Removal of oxyanions (selenite, selenate, arsenate, phosphate and nitrate) during calcite formation was experimentally studied using aqueous carbonation of calcium hydroxide under moderate pressure ...(P
CO2
≅
20
bar) and temperature (30
°C). The effects of Ca(OH)
2 dose (10 and 20
g), Ca(OH)
2 source (commercial pure material or alkaline paper mill waste) and oxyanion initial concentration (from 0 to 70
mg
atom/L) were investigated for this anisobaric gas–liquid–solid system.
The Ca(OH)
2 carbonation reaction allowed successfully the removal of selenite (>90%), arsenate (>78%) and phosphate (≅100%) from synthetic solutions. Conversely, nitrate and selenate had not any physicochemical affinity/effect during calcite formation.
The rate of CO
2 transfer during calcite formation in presence of oxyanions was equal or slower than for an oxyanion-free system, allowing to define a retarding kinetic factor
RF that can vary between 0 (no retarding effect) to 1 (total inhibition). For selenite and phosphate
RF was quite high, close to 0.3. A small retarding effect was detected for arsenate (
RF
≈
0.05) and no retarding effect was detected for selenate and nitrate (
RF
≈
0). In general,
RF depends on the oxyanion initial concentration, oxyanion nature and Ca(OH)
2 dose.
The presence of oxyanions could also influence the crystal morphology and aggregation/agglomeration process. For example, a
c-axis elongation of calcite crystals was clearly observed at the equilibrium, for calcite formation in presence of selenite and phosphate.
The oxyanions removal process proposed herein was inspired on the common physicochemical treatment of wastewater using calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)
2). The particularity, for this novel method is the simultaneous calcium hydroxide carbonation with compressed carbon dioxide in order to stabilise the solid matter. This economical and ecological method could allow the removal of various oxyanions as well as the ex situ mineral sequestration of CO
2; particularly, when the Ca(OH)
2 source comes from alkaline solid waste.
A photonic system has been developed that enables sensitive quantitative determination of reactive oxygen species (ROS) – mainly hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) – in aerosol samples such as airborne ...nanoparticles and exhaled air from patients. The detection principle relies on the amplification of the absorbance under multiple scattering conditions due to optical path lengthening 1,2. In this study, the presence of cellulose membrane that acts as random medium into the glass optical cell considerably improved the sensitivity of the detection based on colorimetric FOX assay (FeII/orange xylenol). Despite the loss of assay volume (cellulose occupies 75% of cell volume) the limit of detection is enhanced by one order of magnitude reaching the value of 9nM (H2O2 equivalents). Spectral analysis is performed automatically with a periodicity of 5 to 15 s, giving rise to real-time ROS measurements. Moreover, the elution of air sample into the collection chamber via a micro-diffuser (impinger) enables quantitative determination of ROS contained in or generated from airborne samples. As proof-of-concept the photonic ROS detection system was used in the determination of both ROS generated from traffic pollution and ROS contained in the exhaled breath as lung inflammation biomarkers.
Abstract
Abstract/Introduction
Decompensated congestive heart failure (CHF) is a main and increasing health problem worldwide, which leads to patients’ bad outcomes and high money expenditure. Direct ...relationship between Brain Natriuretic Peptides (NT-proBNP) increasing levels and adverse clinical outcomes have been demonstrated in patients with CHF. SonR signal sensor, a micro-accelerometer embedded in the tip of the atrial lead in patients implanted with devices, picks up cardiac muscle vibration. Its amplitude is a surrogate for cardiac contractility, which is found to be further reduced in patients with decompensated CHF.
Purpose
We sought to find a significant inverse correlation between SonR signal and NT-proBNP levels, in order to use SonR as a surrogate of NT-proBNP to anticipate worsening CHF leading to hospital admission.
Methods
AVCs SONR trial is a pilot, prospective, observational, multicentre study, in which patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, any aetiology, LV ejection fraction ≤ 30%, at least one recent (< 1 year) hospital admission due to CHF, and implanted with CRT-D devices (used as dual-chamber, no left ventricular (LV) lead implanted) with SonR sensor feature, were enrolled. During a year, NT-proBNP and SonR values were obtained every month, and both levels compared (Pearson’s test)
Results
This an interim analysis of our data, 18 months after the first patient was enrolled. Twenty two patients and 116 data pairs were analysed. Most patients were men (91%) and had ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (59%). Mean age was 61 (range 34-82) and mean LV ejection fraction was 27% (range 15-30). The mean Pearson’s correlation coefficient of the NT-proBNP values and the SonR signal was r = - 0.36 (95% CI -0.51 to -0.19), p < 0.00006 (Figure)
Conclusions
The interim analysis of this study shows an inverse and very significant relationship between SonR signal and NT-proBNP values. This suggests SonR signal might be used as predictor of worsening CHF.
