Cold adaptation and replicable microbial community development during long-term low temperature anaerobic digestion treatment of synthetic sewage

The development and, activity of a cold-adapting microbial community was monitored during low temperature anaerobic digestion (LtAD) treatment of wastewater. Two replicate hybrid anaerobic sludge bed-fixed-film reactors treated a synthetic sewage wastewater at 12°C, at organic loading rates of 0.25–1.0 kg Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) m−3 d−1, over 889 days. The inoculum was obtained from a full-scale AD reactor, which was operated at 37˚C. Both LtAD reactors readily degraded the influent with COD removal efficiencies regularly exceeding 78% for both the total and soluble COD fractions. The biomass from both reactors was sampled temporally and tested for activity against hydrolytic and methanogenic substrates at 12˚C and 37˚C. Data indicated that significantly enhanced low-temperature hydrolytic and methanogenic activity developed in both systems. For example, the hydrolysis rate constant (K) at 12°C had increased 20–30-fold by comparison to the inoculum by day 500. Substrate affinity also increased for hydrolytic substrates at low temperature. Next generation sequencing demonstrated that a shift in community structure occurred over the trial, involving a 1-log-fold change in 25 SEQS (OTU-free approach) from the inoculum. Microbial community structure changes and process performance were replicable in the LtAD reactors

Spatial patterns and interactions of dominant tree species in an Amazon tropical rainforest.

Knowledge of spatial patterns and interactions of tree species allows for understanding the ecological processes of spatiotemporal structures of tropical forests, becoming essential for the establishment of strategies for the conservation and management of their resources in the long term. The aim of this study was to investigate the spatial patterns and interactions of Astronium lecointei, Dinizia excelsa and Peltogyne paniculata, three dominant timber tree species in the Jamari National Forest, Rondônia, Brazilian Amazon. The Kernel estimator was used aiming to verify the possible influence of first-order factors on species distributions. Inhomogeneous K-functions were applied to analyze species spatial patterns and interactions by means of second-order factors. Univariate analyses revealed different scale-dependent spatial patterns for the species. Aggregation related to ecological characteristics, such as habitat preference and dispersal limitation, was verified for A. lecointei and P. paniculata. D. excelsa presented a random spatial pattern, explained by specific features of its establishment, such as the need for clearings due to light requirements. Interspecific associations were evidenced by bivariate analyses, in which spatial attraction of species resulted from the same preference for microhabitats and the repulsion was a result of niche segregation

Intra-hospital mortality for community-acquired pneumonia in mainland Portugal between 2000 and 2009

Introduction: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains a common and serious infection with wide variability in intra-hospital mortality. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of adult patients admitted with CAP in mainland Portugal between the years 2000 and 2009. Results: The intra-hospital mortality rate was 20.4% with deaths in all age groups. The average age of deceased patients was 79.8 years, significantly higher than surviving patients with 71.3 years. Patients aged 50 or more presented a relative risk of death 4.4 times the risk of patients under this age group. Likewise, in patients aged 65 or more the risk of death was 3.2 times the risk of patients <65 years. Men died more at a younger age than women, the men who died were, on average, 4 years younger than women, 78.1 vs 82.1 years old. Relative risk of death in men was 17% higher than women after adjustment for year of admission and age. Conclusion: CAP remains an important cause of hospital mortality in all age groups.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The hydrolysis and biogas production of complex cellulosic substrates using three anaerobic biomass sources

In this study, the ability of various sludges to digest a diverse range of cellulose and cellulose-derived substrates was assessed at different temperatures to elucidate the factors affecting hydrolysis. For this purpose, the biogas production was monitored and the specific biogas activity (SBA) of the sludges was employed to compare the performance of three anaerobic sludges on the degradation of a variety of complex cellulose sources, across a range of temperatures. The sludge with the highest performance on complex substrates was derived from a full-scale bioreactor treating sewage at 37 °C. Hydrolysis was the rate-limiting step during the degradation of complex substrates. No activity was recorded for the synthetic cellulose compound carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) using any of the sludges tested. Increased temperature led to an increase in hydrolysis rates and thus SBA values. The non-granular nature of the mesophilic sludge played a positive role in the hydrolysis of solid substrates, while the granular sludges proved more effective on the degradation of soluble compounds

Hydrolysis of Cellulose-Rich Substrates in Psychrophilic and Mesophilic Leach-Bed Reactors [Poster]

No abstract available

Hydrolysis of Cellulose-Rich Substrates in Psychrophilic and Mesophilic Leach-Bed Reactors [Poster]

No abstract available

Spatial patterns and interactions of dominant tree species in an Amazon tropical rainforest.

Knowledge of spatial patterns and interactions of tree species allows for understanding the ecological processes of spatiotemporal structures of tropical forests, becoming essential for the establishment of strategies for the conservation and management of their resources in the long term. The aim of this study was to investigate the spatial patterns and interactions of Astronium lecointei, Dinizia excelsa and Peltogyne paniculata, three dominant timber tree species in the Jamari National Forest, Rondônia, Brazilian Amazon. The Kernel estimator was used aiming to verify the possible influence of first-order factors on species distributions. Inhomogeneous K-functions were applied to analyze species spatial patterns and interactions by means of second-order factors. Univariate analyses revealed different scale-dependent spatial patterns for the species. Aggregation related to ecological characteristics, such as habitat preference and dispersal limitation, was verified for A. lecointei and P. paniculata. D. excelsa presented a random spatial pattern, explained by specific features of its establishment, such as the need for clearings due to light requirements. Interspecific associations were evidenced by bivariate analyses, in which spatial attraction of species resulted from the same preference for microhabitats and the repulsion was a result of niche segregation.Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-01T00:47:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2018P.PovoaBTSpatial.pdf: 545804 bytes, checksum: dfc41d2ae2b59ff91dec0f2cddc4be95 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-08-31bitstream/item/182281/1/2018-P.Povoa-BT-Spatial.pd