Removal of contaminants of emerging concern from real wastewater by an innovative hybrid membrane process - UltraSound, Adsorption, and Membrane ultrafiltration (USAMe®).

Abstract The low-level presence of emerging contaminants (ECs) in the environment has raised a great concern due to their persistence, chronic toxicological, and endocrine disrupting effects on terrestrial and aquatic organisms. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) have become hotspots for the spread of these contaminants to the environment as conventional processes are not efficient in removing them. Thus, the integration of advanced treatment methods within the chain of WWTPs is very essential. In this study, the innovative hybrid process USAMe® which integrates ultrasound irradiation (US), adsorption (A) and membrane filtration (Me) was investigated for the removal of ECs from secondary effluents. Diclofenac, carbamazepine, and amoxicillin were selected due to their large consumption and frequent presence in the aquatic environment. All three ECs were spiked into real secondary wastewater effluent at two concentrations of 10 ppm and 100 ppb. Membrane ultrafiltration and its combination with US (USMe) or adsorption (AMe) were also studied as control tests. The hybrid combination of all the three methods in the USAMe® processes elevated the EC removals to above 99% as compared to only around 90% in the AMe process. All effluents of the hybrid USAMe® processes gave "No Effect" to D. magna, with immobilization of ≤20%. Therefore, results showed that the USAMe® process was efficient in not only removing ECs, but also in generating safe and less toxic treated effluents; thereby displaying its potential as an advanced method for wastewater treatment

Are pharmaceuticals removal and membrane fouling in electromembrane bioreactor affected by current density?

Abstract Pharmaceutical active compounds (PhACs) have been detected at significant concentrations in various natural and artificial aquatic environments. In this study, electro membrane bioreactor (eMBR) technology was used to treat simulated municipal wastewater containing widely-used pharmaceuticals namely amoxicillin (AMX), diclofenac (DCF) and carbamazepine (CBZ). The effects of varying current density on the removal of PhACs (AMX, DCF and CBZ) and conventional pollutants (chemical oxygen demand (COD), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), humic substances, ammonia nitrogen (NH 4 -N), nitrate nitrogen (NO 3 -N) and orthophosphate (PO 4 -P) species) were examined. High COD and DOC removal efficiencies (~100%) were obtained in all the experimental runs regardless of applied current density. In contrast, enhanced removal efficiencies for AMX, DCF and CBZ were achieved at high current densities. Membrane fouling rate in eMBR with respect to conventional MBR was reduced by 24, 44 and 45% at current densities of 0.3, 0.5 and 1.15 mA/cm 2 , respectively. The mechanism for pharmaceutical removal in this study proceeded by: (1) charge neutralization between negatively-charged pharmaceutical compounds and positive electro-generated aluminium coagulants to form larger particles and (2) size exclusion by membrane filtration

Combination of Electrochemical Processes with Membrane Bioreactors for Wastewater Treatment and Fouling Control: A Review

This paper provides a critical review about the integration of electrochemical processes into membrane bioreactors (MBR) in order to understand the influence of these processes on wastewater treatment performance and membrane fouling control. The integration can be realized either in an internal or an external configuration. Electrically enhanced membrane bioreactors or electro membrane bioreactors (eMBRs) combine biodegradation, electrochemical and membrane filtration processes into one system providing higher effluent quality as compared to conventional MBRs and activated sludge plants. Furthermore, electrochemical processes, such as electrocoagulation, electrophoresis, and electroosmosis, help to mitigate deposition of foulants into the membrane and enhance sludge dewaterability by controlling the morphological properties and mobility of the colloidal particles and bulk liquid. Intermittent application of minute electric field has proven to reduce energy consumption and operational cost as well as minimize the negative effect of direct current field on microbial activity which are some of the main concerns in eMBR technology. The present review discusses important design considerations of eMBR, its advantages as well as its applications to different types of wastewater. It also presents several challenges that need to be addressed for future development of this hybrid technology which include treatment of high strength industrial wastewater and removal of emerging contaminants, optimization study, cost benefit analysis and the possible combination with microbial electrolysis cell for biohydrogen production

Autoimmunity in thymic epithelial tumors: a not yet clarified pathologic paradigm associated with several unmet clinical needs

