Valuation of sewage sludge ash as a component of precast concrete

Se plantea la combinación binaria y ternaria de cenizas de lodo de depuradora (CLD) con ceniza volante, polvo de mármol y ceniza de cáscara de arroz, como sustitución parcial o como adición respecto al cemento Portland en hormigones, con una dosificación similar a la utilizada en la prefabricación de bloques (consistencia muy seca). Se llevaron a cabo ensayos físico-mecánicos sobre probetas de mortero y hormigón con edades de curado de 28 y 90 días: densidad, absorción y resistencia a compresión. Se comprueba que la sustitución de cemento por CLD supone una disminución de la densidad y de la resistencia respecto a la muestra patrón, sin embargo, las combinaciones con otros residuos mejoran notablemente las características de los materiales cementantes. La adición de CLD proporcionó densidades y resistencias similares a la muestra de control y reduce significativamente la absorción de agua.This paper proposes binary and ternary combinations of sewage sludge ash (SSA) with fly ash, marble dust and rice hull ash, as partial replacement or addition relative to Portland cement in concretes with a similar dosage to that used in the manufacture of precast blocks, with very dry consistency given its manufacturing process in plant. Several physical-mechanical tests were carried out on concrete and mortar specimens with curing ages of 28 and 90 days: density, water absorption and compressive strength. It is proved that replacing cement by SSA involves a decrease in density and compressive strength compared to the reference sample, however, the combinations of residues significantly improve the characteristics of the cementitious materials. The addition of SSA provided densities and resistances similar to the control sample and significantly reduces the water absorption

Functional Foods Development: Trends and Technologies

[EN] The aim of this work is to make an overview on the emerging technologies and traditionally used to develop functional foods. In this way, we classified the technologies used in three main groups and analyzed the research tendency since the year 2000 until now. Thus, while traditional techniques are the most commonly used for development of functional foods, from years 2000 until 2010 the techniques aimed towards personalized nutrition have grown greatly.The authors acknowledge the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovaci on for its contribution throughout the projects AGL2009-09905 and PET2008_0015.Betoret Valls, ME.; Betoret Valls, N.; Vidal Brotons, DJ.; Fito Maupoey, P. (2011). Functional Foods Development: Trends and Technologies. Trends in Food Science and Technology. 22(9):498-508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2011.05.004S49850822

Concrete for precast blocks: binary and ternary combination of sewage sludge ash with diverse mineral residue

