Electrocoagulation process (EC) has been the subject of several reviews in the last decade, and is still a very active area of research. Most published works deals with applications for treatment of ...drinking water and urban, industrial or agricultural wastewaters so as to enhance the simultaneous abatement of soluble and colloidal pollution. These also include contributions to theoretical understanding, electrode materials, operating conditions, reactor design and even techno-economic analysis. Even though, the numerous advantages reported in the literature, and the pros and cons of EC in comparison to alternative processes, its industrial application is not yet considered as an established wastewater technology because of the lack of systematic models for reactor scale-up. This paper presents a comprehensive review on its development and design. The most recent advances on EC reactor modeling are summarized with special emphasis on four major issues that still constitute the cornerstone of EC: the theoretical understanding of mechanisms governing pollution abatement, modeling approaches, CFD simulations, and techno-economic optimization. Finally, outlooks for future research and developments are suggested.
•Electrocoagulation is a versatile process able to treat drinking and waste waters.•The pros and cons of electrocoagulation (EC) are compared to alternative processes.•EC suffers from a lack of scale-up methodology and the current models are reviewed.•Four challenges emerge, covering theoretical, modeling and techno-economic aspects.•Outlooks for future research and developments are suggested.
Display omitted
Wood is the main source of lignin in the world. This generic term “Lignin” describes a large group of aromatic biopolymers, i.e. the second most abundant class of biopolymers on ...Earth. It accounts for approximately 30% of wood weight while conferring rigidity and antimicrobial properties to wood. Since lignin is combined with cellulose and hemicellulose in biomass, this will constitute a limiting factor in the bioconversion of wood into pulp or second-generation biofuels through the biochemical pathway. These processes generate a huge quantity of lignin as by-products, mainly used as fuels for energy savings. Recently, alternative routes towards lignin’s valorization were emphasized (e.g. as bio-based resins, adhesives, or composites), but they strongly depend on lignin’s chemical structure, also dependent on fractionation process. Therefore, this review aims to summarize the strong interplay between extraction processes, resource supply, and recent uses of lignin into bio-based materials.
•The different fouling mechanisms impairing RO membranes were described.•The various fouling control strategies to mitigate RO membrane fouling were discussed.•Novel RO membrane materials to ...effectively control fouling were addressed.•Macroscale modeling and simulation of the fouling effects was reviewed for RO.•Microscale modeling based on CFD in RO membrane channels was critically analyzed.
The development of the antifouling Reverse Osmosis (RO) membranes requires modeling and simulation as an essential tool alongside the progress of RO membrane technologies. After discussing the most recent knowledge on fouling, cleaning procedures, and pretreatment technologies, this review highlights the recent advances in RO membranes technology, together with macroscale and microscale modeling that could lead the full development of antifouling RO membrane. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) emerges as a promising modeling tool that could fully capture all mechanisms/phenomena involved in RO and fouling. For the successful simulation of fouling coupled to RO process, the development of models achieving a trade-off between computational cost and accuracy requirements that can be applied to all fouling types requires further theoretical development in the future.
•Continuous electrocoagulation is used as a pretreatment for seawater desalination.•This removes dissolved organic matter (DOC) through an electroflotation process.•An electrodisinfection effect is ...assessed from microorganism removal.•More than 50% DOC and 90% microorganism removal were achieved at 0.5kWh/m3.•This pretreatment is efficient and cost-effective to protect reverse osmosis process.
The main objective of this study was to examine the feasibility of a hybrid electrocoagulation/electroflotation/electrodisinfection (EC/EF/ED) process in treating seawater prior to desalination treatment using reverse osmosis process. Residual dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and heterotrophic bacteria concentrations were measured. A continuous treatment using aluminium electrodes was investigated, which lead to a complex gas-liquid-solid mixture in which aluminium flocs and hydrogen gas bubbles enhanced pollution removal. Experimental results showed that DOC removal efficiency increased when the current density increased and when the inlet flow rate decreased. The best performance of DOC removal (69.0%) was recorded while imposing 20mA/cm2 and 320s residence time when inflow pH was 4. Heterotrophic bacteria were completely removed for the highest current densities (20mA/cm2). In the EC process, a low concentration of total chlorine species (up to 0.45mg/L) resulting from the oxidation of chloride anions was formed, which promoted the removal of microorganisms, even though these were mainly removed by the coupled effects of the electric field and the bacteria entrapment in hydroxide flocs. Finally, EC/EF/ED as a one-step pretreatment method was shown to be efficient to replace the conventional methods prior to desalination by reverse osmosis as it was proved to remove efficiently organic matter and microorganisms from seawater: with 0.8L/h and 14mA/cm2, 50% of DOC and nearly all the microorganisms could be removed at less than 0.5kWh/m3.
To determine whether rituximab 375 mg/m(2) was efficacious in patients with immunoglobulin M (IgM) anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein antibody demyelinating neuropathy (IgM anti-MAG demyelinating ...neuropathy).
