Anticancer drugs in the aquatic environment: where should we act and is nanofiltration a solution to this problem?

Anticancer drugs have been detected in hospital effluents, sewage effluents and river water samples. Due to the increasing number of cancer patients, an increase in the consumption of anticancer drugs is expected and therefore the development of effective treatment options is important to avoid the discharge of these drugs in the aquatic environment. The aim of this study was to propose an effective treatment solution to avoid the discharge of anticancer drugs in the aquatic environment. To define the most relevant target drugs to monitor, the environmental concentrations in surface waters of 123 anticancer drugs used in Portugal, Belgium and India were predicted. Based on the predictions, an analytical method that comprises solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry was optimized to detect the compounds with the highest predicted environmental concentrations in wastewater effluents. An occurrence study was then performed by collecting several grab samples throughout a year and comparing the results obtained in grab samples with the less time- consuming passive samplers. The viability of nanofiltration for treatment of these compounds was addressed at laboratory scale using different matrices: laboratory grade water, synthetic urine, and real secondary effluent. Experimental results showed that the Desal 5DK membrane is more effective than the NF270 membrane for the rejection of these compounds, showing no significant matrix influence on the rejection results. A pilot scale nanofiltration unit was finally installed in a wastewater treatment facility to confirm the laboratory scale findings and propose the operating conditions that would maximize the rejection of the target anticancer drugs and minimize fouling. The anticancer compounds tested in this work have very different structures and physicochemical properties and thus the high effectiveness reported for nanofiltration at pilot scale is a good indication of what can be expected to a multitude of other pollutants. The implementation of nanofiltration in wastewater treatment plants may thus contribute to the protection of the aquatic environment.A presença de fármacos no meio aquático é uma realidade do presente. Dentro dos diferentes grupos terapêuticos, os fármacos anticancerígenos geram alguma preocupação ambiental devido ao seu potente mecanismo de acção e falta de selectividade, podendo causar efeitos adversos em qualquer ser eucariótico. É expectável que o número de novos casos de cancro aumente bastante no futuro e que consequentemente aumente o consumo dos fármacos anticancerígenos bem como a sua ocorrência no meio ambiente. É, por isso, de extrema importânica investigar soluções de tratamentos eficazes na remoção destes compostos, de forma a evitar a sua libertação no meio aquático. O presente trabalho teve como principal objectivo propor uma solução de tratamento eficaz para remover compostos anticancerígenos de efluentes. De modo, a definir os fármacos anticancerígenos mais relevantes, foram previstas as concentrações ambientais de 123 fármacos em águas superficiais utilizando dados de consumo de Portugal, Bélgica e Índia e assumindo diferentes cenários de tratamento. Com base nas previsões, um método analítico que compreende extração em fase sólida e cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência acoplada a espectrometria de massa em tandem foi otimizado para detectar os compostos com as maiores concentrações ambientais previstas. Posteriomente, foi realizado um estudo de ocorrênica, no qual várias amostras pontuais de efluente residual foram colectadas ao longo de um ano e foi testado o uso de amostradores passivos. A viabilidade do tratamento por nanofiltração para remoção de compostos anticancerígenos foi abordada à escala laboratorial utilizando diferentes matrizes: água destilada, urina sintética e efluente secundário. Os resultados experimentais mostraram que a membrana Desal 5DK é mais eficaz que a membrana NF270, levando a rejeições mais elevadas e sendo menos susceptível ao fouling. Por último, uma unidade de nanofiltração à escala piloto com a membrana Desal 5DK foi instalada numa estação de tratamento de águas residuais e foram testadas várias condições operacionais de forma a maximizar a rejeição dos compostos alvo e minimizar o fouling. Os compostos anticancerígenos testados neste trabalho têm estruturas e propriedades físico-químicas diferentes e, portanto, a alta eficiência obtida em nanofiltração à escala piloto é uma boa indicação do que pode ser esperado para uma infinidade de outros poluentes. A implementação da nanofiltração em estações de tratamento de águas residuais pode assim contribuir para a proteção do meio aquático

