Influence of the gas composition on the efficiency of ammonia stripping of biogas digestate

AbstractImpact of strip gas composition on side stream ammonia stripping, a technology aiming at the reduction of high ammonia levels in anaerobic reactors, was investigated. Evaluation of the effect of oxygen contact during air stripping showed a distinct, though lower than perceived, inhibition of anaerobic microflora. To circumvent, the feasibility and possible constraints of biogas and flue gas as alternatives in side stream stripping were studied. Experiments, with ammonia bicarbonate model solution and digestate, were conducted. It was demonstrated that the stripping performance is negatively correlated to the CO2 level in the strip gas with a progressive performance loss towards higher concentrations. In contrast to biogas with its high CO2 content, the efficiency reduction observed for flue gas was significantly less pronounced. The later provides the additional benefit that its high thermal energy can be re-utilized in the stripping unit and it is therefore considered a viable alternative for air

Acupuncture reduces the time from extubation to 'ready for discharge' from the post anaesthesia care unit: results from the randomised controlled AcuARP trial

Acupuncture may improve peri-operative care as it reduces post-operative symptoms, such as pain, nausea and vomiting, or sedation. This patient-assessor blinded, randomised trial in 75 women undergoing gynaecologic laparoscopy evaluated the effects of acupuncture combined with a standardised anaesthetic regimen (ACU) on post-anaesthetic recovery, when compared to acupressure (APU) or standard anaesthesia alone (CON). Main outcome measure was the time from extubation to 'ready for discharge' from recovery as assessed by validated questionnaires. The main outcome differed significantly between groups (p = 0.013). Median time to ready for discharge in the ACU group (30 (IQR: 24-41) min) was 16 minutes (35%) shorter than in the CON group (46 (36-64) min;p = 0.015) and tended to be shorter than in the APU group (43 (31-58) min;p = 0.08). Compared to CON (p = 0.029), median time to extubation was approximately 7 minutes shorter in both, the ACU and the APU group. No acupuncture or acupressure-related side-effects could be observed. A difference in time to recovery of 16 minutes compared to standard alone can be considered clinically relevant. Thus, results of this study encourage the application of acupuncture in gynaecological laparoscopy as it improves postanaesthetic recovery

Under-approximating loops in C programs for fast counterexample detection

© The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract Many software model checkers only detect counterexamples with deep loops after exploring numerous spurious and increasingly longer counterexamples. We propose a tech-nique that aims at eliminating this weakness by constructing auxiliary paths that represent the effect of a range of loop iterations. Unlike acceleration, which captures the exact effect of arbitrarily many loop iterations, these auxiliary paths may under-approximate the behaviour of the loops. In return, the approximation is sound with respect to the bit-vector semantics of programs. Our approach supports arbitrary conditions and assignments to arrays in the loop body, but may as a result introduce quantified conditionals. To reduce the resulting perfor-mance penalty, we present two quantifier elimination techniques specially geared towards our application. Loop under-approximation can be combined with a broad range of verification techniques. We paired our techniques with lazy abstraction and bounded model checking, and evaluated the resulting tool on a number of buffer overflow benchmarks, demonstrating its ability to efficiently detect deep counterexamples in C programs that manipulate arrays

DeepADEMiner: a deep learning pharmacovigilance pipeline for extraction and normalization of adverse drug event mentions on Twitter

Algorithms and the Foundations of Software technolog

Documentation of Subtype C HIV Type 1 Strains in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