[EN] This paper proposes binary and ternary combinations of sewage sludge ash (SSA) with fly ash (FA), marble dust (MD) and rice husk ash (RHA) as partial replacements of Portland cement in concretes with a similar dosage to that used in precast blocks, with very dry consistency. Several physical-mechanical tests were carried out on concrete specimens with curing ages of 28 and 90 days: density, water absorption, capillary water absorption, ultrasonic pulse velocity and compressive strength. The combinations of residues significantly improve the properties of the cementitious systems: 30% replacement of Portland cement provides strength values similar to the reference sample, showing the synergetic effects of the combination of the mineral additions. The significance of this research relies on the combined use of the mineral additions as well as the use of them for the precast block industry. The results show synergies among the additions and even that some of them showed relevant improvements when they are used in combination, performing better than when used individually.Baeza-Brotons, F.; Paya Bernabeu, JJ.; Galao, O.; Alberti, MG.; Garcés, P. (2020). Concrete for precast blocks: binary and ternary combination of sewage sludge ash with diverse mineral residue. Materials. 13(20):1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma13204634S1191320Zabalza Bribián, I., Valero Capilla, A., & Aranda Usón, A. (2011). Life cycle assessment of building materials: Comparative analysis of energy and environmental impacts and evaluation of the eco-efficiency improvement potential. Building and Environment, 46(5), 1133-1140. doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2010.12.002Lothenbach, B., Scrivener, K., & Hooton, R. D. (2011). Supplementary cementitious materials. Cement and Concrete Research, 41(12), 1244-1256. doi:10.1016/j.cemconres.2010.12.001Ministerio de Agricultura Alimentación y Medio Ambiente http://www.magrama.gob.es/es/calidad-y-evaluacion-ambiental/temas/prevencion-y-gestion-residuos/flujos/lodos-depCyr, M., Coutand, M., & Clastres, P. (2007). Technological and environmental behavior of sewage sludge ash (SSA) in cement-based materials. Cement and Concrete Research, 37(8), 1278-1289. doi:10.1016/j.cemconres.2007.04.003Donatello, S., & Cheeseman, C. R. (2013). Recycling and recovery routes for incinerated sewage sludge ash (ISSA): A review. Waste Management, 33(11), 2328-2340. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2013.05.024Marble Association of Alicante http://www.marmoldealicante.esChen, M., Blanc, D., Gautier, M., Mehu, J., & Gourdon, R. (2013). Environmental and technical assessments of the potential utilization of sewage sludge ashes (SSAs) as secondary raw materials in construction. Waste Management, 33(5), 1268-1275. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2013.01.004Monzó, J., Payá, J., Borrachero, M. V., & Córcoles, A. (1996). Use of sewage sludge ash(SSA)-cement admixtures in mortars. Cement and Concrete Research, 26(9), 1389-1398. doi:10.1016/0008-8846(96)00119-6Payá, J., Monzó, J., Borrachero, M. V., Amahjour, F., Girbés, I., Velázquez, S., & Ordóñez, L. M. (2002). Advantages in the use of fly ashes in cements containing pozzolanic combustion residues: silica fume, sewage sludge ash, spent fluidized bed catalyst and rice husk ash. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology, 77(3), 331-335. doi:10.1002/jctb.583Tay, J.-H., & Show, K.-Y. (1994). Municipal wastewater sludge as cementitious and blended cement materials. Cement and Concrete Composites, 16(1), 39-48. doi:10.1016/0958-9465(94)90029-9Donatello, S., Tyrer, M., & Cheeseman, C. R. (2010). Comparison of test methods to assess pozzolanic activity. Cement and Concrete Composites, 32(2), 121-127. doi:10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2009.10.008Research Group in Chemistry Building Materials—Universitat Politècnica de València. Proyecto PEL-CEN http://epsar.cop.gva.es/depuradorasvPeris Mora, E., Payá, J., & Monzó, J. (1993). Influence of different sized fractions of a fly ash on workability of mortars. Cement and Concrete Research, 23(4), 917-924. doi:10.1016/0008-8846(93)90045-bEvolución de las resistencias mecánicas de sistemas ternarios cemento/ceniza volante/ceniza de lodo de depuradora: Efectos puzolánicos complementarios https://www.upv.es/pms2002/Comunicaciones/038 PAYA.PDFCorinaldesi, V., Moriconi, G., & Naik, T. R. (2010). Characterization of marble powder for its use in mortar and concrete. Construction and Building Materials, 24(1), 113-117. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2009.08.013Influence of Marble and Limestone Dusts as Additives on Some Mechanical Properties of Concrete, SCI RES ESSAYS 2 (2007) 372-379 http://www.academicjournals.org/SREAliabdo, A. A., Abd Elmoaty, A. E. M., & Auda, E. M. (2014). Re-use of waste marble dust in the production of cement and concrete. Construction and Building Materials, 50, 28-41. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.09.005Rodríguez de Sensale, G. (2006). Strength development of concrete with rice-husk ash. Cement and Concrete Composites, 28(2), 158-160. doi:10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2005.09.005Khan, R., Jabbar, A., Ahmad, I., Khan, W., Khan, A. N., & Mirza, J. (2012). Reduction in environmental problems using rice-husk ash in concrete. Construction and Building Materials, 30, 360-365. doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2011.11.028Madandoust, R., Ranjbar, M. M., Moghadam, H. A., & Mousavi, S. Y. (2011). Mechanical properties and durability assessment of rice husk ash concrete. Biosystems Engineering, 110(2), 144-152. doi:10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2011.07.009Nicoara, A. I., Stoica, A. E., Vrabec, M., Šmuc Rogan, N., Sturm, S., Ow-Yang, C., … Vasile, B. S. (2020). End-of-Life Materials Used as Supplementary Cementitious Materials in the Concrete Industry. Materials, 13(8), 1954. doi:10.3390/ma13081954García Arenas, C., Marrero, M., Leiva, C., Solís-Guzmán, J., & Vilches Arenas, L. F. (2011). High fire resistance in blocks containing coal combustion fly ashes and bottom ash. Waste Management, 31(8), 1783-1789. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2011.03.017Poon, C.-S., Kou, S., Wan, H., & Etxeberria, M. (2009). Properties of concrete blocks prepared with low grade recycled aggregates. Waste Management, 29(8), 2369-2377. doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2009.02.018Sabai, M. M., Cox, M. G. D. M., Mato, R. R., Egmond, E. L. C., & Lichtenberg, J. J. N. (2013). Concrete block production from construction and demolition waste in Tanzania. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 72, 9-19. doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2012.12.003Xiao, R., Ma, Y., Jiang, X., Zhang, M., Zhang, Y., Wang, Y., … He, Q. (2020). Strength, microstructure, efflorescence behavior and environmental impacts of waste glass geopolymers cured at ambient temperature. Journal of Cleaner Production, 252, 119610. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119610Xiao, R., Polaczyk, P., Zhang, M., Jiang, X., Zhang, Y., Huang, B., & Hu, W. (2020). Evaluation of Glass Powder-Based Geopolymer Stabilized Road Bases Containing Recycled Waste Glass Aggregate. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2674(1), 22-32. doi:10.1177/0361198119898695Antoni, M., Rossen, J., Martirena, F., & Scrivener, K. (2012). Cement substitution by a combination of metakaolin and limestone. Cement and Concrete Research, 42(12), 1579-1589. doi:10.1016/j.cemconres.2012.09.006Scrivener, K., Martirena, F., Bishnoi, S., & Maity, S. (2018). Calcined clay limestone cements (LC3). Cement and Concrete Research, 114, 49-56. doi:10.1016/j.cemconres.2017.08.01