O Abandono Escolar no Ensino Superior - Estudo de Caso na Universidade de Évora

Esta obra reúne e detalha as principais atividades desenvolvidas, resultados obtidos e medidas propostas pelo grupo de trabalho constituído para Identificação das Causas do Abandono Escolar na Universidade de Évora (Despacho n.º 17/2015 de 29 de janeiro). Estas atividades foram parcialmente integradas no âmbito de uma candidatura apresentada por esta equipa em março de 2015 ao Programa Operacional Assistência Técnica QREN, o qual considerou relevante, aprovou e, consequentemente, financiou o projeto “O Abandono Escolar no Ensino Superior – Estudo de Caso na Universidade de Évora” (Ref.ª 001019402015 POAT/FSE QREN)

Occurrence of antibiotics, antibiotic resistance genes and viral genomes in wastewater effluents and their treatment by a pilot scale nanofiltration unit

Funding Information: Funding: This research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through the project PTDC/CTA-AMB/29586/2017. We also acknowledge the financial support from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Portugal 2020 to the Portuguese Mass Spectrometry Network (LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-402-022125). iNOVA4Health-UIDB/04462/2020, a program financially supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/Ministério da Educação e Ciência, through national funds, is gratefully acknowledged. Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry-LAQV, which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UID/QUI/50006/2019), is gratefully acknowledged. Funding from INTERFACE Program, through the Innovation, Technology and Circular Economy Fund (FITEC), is gratefully acknowledged. Funding Information: This research was funded by Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e a Tecnologia through the project PTDC/CTA-AMB/29586/2017. We also acknowledge the financial support from Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e Tecnologia and Portugal 2020 to the Portuguese Mass Spectrometry Network (LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-402-022125). iNOVA4Health-UIDB/04462/2020, a program financially supported by Funda??o para a Ci?ncia e Tecnologia/Minist?rio da Educa??o e Ci?ncia, through national funds, is gratefully acknowledged. Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry-LAQV, which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UID/QUI/50006/2019), is gratefully acknowledged. Funding from INTERFACE Program, through the Innovation, Technology and Circular Economy Fund (FITEC), is gratefully acknowledged. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Broad-spectrum fluoroquinolone antibiotics (ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin), carbapenem and fluoroquinolone resistance genes, as well as viral genomes, were detected in grab samples of wastewater effluents. Passive samplers, which are simpler and easier to use and provide information about the concentrations and combination of contaminants present in a certain fluid matrix over time, proved to be extremely promising devices to monitor the presence of the target antibiotics in wastewater effluents. Nanofiltration was tested with a pilot-scale unit installed at a domestic wastewater treatment facility, using a Desal 5DK membrane operated at a constant transmembrane pressure of 6 bar and 70% recovery rate. In a 24 h experimental assay, the variation of the membrane permeance was low (6.3%). High rejections of the target contaminants from the wastewater effluent were obtained by the pilot-scale treatment. Hence, nanofiltration using the Desal 5DK membrane is considered to be a promising treatment to cope with chemical and biological contaminants present in wastewater effluents.publishersversionpublishe

Clinical and epidemiological features of hospitalized and ambulatory patients with human monkeypox infection: a retrospective observational study in Portugal

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Monkeypox, a neglected and re-emergent zoonotic disease caused by monkeypox virus (MPXV) infection, has been endemic in Central and Western Africa for decades. More recently, an outbreak has spread to a global level, occurring in sites with no previous reported cases and being clustered among men who have sex with men, suggesting new modes of transmission. There is an urgent need for research for a better understanding of the genomic evolution and changing epidemiology of the Orthopoxvirus group. Our work aimed to characterize the clinical and epidemiological features of a cohort of patients with MPXV infection in a Portuguese hospital, admitted between 5 May and 26 July 2022. In this retrospective observational study, aggregate data of a case series on the presentation, clinical course, and outcomes of confirmed MPXV infections are reported. The study included 40 men and 1 woman, with a mean age of 37.2 years old; 92.7% identified as men who have sex with men, 90.2% had unprotected sex or sex with multiple or anonymous partners in the previous month, and 39.0% reported to have had sex with an MPXV-confirmed case; 59.5% had previously known human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, all of whom were under antiretroviral therapy, and no patients had acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) criteria. About a quarter of patients were observed only a week after symptom onset. All patients had skin or mucosal lesions and the anogenital region was the most frequent lesion site. There were no statistically significant clinical differences between HIV-positive and negative individuals. Four patients were admitted to the inpatient clinic, two of whom had proctitis with difficult-to-manage anal pain. There were no reported deaths. Our findings suggest the sexual route as a relevant mode of transmission of MPXV and confirm the mostly benign presentation of this disease.The writing of this manuscript received the support of Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, grant numbers UIDB/04295/2020 and UIDP/04295/2020info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Com o diabo no corpo: os terríveis papagaios do Brasil colônia

