, and for the emergence of drug-resistant bacterial strains. Such studies would facilitate development and implementation of effective vaccination and treatment regimens to prevent or significantly reduce breakthrough infections.
The intestinal microbiota influence neurodevelopment, modulate behavior, and contribute to neurological disorders. However, a functional link between gut bacteria and neurodegenerative diseases ...remains unexplored. Synucleinopathies are characterized by aggregation of the protein α-synuclein (αSyn), often resulting in motor dysfunction as exemplified by Parkinson’s disease (PD). Using mice that overexpress αSyn, we report herein that gut microbiota are required for motor deficits, microglia activation, and αSyn pathology. Antibiotic treatment ameliorates, while microbial re-colonization promotes, pathophysiology in adult animals, suggesting that postnatal signaling between the gut and the brain modulates disease. Indeed, oral administration of specific microbial metabolites to germ-free mice promotes neuroinflammation and motor symptoms. Remarkably, colonization of αSyn-overexpressing mice with microbiota from PD-affected patients enhances physical impairments compared to microbiota transplants from healthy human donors. These findings reveal that gut bacteria regulate movement disorders in mice and suggest that alterations in the human microbiome represent a risk factor for PD.
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•Gut microbes promote α-synuclein-mediated motor deficits and brain pathology•Depletion of gut bacteria reduces microglia activation•SCFAs modulate microglia and enhance PD pathophysiology•Human gut microbiota from PD patients induce enhanced motor dysfunction in mice
Signals from gut microbes are required for the neuroinflammatory responses as well as hallmark gastrointestinal and α-synuclein-dependent motor deficits in a model of Parkinson’s disease.
The incorporation of intercultural competence (IC) in higher education (HE), through the internationalization of the curriculum (IoC) faces challenges associated with policy and programing, levels of ...support, staff and faculty preparedness, and skill development opportunities for students. The premise is that IC can be better integrated in IoC initiatives by focusing on outcomes instead of outputs, assisting staff and faculty engagement, encouraging multi-perspective contributions, and incorporating a critical approach to IC through self-assessment and enhanced content. Therefore, we first establish a theoretical framework to address difficulties related to IoC, followed by examples of practices and recommendations to enhance IC programing.
Toll‐like receptors (TLRs) are a class of membrane‐spanning proteins of host cells. TLR2 and TLR4 are displayed on the surface of macrophages, neutrophils and dendritic cells and recognise ...structurally conserved microbial signatures defined as Pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). C3H mice are susceptible to tick‐borne pathogens; Lyme disease causing Borrelia burgdorferi that manifests arthritis and carditis and Apicomplexan protozoan, Babesia microti (Bm) that causes significant parasitemia associated with erythrocytopenia and haemoglobinuria. B. burgdorferi lacks typical TLR4 ligand lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and Bm TLR ligand(s) remain unknown. Only Borrelia lipoproteins that signal through TLR2 are established as PAMPs of these pathogens for TLR2/TLR4. Infection of C3H mice with each pathogen individually resulted in increase in the percentage of splenic B, T and FcR+ cells while their co‐infection significantly diminished levels of these cells and caused increased B. burgdorferi burden in the specific organs. The most pronounced inflammatory arthritis was observed in co‐infected C3H/HeJ mice. Parasitemia levels and kinetics of resolution of Bm in both mice strains were not significantly different. Transfected HEK293 cells showed pronounced signalling by B. burgdorferi through TLR2 and to some extent by TLR4 while Bm and infected erythrocytes did not show any response confirming our results in mice.
TLR4 stimulation in C3H/HeN mice by B. burgdorferi by unknown (indicated by a question mark) ligand(s) early in infection causes suppression of TLR2 expression. An increase in TLR2 expression in C3H/HeJ mice in the absence of a functional TLR4 possibly enhances signaling by Tri‐Acylated lipoproteins of colonized B. burgdorferi resulting in an increase in inflammatory Lyme arthritis, particularly during co‐infection that is associated with higher lymphocytes infiltration and hyperplasia of synovium in B. burgdorferi infected, and co‐infected C3H/HeJ mice. In vitro TLR2 signaling by Lyme spirochetes, and the lack of signaling through TLR2/TLR4 by egressed Bm or iRBCs (marked by a cross) support this model.
