Mother and Infant talk about mental states: systemic emergence of psychological lexicon and theory of mind understanding

In recent years, a number of studies that have examined how social experiences are related to children’s theory of mind development, have found that: (1) the frequency of mothers’ mental state utterances used in mother-child picture-book reading, is correlated with children’s theory of mind abilities; (2) mothers’ use of cognitive terms is related more strongly to children’s theory of mind performances than the mothers’ references to other mental states, such as desires or emotions (Adrian, Clemente, Villanueva, Rieffe, 2005; Ruffman, Slade, Crowe, 2002; Taumoepeau, Ruffman, 2006; Dunn, 2002). Despite the evidence for the role of mothers’ language, there is disagreement over how exactly it improves children’s theory of mind development. In short, mentalistic comments contain distinctive words, grammatical constructions and pragmatic features. The question is, however, which factor is critical (de Rosnay, Pons, Harris, Morrell, 2004). The present study addresses this issue and focuses on relationship between mothers’ mental state terms and children’s performances in theory of mind tasks (emotion understanding and false belief tasks). Mothers were asked to read some pictures to 10 children between 3;0 and 5;0. Among the different mental state references (perceptual, emotional, volitional, cognitive, moral and communicative), it was found that the frequency and variety of mothers’ mental state words were significantly associated with children’s mental lexicon. In addition, emotional terms correlated positively with children’s false belief performance. Kind of emotional words that are used by the mothers with reference to the Italian language will be discussed

The use of microcalorimetry to compare the biological activity of a CAS and a MBR sludge - Application to Pharmaceutical Active Compounds

Micropollutants removal, such as pharmaceutical substances, during wastewater treatment processes is becoming a greater issue everyday. In order to optimize it, their biodegradation processes have to be better understood. So far, microcalorimetry has been used worldwide to investigate chemical reactions. For few years now it has also been developed to model and control biological processes. In the case of micropollutants, respirometry is, most of the time, not precise enough to determine biodegradation. That is why, microcalorimetric experiments have been set up. For this purpose, a 2 L Bio-RC1 (Mettler-Toledo) has been modified to reach a resolution of 5–10 mW.L21. In this study, the biodegradation rate of standard substrates (Ethanol and Ammonia) by an activated sludge from a full-scale CAS and one from a MBR pilot plant operating in parallel have been compared by means of microcalorimetry. Then few trials to determine the biodegradation of selected pharmaceutical substances, as well as the eventual inhibition induced by them have been made. The first results did not exhibit any biological activity. However, they have displayed inhibition for both studied substances

Influence of process type and operational parameters on pharmaceutical substances removal - comparison MBR and CAS.

none3H. Bouju; G. Buttiglieri; F. MalpeiBouju, Helene; Buttiglieri, Gianluigi; Malpei, Francesc

Effect of oxygen concentration on biological nitrification and microbial kinetics in a cross-flow membrane bioreactor (MBR) and moving-bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) treating old landfill leachate

Ammonium nitrogen concentration in leachate from old Italian landfills ranges from 0.5 to as high as 3 g L-1. In this paper biological nitrogen removal from leachate has been achieved by partial nitrification to nitrite in a pure-oxygen membrane bioreactor (PO-MBR) and by subsequent denitrification in a moving-bed biofilm reactor (MBBR). When ammonium is biologically oxidized to nitrite, only 75% of the oxygen required for full nitrification is needed. Moreover, denitrification can be performed by saving 30-40% of the carbon required. The process was carried out by an MBR oxidation tank of 500 L equipped with an UF ceramic membrane followed by a 540-L post-denitrification tank filled with moving plastic support media. The best operational conditions to achieve partial nitrification were analyzed. TKN loading rate was variable from 50 to 120 g TKN (kg TSS day)(-1) with an influent ammonia concentration between 1000 and 1500 mg L-1. When DO concentration in the MBR was kept in the range 0.2-0.5 mg L-1, 90% oxidation of ammonia to nitrite was achieved, with stable inhibition of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria even at sludge retention time higher than 45 days

Denitrification of Drinking Water Sources by Advanced Biological Treatment Using a Membrane Bioreactor