Desde a Antiguidade, papagaios, periquitos e afins (Psittacidae) fascinaram os europeus por seu vivo colorido e uma notável capacidade de interação com seres humanos. A descoberta do Novo Mundo nada faria além de acrescentar novos elementos ao tráfico de animais exóticos há muito estabelecido pelos europeus com a África e o Oriente. Sem possuir grandes mamíferos, a América tropical participaria desse comércio com o que tinha de mais atrativo, essencialmente felinos, primatas e aves - em particular os papagaios, os quais eram embarcados em bom número. Contudo, a julgar pelos documentos do Brasil colônia, esses voláteis podiam inspirar muito pouca simpatia, pois nenhum outro animal - exceto as formigas - foi tantas vezes mencionado como praga para a agricultura. Além disso, alguns psitácidas mostravam-se tão loquazes que inspiravam a séria desconfiança de serem animais demoníacos ou possessos, pois só três classes de entidades - anjos, homens e demônios - possuíam o dom da palavra. Nos dias de hoje, vários representantes dos Psittacidae ainda constituem uma ameaça para a agricultura, enquanto os indivíduos muito faladores continuam despertando a suspeita de estarem possuídos pelo demônio. Transcendendo a mera curiosidade, essa crença exemplifica o quão intrincadas podem ser as relações do homem com o chamado “mundo natural”, revelando um universo mais amplo e multifacetado do que se poderia supor a princípio. Nesse sentido, a existência de aves capazes de falar torna essa relação ainda mais complexa e evidencia que as dificuldades de estabelecer o limite entre o animal e o humano se estendem além dos primatas e envolvem as mais inusitadas espécies zoológicas.Since ancient times, parrots and their allies (Psittacidae) have fascinated Europeans by their striking colors and notable ability to interact with human beings. The discovery of the New World added new species to the international exotic animal trade, which for many centuries had brought beasts to Europe from Africa and the Orient. Lacking large mammals, tropical America participated in this trade with its most appealing species, essentially felines, primates and birds - especially parrots - which were shipped in large numbers. It should be noted, however, that at times these birds were not well liked. In fact, according to documents from colonial Brazil, only the ants rank higher than parrots as the animals most often mentioned as agricultural pests. On the other hand, some of these birds were so chatty that people suspected them to be demonic or possessed animals, since only three classes of beings - angels, men and demons - have the ability to speak. Nowadays, several Psittacidae still constitute a threat to agriculture, and the suspicion that extremely talkative birds were demon possessed has also survived. More than a joke or a mere curiosity, this belief exemplifies how intricate man’s relationships with the “natural world” may be. In this sense, the existence of birds that are able to speak adds a further twist to these relationships, demonstrating that the problem of establishing a boundary between the animal and the human does not only involve primates, but also includes some unusual zoological species

Phycoremediation to reduce the pollution load of piggery wastewater: results of semi-continuous lab tests using chlorella and scenedesmus spp

This work concerns the possibility of using phycoremediation of piggery wastewater (PW) in order to remove nitrogen and to send the produced algal biomass to anaerobic digestion. A semi-continuous culturing test was performed in 150 mL glass test tubes (4.5 cm diameter, 20 cm high), in four replicates, and run for 90 days. Light was provided artificially, with 12 h dark/light periods, mixing was allowed by air bubbling and temperature was 20±2°C. Algae developed quickly with values over 1 g TSS L-1 after one week and maximum concentrations between 2.4 and 2.7 g TSS L-1, and the community was made by Chlorella and Scenedesmus spp., in similar proportion all over the test. The average productivity was 0.26 to 0.40 g L-1 day-1. In the absence of pH control, the intense photosynthesis raised pH, whose value was proportional to the TSS concentration. The pH raise caused the production and stripping of NH3-N (26% of the inflow N), while the algal assimilation of N accounted for 45% and the oxidation for 25%. The overall % removal was about 96% for NH4-N, 85% for P and 74% for COD. The maximum methane production was 267 NmL CH4 g VS-1 (mean of the two replicates), higher than reported for pig and cow manure

Identificação das Causas do Abandono Escolar na Universidade de Évora - Relatório Final