Malaria caused by
Plasmodium
species and transmitted by
Anopheles
mosquitoes affects large human populations, while
Ixodes
ticks transmit
Babesia
species and cause babesiosis. Babesiosis in animals ...has been known as an economic drain, and human disease has also emerged as a serious healthcare problem in the last 20–30 years. There is limited literature available regarding pathogenesis, immunity, and disease caused by
Babesia
spp. with their genomes sequenced only in the last decade. Therefore, using previous studies on
Plasmodium
as the foundation, we have compared similarities and differences in the pathogenesis of
Babesia
and host immune responses. Sexual life cycles of these two hemoparasites in their respective vectors are quite similar. An adult
Anopheles
female can take blood meal several times in its life such that it can both acquire and transmit Plasmodia to hosts. Since each tick stage takes blood meal only once, transstadial horizontal transmission from larva to nymph or nymph to adult is essential for the release of
Babesia
into the host. The initiation of the asexual cycle of these parasites is different because
Plasmodium
sporozoites need to infect hepatocytes before egressed merozoites can infect erythrocytes, while
Babesia
sporozoites are known to enter the erythrocytic cycle directly.
Plasmodium
metabolism, as determined by its two- to threefold larger genome than different
Babesia
, is more complex.
Plasmodium
replication occurs in parasitophorous vacuole (PV) within the host cells, and a relatively large number of merozoites are released from each infected RBC after schizogony. The
Babesia
erythrocytic cycle lacks both PV and schizogony. Cytoadherence that allows the sequestration of Plasmodia, primarily
P. falciparum
in different organs facilitated by prominent adhesins, has not been documented for
Babesia
yet. Inflammatory immune responses contribute to the severity of malaria and babesiosis. Antibodies appear to play only a minor role in the resolution of these diseases; however, cellular and innate immunity are critical for the clearance of both pathogens. Inflammatory immune responses affect the severity of both diseases. Macrophages facilitate the resolution of both infections and also offer cross-protection against related protozoa. Although the immunosuppression of adaptive immune responses by these parasites does not seem to affect their own clearance, it significantly exacerbates diseases caused by coinfecting bacteria during coinfections.
An electrocoagulation technique using a 3.5 L reactor, with aluminum electrodes in a monopolar arrangement with polarity switch at each 10 s was used to separate oil from synthetic oily water similar ...in oil concentration to produced water from offshore platforms. Up to 98% of oil removal was achieved after 20 min of processing. Processing time dependence of the oil removal and pH was measured and successfully adjusted to exponential models, indicating a pseudo first order behavior. Statistical analysis was used to prove that electrical conductivity and total solids depend significantly on the concentration of electrolyte (NaCl) in the medium. Oil removal depends mostly on the distance between the electrodes but is proportional to electrolyte concentration when initial pH is 8. Electrocoagulation with polarity switch maximizes the lifetime of the electrodes. The process reduced oil concentration to a value below that stipulated by law, proving it can be an efficient technology to minimize the offshore drilling impact in the environment.
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•An electrocoagulation system was built to separate crude emulsified oil from water.•It had 3.5 L, power switch at each 10 s and aluminum electrodes.•Oil removal of 97.77% was achieved.•Exponential models were proposed for the variation of pH and oil concentration with time.•The effects of distance between electrodes, pH, and electrolyte (NaCl) concentration were studied.