Corrosion Behavior of Steel Reinforcement in Concrete with Recycled Aggregates, Fly Ash and Spent Cracking Catalyst

The main strategy to reduce the environmental impact of the concrete industry is to reuse the waste materials. This research has considered the combination of cement replacement by industrial by-products, and natural coarse aggregate substitution by recycled aggregate. The aim is to evaluate the behavior of concretes with a reduced impact on the environment by replacing a 50% of cement by industrial by-products (15% of spent fluid catalytic cracking catalyst and 35% of fly ash) and a 100% of natural coarse aggregate by recycled aggregate. The concretes prepared according to these considerations have been tested in terms of mechanical strengths and the protection offered against steel reinforcement corrosion under carbonation attack and chloride-contaminated environments. The proposed concrete combinations reduced the mechanical performance of concretes in terms of elastic modulus, compressive strength, and flexural strength. In addition, an increase in open porosity due to the presence of recycled aggregate was observed, which is coherent with the changes observed in mechanical tests. Regarding corrosion tests, no significant differences were observed in the case of the resistance of these types of concretes under a natural chloride attack. In the case of carbonation attack, although all concretes did not stand the highly aggressive conditions, those concretes with cement replacement behaved worse than Portland cement concretes.Authors thank to University of Alicante and Generalitat Valenciana the financial support given to this research through projects GRE11-27 and GV/2013/021

Reduction of Direct Health Costs Associated with Pertussis Vaccination with Acellular Vaccines in Children Aged 0–9 Years with Pertussis in Catalonia (Spain)

Health costs; Acellular vaccines; PertussisCostos de salud; Vacunas acelulares; Tos ferinaCostos sanitaris; Vacunes acel·lulars; Tos ferinaObjectives: The aim of this study was to assess direct health costs in children with pertussis aged 0–9 years who were vaccinated, partially vaccinated, and unvaccinated during childhood, and to assess the association between pertussis costs and pertussis vaccination in Catalonia (Spain) in 2012–2013. Methods: Direct healthcare costs included pertussis treatment, pertussis detection, and preventive chemotherapy of contacts. Pertussis patients were considered vaccinated when they had received 4–5 doses, and unvaccinated or partially vaccinated when they had received 0–3 doses of vaccine. The Chi square test and the odds ratios were used to compare percentages and the t test was used to compare mean pertussis costs in different groups, considering a p < 0.05 as statistically significant. The correlation between pertussis costs and study variables was assessed using the Spearman’s ρ, with a p < 0.05 as statistically significant. Multiple linear regression analysis (IBM-SPSS program) was used to quantify the association of pertussis vaccination and other study variables with pertussis costs. Results: Vaccinated children with pertussis aged 0–9 years had significantly lower odds ratios of hospitalizations (OR 0.02, p < 0.001), laboratory confirmation (OR 0.21, p < 0.001), and severe disease (OR 0.02, p < 0.001) than unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children with pertussis of the same age. Mean direct healthcare costs were significantly lower (p < 0.001) in vaccinated patients (€190.6) than in unvaccinated patients (€3550.8), partially vaccinated patients (€1116.9), and unvaccinated/partially vaccinated patients (€2330). Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that pertussis vaccination with 4–5 doses was associated with a non-significant reduction of pertussis costs of €107.9 per case after taking into account the effect of other study variables, and €200 per case after taking into account pertussis severity. Conclusions: Direct healthcare costs were lower in children with pertussis aged 0–9 years vaccinated with 4–5 doses of acellular vaccines than in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children with pertussis of the same age