Este relatório reúne e detalha as principais atividades desenvolvidas, resultados obtidos e medidas propostas pelo grupo de trabalho constituído para Identificação das Causas do Abandono Escolar na Universidade de Évora (Despacho n.º 17/2015 de 29 de janeiro). Estas atividades foram parcialmente integradas no âmbito de uma candidatura apresentada por esta equipa em março de 2015 ao Programa Operacional Assistência Técnica QREN, o qual considerou relevante, aprovou e, consequentemente, financiou o projeto “O Abandono Escolar no Ensino Superior - Estudo de caso na Universidade de Évora” (Ref.ª 001019402015 PO AT/FSE QREN)

Identificação das Causas do Abandono Escolar na Universidade de Évora - Relatório de Progresso#2

Este relatório de progresso condensa as principais atividades desenvolvidas entre maio e julho de 2015 pelo grupo de trabalho constituído para Identificação das Causas do Abandono Escolar na Universidade de Évora (Despacho n.º 17/2015 de 29 de janeiro). Em concreto, retoma as atividades descritas no Relatório de Progresso #1 (entregue em 31 de maio de 2015) e acrescenta-lhe os desenvolvimentos e resultados obtidos à data em que é elaborado: a conclusão da análise estatística aprofundada sobre a base de dados SAC/SIIUE para os ciclos de estudo ‘Mestrado Integrado’, ‘Doutoramento’ e ‘Pós-Graduação’ e a análise preliminar das principais causas de inativação da matrícula com base nas respostas obtidas ao inquérito por questionário aplicado aos estudantes que, tendo ingressado na Universidade de Évora entre 1 de setembro de 2011 e 28 de fevereiro de 2015, inativaram a sua matrícula durante esse mesmo período em qualquer um dos ciclos de estudo considerados (licenciatura, mestrado integrado, mestrado, doutoramento ou pós-graduação)

Photocatalysis Using UV-A and UV-C Light Sources for Advanced Oxidation of Anti-Cancer Drugs Spiked in Laboratory-Grade Water and Synthetic Urine

The presence of anti-cancer drugs in European surface waters appeals for the development of novel treatment processes. In this work, light emitting diodes (LEDs) that emit light at 255 nm (UV-C) and 365 nm (UV-A)wavelengths were compared in terms of their ability to degrade four anti-cancer drugs by UV and UV/TiO2 processes. None of treatments tested was able to degrade cyclophosphamide and ifosfamide. Nevertheless, etoposide and paclitaxel were successfully eliminated by UV-C and UVC/TiO2. Moreover, higher energetic yields were obtained with UV-C light for the degradation of anti-cancer drugs by photocatalysis than with UV-A. The option of using this treatment to deal with pollution at the source by performing essays in synthetic urine was shown to be not adequate, as drug photocatalysis was totally inhibited by the presence of radical scavenger species present in the urine matrix

A study on biofouling and cleaning of anion exchange membranes for reverse electrodialysis

This study covers the modification, (bio)fouling characterization, use, and cleaning of commercial heterogeneous anion exchange membranes (AEMs) to evaluate their feasibility for reverse electrodialysis (RED) applications. A surface modification with poly (acrylic) acid resulted in an improved monovalent perm-selectivity (decreased sulfate membrane transport rate). Moreover, we evaluated the (bio)fouling potential of the membrane using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate (SDBS), and Aeromonas hydrophila as model organic foulants and a biofoulant, respectively. A detailed characterization of the AEMs (water contact angle, ion exchange capacity (IEC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra) was carried out, verifying that the presence of such foulants reduces IEC and the maximum current obtained by CV. However, only SDS and SDBS affected the contact angle values. Cleaning of the biofouled membranes using a sodium hypochlorite aqueous solution allows for (partially) recovering their initial properties. Furthermore, this work includes a fouling characterization using real surface and sea water matrixes, confirming the presence of several types of fouling microorganisms in natural streams. A lower adhesion of microorganisms (measured in terms of total bacteria counts) was observed for the modified membranes compared to the unmodified ones. Finally, we propose a cleaning strategy to mitigate biofouling in AEMs that could be easily applied in RED systems for an enhanced long-term process performance.This research was funded by “Programa Operacional Regional de Lisboa, na componente FEDER” and “Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P.” (FCT) through research project PTDC/EQUEPQ/29579/2017 and through iNOVA4Health (UIDB/04462/2020, UIDP/04462/2020) and LS4FU TURE Associated Laboratory (LA/P/0087/2020). This work was also supported by the Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry-LAQV, which is financed by national funds from FCT/MCTES (UID/QUI/50006/2019)