HIV subtypes B, F, and BF recombinants have been previously reported in South America. This report describes the presence of HIV-1 subtype C infection in the countries of Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay dating back to at least 1999. Surveillance for uncommon non-B/non-F subtype viruses circulating in South America has been conducted in samples obtained from nine countries. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), dried filter paper (FP), and fresh blood (FB) samples were collected from HIV-positive patients from Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. From a total of 2962 HIV seropositive samples examined during a 9-year period (1995-2003), only 11 (0.4%) were found to be infected with non-B/non-F HIV variants. Eight of these 11 strains were determined to be subtype C by heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA). Five of these 8 strains were further characterized by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of the protease (Pro) and reverse transcriptase (RT) region of the genome and two were sequenced full length. One of the strains was found to be a unique BC recombinant. The spread of a third subtype of HIV, subtype C, should raise the question of its potential future role in the HIV epidemic in this region.Fil: Carrion, G.. U.S. Naval Medical Research Center Detachment; PerúFil: Eyzaguirre, L.. Henry M. Jackson Foundation; Estados UnidosFil: Montano, S. M.. U.S. Naval Medical Research Center Detachment; PerúFil: Laguna Torres, V.. U.S. Naval Medical Research Center Detachment; PerúFil: Serra, M.. National AIDS Control Program; UruguayFil: Aguayo, N.. National AIDS Control Program; ParaguayFil: Avila, Maria Mercedes. National Reference for AIDS; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Ruchansky, D.. National Laboratory of Reference for HIV-AIDS; UruguayFil: Pando, María de los Ángeles. National Reference for AIDS; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Vinoles, Jose. National Laboratory of Reference for HIV-AIDS; UruguayFil: Perez, J.. U.S. Naval Medical Research Center Detachment; PerúFil: Barboza, A.. National AIDS Control Program; ParaguayFil: Chauca, G.. U.S. Naval Medical Research Center Detachment; PerúFil: Romero, A.. U.S. Naval Medical Research Center Detachment; PerúFil: Galeano, A.. Tropical Medicine Institute; ParaguayFil: Blair, P.J.. U.S. Naval Medical Research Center Detachment; PerúFil: Weissenbacher, Mercedes Crecencia. National Reference for AIDS; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Birx, D. L.. Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; Estados UnidosFil: Sanchez, J. L.. Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; Estados UnidosFil: Olson, J. G.. U.S. Naval Medical Research Center Detachment; PerúFil: Carr, J. K.. Henry M. Jackson Foundation; Estados Unido

Geospatial data analysis in Russia’s geoweb

The chapter examines the role of geospatial data in Russia’s online ecosystem. Facilitated by the rise of geographic information systems and user-generated content, the distribution of geospatial data has blurred the line between physical spaces and their virtual representations. The chapter discusses different sources of these data available for Digital Russian Studies (e.g., social data and crowdsourced databases) together with the novel techniques for extracting geolocation from various data formats (e.g., textual documents and images). It also scrutinizes different ways of using these data, varying from mapping the spatial distribution of social and political phenomena to investigating the use of geotag data for cultural practices’ digitization to exploring the use of geoweb for narrating individual and collective identities online

Bacterial vaginosis

Bacterial vaginosis is the most prevalent cause of abnormal vaginal discharge in women of childbearing age. It can have a major impact on quality of life and psychological wellbeing if frequently recurrent and strongly symptomatic. The use of molecular techniques to study the vaginal microbiome is increasing our understanding of the dynamic changes in flora that occur in health and disease. It might soon be possible to separate Gardnerella into different pathogenic and non-pathogenic species. Many groups are studying compounds that can disrupt the biofilm which is dominated by Gardnerella and Atopobium vaginae. Several studies in the last decade support the concept of bacterial vaginosis as a sexually transmitted infection

Functional Connectivity Analyses in Imaging Genetics: Considerations on Methods and Data Interpretation

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be combined with genotype assessment to identify brain systems that mediate genetic vulnerability to mental disorders (“imaging genetics”). A data analysis approach that is widely applied is “functional connectivity”. In this approach, the temporal correlation between the fMRI signal from a pre-defined brain region (the so-called “seed point”) and other brain voxels is determined. In this technical note, we show how the choice of freely selectable data analysis parameters strongly influences the assessment of the genetic modulation of connectivity features. In our data analysis we exemplarily focus on three methodological parameters: (i) seed voxel selection, (ii) noise reduction algorithms, and (iii) use of additional second level covariates. Our results show that even small variations in the implementation of a functional connectivity analysis can have an impact on the connectivity pattern that is as strong as the potential modulation by genetic allele variants. Some effects of genetic variation can only be found for one specific implementation of the connectivity analysis. A reoccurring difficulty in the field of psychiatric genetics is the non-replication of initially promising findings, partly caused by the small effects of single genes. The replication of imaging genetic results is therefore crucial for the long-term assessment of genetic effects on neural connectivity parameters. For a meaningful comparison of imaging genetics studies however, it is therefore necessary to provide more details on specific methodological parameters (e.g., seed voxel distribution) and to give information how robust effects are across the choice of methodological parameters