Fifty-four patients with IgM anti-MAG demyelinating neuropathy were enrolled in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The inclusion criteria were inflammatory neuropathy cause and treatment (INCAT) sensory score (ISS) ≥4 and visual analog pain scale >4 or ataxia score ≥2. The primary outcome was mean change in ISS at 12 months.
Twenty-six patients were randomized to a group receiving 4 weekly infusions of 375 mg/m(2) rituximab, and 28 patients to placebo. Intention-to-treat analysis, with imputation of missing ISS values by the last observation carried forward method, showed a lack of mean change in ISS at 12 months, 1.0 ± 2.7 in the rituximab group, and 1.0 ± 2.8 in the placebo group. However, changes were observed, in per protocol analysis at 12 months, for the number of patients with an improvement of at least 2 points in the INCAT disability scale (p = 0.027), the self-evaluation scale (p = 0.016), and 2 subscores of the Short Form-36 questionnaire.
Although primary outcome measures provide no evidence to support the use of rituximab in IgM anti-MAG demyelinating neuropathy, there were improvements in several secondary outcomes in per protocol analysis.
This study provides Class I evidence that rituximab is ineffective in improving ISS in patients with IgM anti-MAG demyelinating neuropathy.
In the present work, further analysis of complex conductivity was carried out. In particular, the first derivative of the ac conductivity of polysaccharide solutions provides a good differentiation ...of the different contributions of the conductivity. Moreover, this procedure allowed us to prove and confirm the validity of the equivalent circuit. In addition, a new electrical circuit was proposed to fit the complex conductivity. The main aim is focused on the analysis of the change in the electrical properties involved in the Cole–Cole relaxation process at medium and high frequencies, which in turn allowed us to extract crucial parameters such as ionic strength, dc conductivity, and relaxation time. It is found that their evolutions as a function of concentration revealed a clear transition at 5% (w/v), suggesting the transition from the dilute to the semi-dilute domain due to the cross-linking between polyvalent counterions and chains molecular.
An in situ microscope based on pulsed transmitted light illumination via optical fiber was combined to artificial-intelligence to enable for the first time an online cell classification according to ...well-known cellular morphological features. A 848 192-image database generated during a lab-scale production process of antibodies was processed using a convolutional neural network approach chosen for its accurate real-time object detection capabilities. In order to induce different cell death routes, hybridomas were grown in normal or suboptimal conditions in a stirred tank reactor, in the presence of substrate limitation, medium addition, pH regulation problem or oxygen depletion. Using such an optical system made it possible to monitor real-time the evolution of different classes of animal cells, among which viable, necrotic and apoptotic cells. A class of viable cells displaying bulges in feast or famine conditions was also revealed. Considered as a breakthrough in the catalogue of process analytical tools, in situ microscopy powered by artificial-intelligence is also of great interest for research.
Kennedy's disease (KD), also known as spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA), is a rare, adult-onset, X-linked recessive neuromuscular disease caused by CAG expansions in exon 1 of the androgen ...receptor gene (AR). The objective of the French national diagnostic and management protocol is to provide evidence-based best practice recommendations and outline an optimised care pathway for patients with KD, based on a systematic literature review and consensus multidisciplinary observations.
The initial evaluation, confirmation of the diagnosis, and management should ideally take place in a tertiary referral centre for motor neuron diseases, and involve an experienced multidisciplinary team of neurologists, endocrinologists, cardiologists and allied healthcare professionals. The diagnosis should be suspected in an adult male presenting with slowly progressive lower motor neuron symptoms, typically affecting the lower limbs at onset. Bulbar involvement (dysarthria and dysphagia) is often a later manifestation of the disease. Gynecomastia is not a constant feature, but is suggestive of a suspected diagnosis, which is further supported by electromyography showing diffuse motor neuron involvement often with asymptomatic sensory changes. A suspected diagnosis is confirmed by genetic testing. The multidisciplinary assessment should ascertain extra-neurological involvement such as cardiac repolarisation abnormalities (Brugada syndrome), signs of androgen resistance, genitourinary abnormalities, endocrine and metabolic changes (glucose intolerance, hyperlipidemia). In the absence of effective disease modifying therapies, the mainstay of management is symptomatic support using rehabilitation strategies (physiotherapy and speech therapy). Nutritional evaluation by an expert dietician is essential, and enteral nutrition (gastrostomy) may be required. Respiratory management centres on the detection and treatment of bronchial obstructions, as well as screening for aspiration pneumonia (chest physiotherapy, drainage, positioning, breath stacking, mechanical insufflation-exsufflation, cough assist machnie, antibiotics). Non-invasive mechanical ventilation is seldom needed. Symptomatic pharmaceutical therapy includes pain management, endocrine and metabolic interventions. There is no evidence for androgen substitution therapy.
The French national Kennedy's disease protocol provides management recommendations for patients with KD. In a low-incidence condition, sharing and integrating regional expertise, multidisciplinary experience and defining consensus best-practice recommendations is particularly important. Well-coordinated collaborative efforts will ultimately pave the way to the development of evidence-based international guidelines.
PDF
