Thermochemical pre- and biological co-treatments to improve hydrolysis and methane production from poultry wastes

Poultry industry wastes, namely feathers and poultry litter, are an interesting source of substrate for biogas production. The aim of this work was to assess the biomethane potential of raw poultry wastes, as well as the possibility of enhancing this potential by favouring the hydrolysis of cellulolytic and proteinaceous material in the wastes by using bioaugmentation and thermochemical pre-treatments. Biomethane production from poultry litter and chicken feathers was assessed in batch assays. Pre-treatment with lime and sodium hydroxide was performed at different temperatures and pressures. Clostridium cellulolyticum, C. saccharolyticum and C. thermocellum were used as bioaugmentation strains in the anaerobic digestion of poultry litter. Fervidobacterium pennivorans was used to aid the hydrolysis of poultry feather. Anaerobic digestion of the raw wastes allowed a methanisation percentage (MP) of 17±2 and 33±5%, respectively from poultry litter and chicken feathers, with 2.5% total solids. The major increase in biomethanisation of poultry litter was reached after the thermochemical pre-treatment with Ca(OH)2 (90 °C, 1.27 bar, 120 minutes), with an increase of 15% in the MP comparatively with the raw wastes MP. For the poultry feathers waste, none of the implemented strategies contributed to the optimization of methane production. However, it was observed that all treatments have contributed to a significant increase in the wastes solubilisation. Therefore, the conversion of soluble organic matter to methane was the limiting step of the anaerobic digestion process of poultry wastes

Thermochemical pre- and biological co-treatments to improve hydrolysis and methane production from poultry litter

The biochemical methane potential (BMP) of raw poultry litter waste was assessed in batch assays. Biological co-treatment with Clostridium cellulolyticum, Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticum and Clostridium thermocellum as bioaugmentation strains, and thermochemical pre-treatments with lime and sodium hydroxide performed at different temperatures and pressures were applied as strategies to improve the BMP by favouring the hydrolysis of the cellulolytic material in the waste. Anaerobic digestion of the raw waste allowed a specific methane production of 145 ± 14 L CH4 kg−1 VS, with 1% total solids and 0.72 g VSinoculum g−1 VSwaste. The pre- and co-treatments contributed to a significant increase (up to 74%) in the waste solubilisation when using C. saccharolyticum, but methane production did not improve considerably. Therefore, the conversion of soluble organic matter to methane was the limiting step of the anaerobic digestion process of poultry litter waste.The authors acknowledge the financial support of the "Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia" through the grant given to Jose Carlos Costa (SFRH/BDP/48962/2008), and to the "Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional" through the project QREN 2008/2509. The authors would like to acknowledge Isabel Belo for the valuable help given with the high-pressure reactor used for waste physicochemical pre-treatment

Estimate of Effectiveness of Palivizumab in the Prevention of Respiratory Syncytial Virus-Related Hospitalizations in a Cohort of Premature Children

As recomendações da Secção de Neonatologia da Sociedade Portuguesa de Pediatria (SNN-SPP) prevêem a profilaxia medicamentosa da infecção por vírus sincicial respiratório (VSR) com palivizumab em idades gestacionais (IG)inferiores a 30 semanas. Alguns Hospitais de Apoio Perinatal Diferenciado seguem práticas mais restritas, limitando o seu uso à extrema prematuridade e/ou a prematuros com doença pulmonar crónica da prematuridade. Objectivos. Estimar a relação custo-eficácia da profilaxia com palivizumab segundo as recomendações da SNN-SPP, através da aplicação de um modelo teórico a uma coorte real de prematuros. Metodologia. Estudo prospectivo histórico. Coorte de crianças nascidas num Hospital de Apoio Perinatal Diferenciado entre 1/10/2002 e 30/04/2005 com IG ² 35 semanas. Considerou- se caso o internamento no mesmo hospital por bronquiolite por VSR nas épocas 2003/04 e 2004/05. Baseando-nos nas recomendações SNN-SPP e no Number Needed to Treat dos estudos IMpact e IRIS, estimámos a redução prevista nas taxas de hospitalização caso a profilaxia fosse efectuada, comparando os seus custos com a redução de custos de hospitalização. Resultados. Dos 356 recém-nascidos elegíveis, nove foram excluídos por óbito e dois por administração de palivizumab. A taxa de hospitalização por bronquiolite por VSR nas 345 crianças incluídas foi 9,3%. No subgrupo com indicação para profilaxia (26 crianças) a taxa de hospitalização foi 15,4%, com uma estimativa de custo médio de hospitalização de Û 6.542,35. Não ocorreu nenhuma morte por infecção por VSR. A redução estimável no número de hospitalizações sob profilaxia seria de 1,5 (IMpact) ou 2,4 (IRIS). O custo necessário para prevenir um internamento seria de Û 26.263,11 na melhor estimativa e Û 57.716,26 na pior estimativa. Conclusão. Com o modelo desenvolvido, não conseguimos demonstrar nesta coorte uma estimativa de relação custo-eficácia favorável à administração de Palivizumab segundo recomendações da SNN-SPP