Lyme disease is caused by
, and the pathogenesis of the disease is complex with both bacterial and host factors contributing to inflammatory responses. Lyme disease affects different organs including ...joints and results in arthritis. Immune responses stimulated by
through toll-like receptors cause infiltration of leukocytes, which produce inflammatory cytokines and facilitate spirochete clearance. However, arthritic manifestations and chronic fatigue syndrome-like symptoms persist long after completion of antibiotic treatment regimens in a significant number of patients. To counter the effects of inflammation, treatment by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, hydroxychloroquine, or synovectomy to eradicate inflammatory arthritis in the involved joint could be employed; however, they often have long-term consequences. Acupuncture has been used for a long time in Asian medicine to diminish pain during various ailments, but the effects and its mechanism are just beginning to be explored. Control of inflammation by neuronal stimulation has been exploited as a systemic therapeutic intervention to arrest inflammatory processes. Our objective was to determine whether activation of the sciatic-vagal network by electroacupuncture on ST36 acupoint, which is used to control systemic inflammation in experimental models of infectious disorders such as endotoxemia, can also alleviate Lyme arthritis symptoms in mice. This aim was further strengthened by the reports that sciatic-vagal neuronal network stimulation can lead to dopamine production in the adrenal medulla and moderate the production of inflammatory factors. We first assessed whether electroacupuncture affects spirochete colonization to attenuate Lyme arthritis. Interestingly, bioluminescent
burden detected by live imaging and qPCR were similar in electroacupuncture- and mock-treated mice, while electroacupuncture induced a lasting anti-inflammatory effect on mice. Despite the discontinuation of treatment at 2 weeks, the simultaneous decrease in neutrophils in the joints and inflammatory cytokine levels throughout the body at 4 weeks suggests a systemic and persistent effect of electroacupuncture that attenuates Lyme arthritis. Our results suggest that electroacupuncture-mediated anti-inflammatory responses could offer promising healthcare benefits in patients suffering from long-term Lyme disease manifestations.
Spray dryer was used to produce particles from a milk–blackberry pulp mixture (25%:75% (w/w)). Maltodextrin 10DE and 20DE and gum Arabic were used as adjuvants in order to improve powder quality. The ...particles were analyzed with emphasis on physical and physicochemical characteristics: moisture content, bulk density, particle size, morphology, water activity, anthocyanins retention, anthocyanins content, hygroscopicity, solubility, water sorption, and glass transition temperature. The best results were obtained for the paste composition of 25% concentrated milk‐70% blackberry pulp‐5% gum Arabic, yielding high anthocyanins retention (>87.5%), low powder moisture content of 0.0265 g H2O/g dry matter and a higher powder solubility (>71.8%) when compared with other formulations. The increase of water content led to a decrease of powder's glass transition temperature. Powder stability was evaluated and the critical values of relative humidity and moisture content were estimated based on state diagrams of glass transition combined with sorption isotherm data.
Practical Application
The growing interest in blackberries is due to the presence of anthocyanins which have shown possible application as a natural dye for food and pharmaceutical products. Drying a mixture of blackberry pulp and milk may produce particles with a broad range of intrinsic nutrients. Milk components could act as a wall material and emulsifying agent, protecting the flavonoids from blackberry. Therefore, a milk–blackberry powder becomes an alternative, which may reduce postharvesting waste and increase the shelf life of the product without significantly altering its nutritional characteristics.
Plant breeding reduces the genetic diversity of plants and could influence the composition, structure, and diversity of the rhizosphere microbiome, selecting more homogeneous and specialized ...microbes. In this study, we used 16S rRNA sequencing to assess the bacterial community in the rhizosphere of different lines and modern cowpea cultivars, to investigate the effect of cowpea breeding on bacterial community assembly. Thus, two African lines (IT85F-2687 and IT82D-60) and two Brazilian cultivars (BRS-Guariba and BRS-Tumucumaque) of cowpea were assessed to verify if the generation advance and genetic breeding influence the bacterial community in the rhizosphere. No significant differences were found in the structure, richness, and diversity of bacterial community structure between the rhizosphere of the different cowpea genotypes, and only slight differences were found at the OTU level. The complexity of the co-occurrence network decreased from African lines to Brazilian cultivars. Regarding functional prediction, the core functions were significantly altered according to the genotypes. In general, African lines presented a more abundance of groups related to chemoheterotrophy, while the rhizosphere of the modern cultivars decreased functions related to cellulolysis. This study showed that the genetic breeding process affects the dynamics of the rhizosphere community, decreasing the complexity of interaction in one cultivar. As these cowpea genotypes are genetically related, it could suggest a new hypothesis of how genetic breeding of similar genotypes could influence the rhizosphere microbiome.
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