Abstract Figure
Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection are often non-specific, and there is no definitive test ...for the accurate diagnosis of infection. The 'omics' approaches to identifying biomarkers from the host-response to bacterial infection are promising. In this study, lipidomic analysis was carried out with plasma samples obtained from febrile children with confirmed bacterial infection (n = 20) and confirmed viral infection (n = 20). We show for the first time that bacterial and viral infection produces distinct profile in the host lipidome. Some species of glycerophosphoinositol, sphingomyelin, lysophosphatidylcholine and cholesterol sulfate were higher in the confirmed virus infected group, while some species of fatty acids, glycerophosphocholine, glycerophosphoserine, lactosylceramide and bilirubin were lower in the confirmed virus infected group when compared with confirmed bacterial infected group. A combination of three lipids achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.911 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.98). This pilot study demonstrates the potential of metabolic biomarkers to assist clinicians in distinguishing bacterial from viral infection in febrile children, to facilitate effective clinical management and to the limit inappropriate use of antibiotics.
Invasive meningococcal disease remains a rare infectious disease not only with high mortality but also with important morbidity. Until recently no universal vaccine existed against serogroup B, which ...explains most of the cases in settings like Europe. The objective of this study was to analyze the clinical course and sequelae of meningococcal disease in Spain.
Retrospective review of all children younger than 15 years admitted to any of the 36 hospitals in the MENDICOS Spanish network (www.mendicos.org) with confirmed or probable invasive meningococcal disease in children between January 2008 and December 2013.
A total of 458 cases were identified across the country, most of them occurring in previously healthy children (91.5%; n = 419/458). Median (interquartile range) age was 1.7 (0.7 and 4.6) years, with 53.1% of the cases occurring in children younger than 2 years; 82.1% (n = 368) were laboratory confirmed cases; 95.2% (n = 256) of those serogrouped were serogroup B. The diagnosis was meningitis in 24.9% (n = 114) of the cases, sepsis in 37.1% (n = 170) and both in 38.0% (n = 174). Mean hospital length of stay was 11.6 (10.9) days; 79.2% (n = 354) of the patients required pediatric intensive care unit admission, with a mean pediatric intensive care unit stay of 3.9 (4.9) days; 3.5% (n = 16) died; 12.9% (n = 59) of the survivors were discharged with some kind of physical sequelae, mainly neurological (n = 23).
Serogroup B invasive meningococcal infection explains substantial morbidity and mortality in Spain, occurring mainly in infants. The recent availability of a vaccine against serogroup B may change this scenario. Given that the vast majority of the cases occur in otherwise healthy children, inclusion of the meningococcal B vaccine in the national immunization program should be carefully considered.
The Argon Dark Matter (ArDM-1t) experiment is a ton-scale liquid argon (LAr) double-phase time projection chamber designed for direct Dark Matter searches. Such a device allows to explore the low ...energy frontier in LAr with a charge imaging detector. The ionization charge is extracted from the liquid into the gas phase and there amplified by the use of a Large Electron Multiplier in order to reduce the detection threshold. Direct detection of the ionization charge with fine spatial granularity, combined with a measurement of the amplitude and time evolution of the associated primary scintillation light, provide powerful tools for the identification of WIMP interactions against the background due to electrons, photons and possibly neutrons if scattering more than once. A one ton LAr detector is presently installed on surface at CERN to fully test all functionalities and it will be soon moved to an underground location. We will emphasize here the lessons learned from such a device for the design of a large LAr TPC for neutrino oscillation, proton decay and astrophysical neutrinos searches.
The ArDM experiment Harańczyk, M.; Amsler, C.; Badertscher, A. ...
Acta physica Polonica, B,
08/2010, Letnik:
41, Številka:
7
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The aim of the ArDM project is the development and operation of a one ton double-phase liquid argon detector for direct Dark Matter searches. The detector measures both the scintillation light and ...the ionization charge from ionizing radiation using two independent readout systems. This paper briefly describes the detector concept and presents preliminary results from the ArDM R & D program, including a 3 l prototype developed to test the charge readout system.
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