Impact of the bacterial nasopharyngeal microbiota on the severity of genus enterovirus lower respiratory tract infection in children: A case-control study

Introduction: Rhinoviruses (RV) and enteroviruses (EV) are among the main causative etiologies of lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) in children. The clinical spectrum of RV/EV infection is wide, which could be explained by diverse environmental, pathogen-, and host-related factors. Little is known about the nasopharyngeal microbiota as a risk factor or disease modifier for RV/EV infection in pediatric patients. This study describes distinct nasopharyngeal microbiota profiles according to RV/EV LRTI status in children. Methods: Cross-sectional case-control study, conducted at Hospital Sant de Déu (Barcelona, Spain) from 2017 to 2020. Three groups of children <5 years were included: healthy controls without viral detection (Group A), mild or asymptomatic controls with RV/EV infection (Group B), and cases with severe RV/EV infection admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) (Group C). Nasopharyngeal samples were collected from participants for viral DNA/RNA detection by multiplex-polymerase chain reaction and bacterial microbiota characterization by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results: A total of 104 subjects were recruited (A = 17, B = 34, C = 53). Children's nasopharyngeal microbiota composition varied according to their RV/EV infection status. Richness and diversity were decreased among children with severe infection. Nasopharyngeal microbiota profiles enriched in genus Dolosigranulum were related to respiratory health, while genus Haemophilus was specifically predominant in children with severe RV/EV LRTI. Children with mild or asymptomatic RV/EV infection showed an intermediate profile. Conclusions: These results suggest a close relationship between the nasopharyngeal microbiota and different clinical presentations of RV/EV infection.This project is supported by the Spanish National Health Institute Carlos III (Grant id. PI17/349). Cofunded by European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund “A way to make Europe”/“Investing in your future.”S

Nasopharyngeal Microbiota in Children With Invasive Pneumococcal Disease: Identification of Bacteria With Potential Disease-Promoting and Protective Effects

Background and Aims: The risk of suffering from some infectious diseases can be related to specific microbiota profiles. Specifically, the nasopharyngeal microbiota could play a role as a risk or protective factor in the development of invasive disease caused by S. pneumoniae.Methodology: We analyzed the nasopharyngeal microbiota of children with invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and that of healthy controls matched by age, sex, and seasonality from Catalonia, Spain. Epidemiological, microbiological and clinical variables were considered to compare microbiota profiles, analyzed by sequencing the V1–V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene.Results: Twenty-eight children with IPD (median age 43 months) and 28 controls (42.6 months) were included in the study. IPD children presented a significantly higher bacterial diversity and richness (p &lt; 0.001). Principal coordinate analysis revealed three different microbiota profiles: microbiota A, dominated by the genus Dolosigranulum (44.3%); Microbiota B, mostly represented by Streptococcus (36.9%) and Staphylococcus (21.3%) and a high diversity of anaerobic genera including Veillonella, Prevotella and Porphyromonas; and Microbiota C, mainly containing Haemophilus (52.1%) and Moraxella (31.4%). The only explanatory factor for the three microbiotas was the classification of children into disease or healthy controls (p = 0.006). A significant negative correlation was found between Dolosigranulum vs. Streptococcus (p = 0.029), suggesting a potential antagonistic effect against pneumococcal pathogens.Conclusions: The higher bacterial diversity and richness in children with IPD could suggest an impaired immune response. This lack of immune competence could be aggravated by breastfeeding &lt;6 months and by the presence of keystone pathogens such as Porphyromonas, a bacterium which has been shown to be able to manipulate the immune response, and that could favor the overgrowth of many proteolytic anaerobic organisms giving rise to a dramatic dysbiosis. From an applied viewpoint, we found suggestive microbiota profiles associated to IPD or asymptomatic colonization that could be used as disease biomarkers or to pave the way for characterizing health-associated inhabitants of the respiratory tract. The identification of beneficial bacteria could be useful to prevent pneumococcal infections by integrating those microorganisms in a probiotic formula. The present study suggests not only respiratory tract samples, but also breast milk, as a potential source of those beneficial bacteria