Thymic epithelial tumors (TETs) are rare mediastinal cancers originating from the thymus, classified in two main histotypes: thymoma and thymic carcinoma (TC). TETs affect a primary lymphoid organ playing a critical role in keeping T-cell homeostasis and ensuring an adequate immunological tolerance against “self”. In particular, thymomas and not TC are frequently associated with autoimmune diseases (ADs), with Myasthenia Gravis being the most common AD present in 30% of patients with thymoma. This comorbidity, in addition to negatively affecting the quality and duration of patients’ life, reduces the spectrum of the available therapeutic options. Indeed, the presence of autoimmunity represents an exclusion criteria for the administration of the newest immunotherapeutic treatments with checkpoint inhibitors. The pathophysiological correlation between TETs and autoimmunity remains a mystery. Several studies have demonstrated the presence of a residual and active thymopoiesis in adult patients affected by thymomas, especially in mixed and lymphocytic-rich thymomas, currently known as type AB and B thymomas. The aim of this review is to provide the state of art in regard to the histological features of the different TET histotype, to the role of the different immune cells infiltrating tumor microenvironments and their impact in the break of central immunologic thymic tolerance in thymomas. We discuss here both cellular and molecular immunologic mechanisms inducing the onset of autoimmunity in TETs, limiting the portfolio of therapeutic strategies against TETs and greatly impacting the prognosis of associated autoimmune diseases

Incontri, scontri, confronti Appunti sulla ricezione della xilografia nordica in Italia tra XV e XX secolo

Germany, France, Italy: the attribution of the first woodcut images has long been debated between several countries, to gain the technological primacy of the invention of reproductive printmaking, before Gutenberg’s movable type printing. Today we know how difficult it is, if not impossible, to establish a place and a date of origin of image printing in Europe. Impossible and probably unimportant. Printing was a European phenomenon in the 15th century, and we may ask ourselves whether a northern woodcut beyond the Italian borders was intended as something different than an Italian one. The contrast between northern and southern prints, which has been claimed by art historians from Vasari until the half of the 20th century, seems to be denied by early modern Italian sources. For example, a German woodcut from the first decades of the 15th century and a Florentine painting from the end of the 14th century can coexist as models for the illumination of the same manuscript. This unpublished case study of two Florentine 15th-century illuminations shows how a European cultural horizon was more common than we think today, and how much woodcut has been a fundamental tool for this broadening of horizons, since its very beginning

Advanced MBR processes for wastewater treatment and energy production

2014 - 2015More stringent standards on water quality along with the shortage of vater resources have led to the development of advanced wastewater treatment processes, in order to ensure the respect of discharge limits and the reuse of trated water... [edited by author]XIV n.s

An Electro Moving Bed Membrane Bioreactor (eMB-MBR) as a Novel Technology for Wastewater Treatment and Reuse

Membrane bioreactor (MBR) is a reliable and promising technology for wastewater treatment and reuse. However, since membrane fouling and energy consumption still remain operational obstacles and challenges for the widespread application of the MBR technology, research studies for fouling control are still underway. Recently, among different integrated approaches for membrane fouling mitigation, the combinations of MBRs with electrochemical processes (eMBR/electro MBR) or with moving bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) have been adopted as alternative technological methods. In the present study, the performance of an electro moving bed membrane bioreactor (eMB-MBR), in terms of treatment efficiency and fouling formation, was investigated as a novel integrated process which combines an electro MBR with a moving bed membrane bioreactor (MB-MBR). An intermittent voltage gradient of 3 V/cm was applied between two electrodes immersed around a membrane module inside the bioreactor filled with carriers at 30% filling ratio. A MB-MBR was operated as a control test. The integration of electrochemical processes into the MB-MBR improved the treatment performance especially in terms of nutrient removal, with an enhancement of orthophosphate (PO4-P) and ammonia nitrogen (NH4-N) removal efficiencies up to 55.0% and 98.7%. The filtration cycles were extended in the eMB-MBR with a reduction of membrane fouling rate of around 60% and of membrane fouling precursors respect to the control test. The results obtained showed the synergic effect of the combined process. Hence, the eMB-MBR process represents a novel exciting technology which is deemed possible for wastewater treatmen