Resting-State Brain Organization Revealed by Functional Covariance Networks

BACKGROUND: Brain network studies using techniques of intrinsic connectivity network based on fMRI time series (TS-ICN) and structural covariance network (SCN) have mapped out functional and structural organization of human brain at respective time scales. However, there lacks a meso-time-scale network to bridge the ICN and SCN and get insights of brain functional organization. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We proposed a functional covariance network (FCN) method by measuring the covariance of amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) in BOLD signals across subjects, and compared the patterns of ALFF-FCNs with the TS-ICNs and SCNs by mapping the brain networks of default network, task-positive network and sensory networks. We demonstrated large overlap among FCNs, ICNs and SCNs and modular nature in FCNs and ICNs by using conjunctional analysis. Most interestingly, FCN analysis showed a network dichotomy consisting of anti-correlated high-level cognitive system and low-level perceptive system, which is a novel finding different from the ICN dichotomy consisting of the default-mode network and the task-positive network. CONCLUSION: The current study proposed an ALFF-FCN approach to measure the interregional correlation of brain activity responding to short periods of state, and revealed novel organization patterns of resting-state brain activity from an intermediate time scale

Prevalencija infekcije Neisseriom gonorrhoeae ili Chlamydiom trachomatis kod akutnoga mukopurulentnog cervicitisa

The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of N. gonorrhoae (NG) and/or C. trachomatis (CT) in acute mucopurulent cervicitis (MPC). The study included 617 non-pregnant women with MPC, who had not been receiving any antimicrobial treatment. The average age of patients was 22.2 years. There were no statistically significant differences according to place of residence, education, and marital status. Samples for laboratory analysis were collected using a routine procedure; NG was identified using the cytochrome oxidase test and Gram staining. CT was isolated on McCoy cell culture and stained with Lugol solution. NG was isolated in three women (0.8 %) and CT in 58 women (9.4 %). Fifty-six of the CT-positive patients were nullipara and only two were unipara. All NG-positive patients were also nullipara. The mean number of sexual partners was 2.2 in all study subjects, 2.4 in CT-positive subjects, and 2.9 in NG-positive subjects. Vaginal discharge purity according to Schröder was significantly deteriorated in CT-positive patients (p=0.011). When asked about the use of contraceptives, as many as 32.7 % patients answered that they did not use any protection, 39 % women used the rhythm method and coitus interruptus, 20 % were taking oral contraceptives, 6.1 % used mechanical devices, and 1.9 % used chemical protection. Previous acute and chronic pelvic infl ammatory diseases correlated with MPC (p<0.01). Our statistical analysis suggests that chlamydial infection significantly reduces the purity of vaginal discharge, which is more pronounced in nulliparae. Pap smear was not specific enough to demonstrate chlamydial infection. In view of the MPC findings, the prevalence of CT and NG infection is low.Cilj istraživanja jest utvrditi koincidenciju N. gonorrhoae (NG) i/ili C. trachomatis (CT) u akutnim mukopurulentnim cervicitisima (MPC). Istraživanje je provedeno na populaciji 617 žena izvan trudnoće koje prethodno nisu uzimale antimikrobnu terapiju. NG i CT su izolirane iz obrisaka vrata maternice primjenom standardnih metoda. NG je transportirana na selektivnoj hranjivoj podlozi i identificirana citokrom-oksidaznim testom bojenjem po Gramu. CT je izolirana McCoyevom staničnom kulturom nakon bojenja Lugolovom otopinom. NG je izolirana u tri ispitanice (0,8 %), a CT u 58 ispitanica (9,4 %). Srednja dob bolesnica iznosila je 22,2 godine. Školovanje i bračno stanje nisu statistički značajno utjecali na rezultate istraživanja. Među bolesnicama s izoliranom CT prevladavaju nulipare, a u slučaju NG sve su pozitivne bolesnice također bile nulipare. Srednja vrijednost broja partnera za čitavu populaciju iznosi 2,2. Bolesnice s potvrđenom CT imale su prosječno 2,4, a one s potvrđenom NG 2,9 partnera. Vrijednost određivanja stupnja čistoće rodničkog iscjetka po Schroderu značajno je povišena u CT-pozitivnih bolesnica (p=0.011). Utvrđeno je da 32.7 % ispitanica uopće nije koristilo kontracepciju, dok je većina (39 %) rabila ritmičke metode i prekinuti snošaj. Preostale ispitanice uzimale su oralne kontraceptive (20 %), mehaničku zaštitu (6,1 %) ili lokalne kemijske kontraceptive (1,9 %). Također je dokazano da prethodna akutna i kronična zdjelična upalna bolest korelira s MPC-om (p<0.01). Zaključeno je da klamidijska infekcija statistički značajno korelira sa stupnjem čistoće rodničkog iscjetka, posebice u nulipara. Papanicolaouov razmaz nije specifičan u određivanju klamidijske infekcije. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da je učestalost klamidijske i gonokokne infekcije ipak relativno niska u odnosu na nalaz MPC-a