Concentrations of nitrogen compounds are related to severe rhinovirus infection in infants. A time-series analysis from the reference area of a pediatric university hospital in Barcelona

Background: There is scarce information focused on the effect of weather conditions and air pollution on specific acute viral respiratory infections, such as rhinovirus (RV), with a wide clinical spectrum of severity. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the association between episodes of severe respiratory tract infection by RV and air pollutant concentrations (NOx and SO2 ) in the reference area of a pediatric university hospital. Methods: An analysis of temporal series of daily values of NOx and SO2 , weather variables, circulating pollen and mold spores, and daily number of admissions in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with severe respiratory RV infection (RVi) in children between 6 months and 18 years was performed. Lagged variables for 0-5 days were considered. The study spanned from 2010 to 2018. Patients with comorbidities were excluded. Results: One hundred and fifty patients were admitted to the PICU. Median age was 19 months old (interquartile range [IQR]: 11-47). No relationship between RV-PICU admissions and temperature, relative humidity, cumulative rainfall, or wind speed was found. Several logistic regression models with one pollutant and two pollutants were constructed but the best model was that which included average daily NOx concentrations. Average daily NOx concentrations were related with the presence of PICU admissions 3 days later (odds ratio per IQR-unit increase: 1.64, 95% confidence interval: 1.20-2.25)). Conclusions: This study has shown a positive correlation between NOx concentrations at Lag 3 and children's PICU admissions with severe RV respiratory infection. Air pollutant data should be taken into consideration when we try to understand the severity of RVis.This project was partially supported by the Spanish National Health Institute Carlos III (Grant id. PI17/349). Desiree Henares received a grant for predoctoral training in research into Health by the Spanish National Health Institute Carlos III (project number: FI17/00248). The funders have not influenced the design or analysis, nor have they had any role inpreparing the manuscript.S

Comparison of next generation technologies and bioinformatics pipelines for capsular typing of Streptococcus pneumoniae

Funding Information: C.M.A. reports a research grant from laboratories paid to Sant Joan de Déu foundation and related with the submitted work, as well as fees as speaker at conferences from MSD, and J.Y. reports research grants from and MSD unrelated to the submitted work, as well as participation in advisory boards organized by and MSD. Funding Information: This study has been funded in part by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) and the Ministry of Science and Innovation, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) through the project "PI19/00104" (Principal Investigator: C.M.A.), the predoctoral Contract for Training in Research into Health “FI17/00248” (Recipient: D.H.), and the grant “PID2020– 119298RB-I00“ (Recipient: J.Y.). CMA also received a research grant from laboratories and Fundación Godia paid to the Sant Joan de Déu foundation. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Henares et al.Whole genome sequencing (WGS)-based approaches for pneumococcal capsular typing have become an alternative to serological methods. In silico serotyping from WGS has not yet been applied to long-read sequences produced by third-generation technologies. The objective of the study was to determine the capsular types of pneumococci causing invasive disease in Catalonia (Spain) using serological typing and WGS and to compare the performance of differentbioinformatics pipelines using short- and long-read data from WGS. All invasive pneumococcal pediatric isolates collected in Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (Barcelona) from 2013 to 2019 were included. Isolates were assigned a capsular type by serological testing based on anticapsular antisera and by differentWGS-based pipelines: Illumina sequencing followed by serotyping with PneumoCaT, SeroBA, and Pathogenwatch vs MinION-ONT sequencing coupled with serotyping by Pathogenwatch from pneumococcal assembled genomes. A total of 119 out of 121 pneumococcal isolates were available for sequencing. Twenty-nine differentserotypes were identifiedby serological typing, with 24F (n = 17; 14.3%), 14 (n = 10; 8.4%), and 15B/C (n = 8; 6.7%) being the most common serotypes. WGS-based pipelines showed initial concordance with serological typing (>91% of accuracy). The main discrepant results were found at the serotype level within a serogroup: 6A/B, 6C/D, 9A/V, 11A/D, and 18B/C. Only one discrepancy at the serogroup level was observed: serotype 29 by serological testing and serotype 35B/D by all WGS-based pipelines. Thus, bioinformatics WGS-based pipelines, including those using third-generation sequencing, are useful for pneumococcal capsular assignment. Possible discrepancies between serological typing and WGS-based approaches should be considered in pneumococcal capsular-type surveillance studies.publishersversionpublishe