Nitrate often contaminates groundwater resources due to excessive use of fertilizers and uncontrolled on-land discharges of raw and treated wastewater and can therefore limit the direct use of groundwater for drinking water purposes. In order to investigate the possible application of a membrane bioreactor (MBR) for denitrification of groundwater, the performance of a pilot-scale MBR was tested as a function of hydraulic and biological parameters. For this purpose synthetic groundwater was prepared by taking lake water (Lago Maggiore, Italy) and adding known amounts of ethanol and sodium nitrate to study the nitrate removal capacity of the sludge, to search for an optimum C/N ratio and to measure filtering ability for micro-organisms through the membrane. The optimum C/N ratio was found at 2.2 gC/gN, resulting in an effluent nitrate concentration within the limits stated in EU Directive 98/83 and the US EPA for drinking water use. The effluent nitrite concentration was one order under the EU limit. The membrane module, Zenon ZW-10, was monitored and performed well except for a short stress episode due to low airflow, afterwards rapidly corrected and thus putting the membrane back to its previous stable behavior. Total bacterial count for the treated effluent was lower than influent water, and 100% removal was observed for both total coliforms and E. coli. Calorimetric thermograms related to heat dissipation due to biological denitrification (nitrate and nitrite consumption) and to substrate adaptation are discussed. A maximum nitrate removal rate close to 20 mgN-NO~ gVSS-1 h- ~ was measured in the calorimetric testsJRC.H.5-Rural, water and ecosystem resource

Modelling and prediction of the effect of operational parameters on the fate of contaminants of emerging concern in WWTPs

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) provide a barrier against the discharge of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) into the environment. The removal of CECs is highly WWTP-specific and the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood, hampering the optimization of biological treatment steps for their removal. To fill this knowledge gap, we assessed the influence of four operational parameters of activated sludge biological treatment, namely total suspended solids, temperature, pH and redox conditions, on the sorption and biodegradation of four CECs under controlled laboratory conditions. Design of Experiments was used to better address the factors influencing CECs removal and interactions among operational parameters. The derived statistical models showed results in concordance with previous studies and indicated how sorption and biodegradation of the investigated CECs depend on most tested parameters and few of their interactions. The predictions of the developed models have been compared with literature values, indicating how the tested parameters are responsible for most of the variability of sorption, while they could not reliably generalize biodegradation rates. The developed models were also implemented as an extension of a mechanistic biological treatment model, successfully describing the dynamic behaviour of a large-scale WWTP, which was observed during a three-day continuous monitoring campaign. Compared to a traditional modelling approach, the one including the developed models showed on average almost a three-fold uncertainty reduction, favouring its use to aid WWTP managers and regulators for improved assessment of CEC fate and removal. Finally, the models highlighted that, while higher temperatures and solids concentrations generically favoured CECs removal, removal efficiency vary significantly due to operational parameters and no globally optimum conditions for CECs removal exist. The use of these models opens the door to the combined dynamic management of both traditional contaminants and CECs in WWTPs

Wastewater-Based Epidemiology: Global Collaborative to Maximize Contributions in the Fight Against COVID-19

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel member of the Coronaviridae family, has been identified as the etiologic agent of an ongoing pandemic of severe pneumonia known as COVID-19.(1) To date there have been millions of cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in 184 countries with case fatality rates ranging from 1.8% in Germany to 12.5% in Italy.(2) Limited diagnostic testing capacity and asymptomatic and oligosymptomatic infections result in significant uncertainty in the estimated extent of SARS-CoV-2 infection.(3) Recent reports have documented that infection with SARS-CoV-2 is accompanied by persistent shedding of virus RNA in feces in 27%(4) to 89% of patients at densities from 0.8 to 7.5 log10 gene copies per gram.(5) The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in feces raises the potential to survey sewage for virus RNA to inform epidemiological monitoring of COVID-19, which we refer to as wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE),(6) but is also known as environmental surveillance.(7) Several studies have reported the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in wastewater in the early stages of local outbreaks, further supporting the technical viability of WBE.(8−10) WBE could be especially informative given that asymptomatic and oligosymptomatic infections are unlikely to be detected during clinical surveillance. In such instances, WBE can be used to determine the burden of undiagnosed infections at the population level, which is critical to refining estimates of case-fatality rates. Additionally, wastewater offers an aggregate sample from an entire community that is more easily accessible than pooled clinical samples.(11) Along with clinical data and other technological approaches, such as contact tracing, WBE could provide critical monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 transmission within a community including the beginning, tapering, or re-emergence of an epidemic (Figure 1). This approach mirrors previous efforts in environmental monitoring, for example poliovirus RNA, to inform mechanistic models of pathogen transmission dynamics.(12)Peer reviewe