Chronic Invasive Nongranulomatous Fungal Rhinosinusitis in Immunocompetent Individuals

Chronic invasive nongranulomatous fungal rhinosinusitis is a well-described but uncommon type of fungal rhinosinusitis (FRS). While the prevalence of chronic FRS is 0.11% in healthy individuals, only 1.3% of them are in nongranulomatous invasive nature. The majority of the cases in the literature have been reported from developing countries mostly located in the tropical regions, as typically occurring in the background of diabetes mellitus or corticosteroid treatment. The current paper reports four consecutive cases, who were diagnosed within a short period of six months at a single center of a country located outside the tropical climate zone. None of the patients had a comorbid disease that may cause immune suppression or a history of drug use. The only risk factor that may have a role in development of chronic invasive nongranulomatous FRS was that all of our patients were people working in greenhouse farming. Three cases underwent endoscopic sinus surgery, and one case underwent surgery with both endoscopic and external approaches. Systemic antifungal therapy was initiated in all cases in the postoperative period with voriconazole 200 mg orally twice a day. All patients achieved a complete clinical remission. Chronic invasive nongranulomatous FRS should be kept in mind in the presence of long-standing nonspecific sinonasal symptoms in immunocompetent individuals, particularly with a history of working in greenhouse farming

Assessment of different nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes for simultaneous removal of arsenic and boron from spent geothermal water

BOSTANCI, Kamil/0000-0002-8565-1851WOS:000616151300009PubMed: 33082019One of the factors that determine agricultural crops' yield is the quality of water used during irrigation. in this study, we assessed the usability of spent geothermal water for agricultural irrigation after membrane treatment. Preliminary membrane tests were conducted on a laboratory-scale set up followed by mini-pilot scale tests in a geothermal heating center. in part I, three commercially available membranes (XLE BWRO, NF90, and Osmonics CK- NF) were tested using a cross-flow flat-sheet membrane testing unit (Sepa CF II, GE-Osmonics) under constant applied pressure of 20 bar. in part II, different spiral wound membranes (TR-NE90-NF, TR-BE-BW, and BW30) other than the ones used in laboratory tests were employed for the mini-pilot scale studies in a continuous mode. Water recovery and applied pressure were maintained constant at 60% and 12 bar, respectively. Performances of the membranes were assessed in terms of the permeate flux, boron and arsenic removals. in laboratory tests, the permeate fluxes were measured as 94.3, 87.9, and 64.3 L m(-2) h(-1) for XLE BWRO, CK-NF and NF90 membranes, respectively. The arsenic removals were found as 99.0%, 87.5% and 83.6% while the boron removals were 56.8%, 54.2%, and 26.1% for XLE BWRO, NF90 and CK-NF membranes, respectively. in field tests, permeate fluxes were 49.9, 26.8 and 24.0 L m(-2) h(-1) for TR-NE90-NF, BW30-RO and TR-BE-BW membranes, respectively. Boron removals were calculated as 49.9%, 44.1% and 40.7% for TR-BE-BW, TR-NE90-NF and BW30-RO membranes, respectively. Removal efficiencies of arsenic in mini-pilot scale membrane tests were all over 90%. Quality of the permeate water produced was suitable for irrigation in terms of the electrical conductivity (EC) and the total dissolved solids (TDS) for all tested membranes with respect to guidelines set by the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Urbanisation (TMEU). However, XLE BWRO, CK-NF and NF90 membranes failed to meet the required limits for irrigation in terms of boron and arsenic concentrations in the product water. The permeate streams of TR-BE-BW, TR-NE90-NF and BW30-RO membranes complied with the irrigation water standards in terms of EC, TDS and arsenic concentration while boron concentration remained above the allowable limit.TUBITAK-NCBR [118Y490-POLTUR3/Geo4Food/4/2019]; TUBITAKTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK); Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB)This study was supported by an international research project supported by TUBITAK-NCBR (Project No: 118Y490-POLTUR3/Geo4Food/4/2019). The authors would like to acknowledge TUBITAK for financial support and scholarships to our students working for the project. Y.A. Jarma would like to thank the Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB) for PhD scholarship. We are grateful to Izmir Geothermal Energy Co., Izmir, for allowing us to install our mini-pilot system in their field