Sustainable bioenergy carriers from wastes

The development of new technologies for renewable energy production is crucial for decreasing the reliance in fossil fuels and improving global sustainability. Waste materials are valuable resources that can be used for the production of energy carriers. Organic wastes can be anaerobically digested to ultimately produce methane. Hydrogen can be recovered from this process, if methanogenesis is inhibited. These energy carriers can also be derived from recalcitrant materials in a two step-process combining waste gasification and subsequent syngas bioconversion. Research carried out at our group focuses on the study of anaerobic processes for the production of energy-carriers using a multidisciplinary approach that combines both microbiological and technological aspects. Important achievements have been made within the anaerobic digestion of lipid-rich wastes. From our research, it became clear that lipids and LCFA-rich wastewater anaerobic treatment can be feasible with efficient methane recovery. Additionally, wastes containing fats and proteins, such as wastes from poultry industry, slaughterhouse and meat-processing industry have been assessed for methane production. Hydrolysis of cellulolytic and proteinaceous materials in solid wastes was enhanced using physicochemical pre-treatments and bioaugmentation, which is auspicious for optimal methane production. Sugar-rich wastes were used for assessing biohydrogen production and allowed the identification of critical aspects for methanogenesis inhibition. Immobilization of hydrogen-producing microorganisms in high rate continuous reactors was performed with good hydrogen recovery. Currently, we are studying the utilization of latex bionanocoatings for the entrapment of hydrogen-producing microorganisms as a means to improve cell immobilization. Another research area of expansion in our group is syngas fermentation to methane. Studies have been conducted on gas-liquid mass transfer for evaluating the potential of bioprocesses for syngas conversion. Concurrently, the physiology and microbiology of syngas-converting mixed cultures is also being assessed

Diagnosis Recommendations for Late-onset Pompe Disease

INTRODUCTION: Pompe disease is a progressive and debilitating autossomal recessive myopathy due to mutations in lysossomal acid-α-glucosidase. Its late-onset form has a heterogeneous presentation mimicking other neuromuscular diseases, leading to diagnostic challenge. OBJECTIVE: To develop consensus based recommendations for the diagnosis of late-onset Pompe Disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Bibliographic review and analysis of an opinion questionnaire applied to a group of specialists with expertise in the diagnosis of several myopathies and lysossomal storage disorders. Discussed in consensus meeting. RECOMMENDATIONS: Patients with a progressive limb-girdle weakness, fatigue, cramps and muscle pain should be evaluated with CK levels, electromyography, dynamic spirometry and muscle biopsy in inconclusive cases. Suspected cases and those in which muscle biopsy could not allow other diagnosis should be screened for lysossomal acid-α-glucosidase deficiency with DBS (dried blood spot). The diagnosis should be confirmed by determination of lysossomal acid-α-glucosidase activity in a second sample and lysossomal acid-α-glucosidase gene sequencing.Este trabalho foi realizado com o apoio financeiro da Sanofi - Produtos Farmacêuticos, Lda. e não foi condicional à obtenção de nenhum tipo específico de resultados

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy as a complementary treatment in neuroblastoma — a narrative review

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Red giant branch stars as probes of stellar populations. II. Properties of the newly discovered globular cluster GLIMPSE-C01

Deep near infrared photometry of the newly discovered Galactic globular Cluster GLIMPSE-C01 is reported. We derived for the first time the metal abundance of this object from the slope of the RGB: [Fe/H]=-1.61+/-0.14 in the scale of Zinn (as implemented in Harris 1996), [Fe/H]=-1.44+/-0.12 in the scale of Caretta & Gratton (1997), and [Fe/H]=-1.12+/-0.12 in the scale of Ferraro et al. (1999). The tip and the clump of the red giant branch were used to confirm the estimates of Kobulnicky et al. (2005), placing the cluster at D~3.7+/-0.8 kpc, behind A_v~15 mag of visual extinction. The best fit to the radial surface brightness profile with a single-mass King's model (1962) yielded core radius r_c=0.78 arcmin, tidal radius r_t=27 arcmin, and central concentration c=1.54. Finally, we estimate the number of the "missing" globulars in the central region of the Milky Way. Based on the spatial distribution of the known clusters, and assuming radial symmetry around the Galactic center, we conclude that the Milky Way contains at least 10+/-3 undiscovered objects. The distribution of known clusters in the bulge seem to resemble the orientation of the Milky Way bar.Comment: A&A accepted; 6 pages, 7 figures (one in jpg format, available upon request from the authors as postscript

Macular Ganglion Cell Layer and Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fibre Layer Thickness in Patients with Unilateral Posterior Cerebral Artery Ischaemic Lesion: An Optical Coherence Tomography Study

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the macular ganglion cell layer (GCL) and peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness in patients with unilateral posterior cerebral artery (PCA) ischaemic lesions using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). A prospective, case-control study of patients with unilateral PCA lesion was conducted in the neuro-ophthalmology clinic of Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Central. Macular and peripapillary SD-OCT scans were performed in both eyes of each patient. Twelve patients with PCA lesions (stroke group) and 12 healthy normal controls were included in this study. Peripapillary RNFL comparison between both eyes of the same subject in the stroke group found a thinning in the superior-temporal (p = 0.008) and inferior-temporal (p = 0.023) sectors of the ipsilateral eye and nasal sector (p = 0.003) of the contralateral eye. Macular GCL thickness comparison showed a reduction temporally in the ipsilateral eye (p = 0.004) and nasally in the contralateral eye (p = 0.002). Peripapillary RNFL thickness was significantly reduced in both eyes of patients with PCA compared with controls, affecting all sectors in the contralateral eye and predominantly temporal sectors in the ipsilateral eye. A statistically significant decrease in macular GCL thickness was found in both hemiretinas of both eyes of stroke patients when compared with controls (p < 0.05). This study shows that TRD may play a role in the physiopathology of lesions of the posterior visual pathway