Microalgae attachment to aerobic granular sludge for the treatment of freshwater aquaculture effluents

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Simultaneous partial nitrification and 2-fluorophenol biodegradation with aerobic granular biomass: reactor performance and microbial communities

Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2017.03.173.An aerobic granular bioreactor was operated for over 4 months, treating a synthetic wastewater with a high ammonium content (100 mg L-1). The inoculum was collected from a bioreactor performing simultaneous partial nitrification and aromatic compounds biodegradation. From day-56 onwards, 2-fluorophenol (2-FP) (12.4 mg L-1) was added to the feeding wastewater and the system was bioaugmented with a 2-FP degrading bacteria (Rhodococcus sp. FP1). By the end of operation, complete 2-FP biodegradation and partial nitrification were simultaneously achieved. Aerobic granules remained stable over time. During the 2-FP loading, a shift in the community structure occurred, coinciding with the improvement of 2-FP degradation. DGGE analysis did not allow to infer on the bioaugmented strain presence but pyrosequencing analysis detected Rhodococcus genus by the end of operation. Together with other potential phenolic-degraders within granules, these microorganisms were probably responsible for 2-FP degradation.This work was supported by Portuguese Funds from FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through the strategic funding of UID/Multi/ 50016/2013 and UID/BIO/04469/2013 units and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and Spanish Funds from Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia through the ONLYBIO project (CTQ2011-24745/PPQ). C.L. Amorim and D.P Mesquita wish to acknowledge the research grant from FCT (Ref. SFRH/BPD/96481/2013 and SFRH/BPD/82558/2011, respectively). C. Ramos wants to thank the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona for his internship grant. The authors also thank to COST Action ES1202: Conceiving Wastewater Treatment in 2020 - Energetic, environmental and economic challenges; BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 – Programa Operacional Regional do Norte; and to TRITON thematic network (316RT0508) from the CYTED Programme. Thanks to Dr R.C. Pullar for helping to edit the English.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Novel and revisited approaches in nanoparticle systems for buccal drug delivery

The buccal route is considered patient friendly due to its non-invasive nature and ease of administration. Such delivery route has been used as an alternative for the delivery of drugs that undergo first-pass metabolism or are susceptible to pH and enzymatic degradation, such as occurs in the gastrointestinal tract. However, the drug concentration absorbed in the buccal mucosa is often low to obtain an acceptable therapeutic effect, mainly due to the saliva turnover, tongue and masticatory movements, phonation, enzymatic degradation and lack of epithelium permeation. Therefore, the encapsulation of drugs into nanoparticles is an important strategy to avoid such problems and improve their buccal delivery. Different materials from lipids to natural or synthetic polymers and others have been used to protect and deliver drugs in a sustained, controlled or targeted manner, and enhance their uptake through the buccal mucosa improving their bioavailability and therapeutic outcome. Overall, the main aim of this review is to perform an overview about the nanotechnological approaches developed so far to improve the buccal delivery of drugs. Herein, several types of nanoparticles and delivery strategies are addressed, and a special focus on pipeline products is also given.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Long-term stability of a non-adapted aerobic granular sludge process treating fish canning wastewater associated to EPS producers in the core microbiome

The tolerance of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) to variable wastewater composition is perceived as one of its greatest advantages compared to other aerobic processes. However, research studies select optimal operational conditions for evaluating AGS performance, such as the use of pre-adapted biomass and the control of wastewater composition. In this study, non-adapted granular sludge was used to treat fish canning wastewater presenting highly variable organic, nutrient and salt levels over a period of ca. 8 months. Despite salt levels up to 14 g NaCl L−1, the organic loading rate (OLR) was found to be the main factor driving AGS performance. Throughout the first months of operation, the OLR was generally lower than 1.2 kg COD m−3 day−1, resulting in stable nitrification and low COD and phosphorous levels at the outlet. An increase in OLR up to 2.3 kg COD m−3 day−1 disturbed nitrification and COD and phosphate removal, but a decrease to average values between 1 and 1.6 kg COD m−3 day−1 led to resuming of those processes. Most of the bacteria present in the AGS core microbiome were associated to extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) production, such as Thauera and Paracoccus, which increased during the higher OLR period. Ammonium-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) species were detected in AGS biomass; while AOB were identified throughout the operation, NOB were no further identified after the period of increased OLR. Different polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs) were detected along the process: Candidatus Accumulibacter, Tetrasphaera and Gemmatimonas. A non-adapted granular sludge was able to treat the fish canning wastewater and to tolerate salinity fluctuations up to 14 g L−1. Overall, a high microbial diversity associated to EPS producers allowed to preserve bacterial groups responsible for nutrients removal, contributing to the adaptation and long-term stability of the AGS system.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

New data on the fruit flies (Drosophilidae) of Madeira archipelago with notes on the ecology of the endemic Drosophila madeirensis Monclús

The first findings of drosophilids from Desertas and Porto Santo islands (Madeira archipelago) are reported and the knowledge on the abundance and distribution of the endemic Drosophila madeirensis Monclús is updated. This Madeiran endemic was found associated with forest habitats, but was not exclusive of Laurisilva. Furthermore, the finding of widespread populations with moderate abundance indicates that presently this species is not endangered. Finally, we provide an updated checklist of the family Drosophilidae occurring in the Madeira archipelago.Oma – Observatório do Mar dos Açores ; MARE – Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente ; IMAR – Instituto do Mar ; DOP – Departamento de Oceanografia e Pescas ; Universidade dos Açoresinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Increased extracellular polymeric substances production contributes for the robustness of aerobic granular sludge during long-term intermittent exposure to 2-fluorophenol in saline wastewater

Industrial effluents often contain organic pollutants and variable salinity levels, making their treatment challenging. The high content of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) in the aerobic granular sludge (AGS) is thought to protect the microbial communities from stressful conditions. Ammonium and phosphate removal, EPS production, and granular morphology were assessed in a lab-scale AGS reactor operated during 138 days at continuous low or moderate salinity levels (1.41â6.46 g/L of NaCl) and intermittent short-term loadings of a fluoroorganic pollutant, 2-fluorophenol (2-FP, 20 mg/L). 2-FP was not degraded throughout operation. Ammonium removal efficiency was drastically affected whenever 2-FP stressor was present, decreasing from 99 % to non-detectable conversion levels, but completely recovering after 2-FP feeding ceased. Phosphate removal, initially disturbed by exposure to stress conditions, recovered with time, even when stressors were still present. Complete phosphate removal did not occur in periods when nitrite temporarily accumulated after nitrification started to recover. EPS composition and concentration in AGS varied during operation, initially decreasing from 133 to 34 mg/g VSS of AGS, during the stress phases but recovering thereafter to 176 mg/gVSS of AGS. Breakage of granules into smaller ones occurred at two different operational moments due to stressors presence. The presence of 2-FP and moderate salinity levels in wastewater had more immediate detrimental effects on nutrients removal than on EPS production. The AGS system capacity to recover the nutrient removal performance and EPS production, after the withdrawal of 2-FP from the inlet stream reinforced its robustness to deal with industrial wastewaters.The authors wish to thank the company Aguas ´ do Tejo Atlantico, S.A. for supplying the granules. This work was financed by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) under the project AGeNT - PTDC/ BTA-BTA/31264/2017 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031264). We would like to thank the scientific collaboration of CBQF under the FCT project UID/Multi/50016/2019 and NORTE-08-5369-FSE-000007 and CEB under the FCT project UID/BIO/044697/2019 and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Knowledge and beliefs about herb/supplement consumption and herb/supplement–drug Interactions among the general population, including healthcare professionals and pharmacists: a systematic review and guidelines for a smart decision system

The increased consumption of a variety of herbs/supplements has been raising serious health concerns. Owing to an inadequate understanding of herb/supplement–drug interactions, the simultaneous consumption of these products may result in deleterious effects and, in extreme cases, even fatal outcomes. This systematic review is aimed at understanding the knowledge and beliefs about the consumption of herbs/supplements and herb/drug–supplement interactions (HDIs). The study follows the PRISMA guidelines. Four online databases (Web of Science; PubMed; Cochrane; and EBSCOhost) were searched, and a total of 44 studies were included, encompassing 16,929 participants. Herb and supplement consumption is explained mostly by the reported benefits across multiple conditions and ease of use. Regarding HDIs, most people take both herbs/supplements and prescription drugs simultaneously. Only a small percentage of participants have knowledge about their interaction effects, and many reported adverse interactions or side effects. Nevertheless, the main reason for stopping the prescribed drug intake is the perceived lack of its effect, and not due to interactions. Therefore, it is important to increase the knowledge about supplement use so that further strategies can be elaborated to better detect or be alert for whenever a potentially dangerous reaction and/or interaction may occur. This paper raises awareness regarding the need for developing a decision support system and ends with some considerations about the development of a technological solution capable of detecting HDIs and, thereby, aiding in the improvement of pharmacy services.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Extraction and characterization of extracellular polymeric substances from aerobic granular sludge from a full-scale sequencing batch reactor in Portugal

Microbiotec'17 - Congress of Microbiology and Biotechnology 2017Background: Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) is a recently developed technology for wastewater treatment. This system is able to manage higher amounts of wastewater and requires less surface area than conventional systems. The granules consist of microorganisms embedded in a self-produced extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) matrix. EPS are high molecular weight polymers, which can be metabolic products of microorganisms (e.g. proteins, polysaccharides, humic substances, nucleic acids) or be due to cell lyses. Accumulation on the cells surface of such EPS forms a protective barrier for the cells from the external environment. This work focus on the extraction and quantification of EPS from AGS from a large scale bioreactor in Portugal, during approximately 4 months. Given the environmental and chemical differences that these granules are subjected to one of the goals was to assess variability in the EPS production and characterize the granules morphology and composition in a large scale environment.The authors thank the company SIMTEJO for supplying the granules, and the financial support of European Social Fund, under Programa Operacional under the project NORTE-08-5369-FSE-000007 and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-010145-FEDER-000004). This work was also supported by Portuguese Funds from FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through the strategic funding of UID/Multi/50016/2013 and UID/BIO/04469/2013 units and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684). C.L. Amorim wishes to acknowledge the research grant from FCT (SFRH/BPD/96481/2013).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Combining urban wastewater treatment with biohydrogen production: An integrated microalgae-based approach

The aim of the present work was the simultaneous treatment of urban wastewater using microalgae and the energetic valorization of the obtained biomass. Chlorella vulgaris (Cv), Scenedesmus obliquus (Sc) and a naturally occurring algal Consortium C (ConsC) were grown in an urban wastewater. The nutrient removals were quite high and the treated water fits the legislation (PT Dec-Lei 236/98) in what concerns the parameters analysed (N, P, COD). After nutrient depletion the microalgae remained two more weeks in the photobioreactor (PBR) under nutritional stress conditions, to induce sugar accumulation (22–43%). The stressed biomass was converted into biohydrogen (bioH2), a clean energy carrier, through dark fermentation by a strain of the bacteria Enterobacter aerogenes. The fermentation kinetics were monitored and fitted to a modified Gompertz model. The highest bioH2 production yield was obtained for S. obliquus (56.8 mL H2/gVS) which was very similar when using the same algae grown in synthetic media