Analysis of pharmaceuticals in wastewater and removal using a membrane bioreactor

Much attention has recently been devoted to the life and behaviour of pharmaceuticals in the water cycle. In this study the behaviour of several pharmaceutical products in different therapeutic categories (analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs, lipid regulators, antibiotics, etc.) was monitored during treatment of wastewater in a laboratory-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR). The results were compared with removal in a conventional activated-sludge (CAS) process in a wastewater-treatment facility. The performance of an MBR was monitored for approximately two months to investigate the long-term operational stability of the system and possible effects of solids retention time on the efficiency of removal of target compounds. Pharmaceuticals were, in general, removed to a greater extent by the MBR integrated system than during the CAS process. For most of the compounds investigated the performance of MBR treatment was better (removal rates >80%) and effluent concentrations of, e.g., diclofenac, ketoprofen, ranitidine, gemfibrozil, bezafibrate, pravastatin, and ofloxacin were steadier than for the conventional system. Occasionally removal efficiency was very similar, and high, for both treatments (e.g. for ibuprofen, naproxen, acetaminophen, paroxetine, and hydrochlorothiazide). The antiepileptic drug carbamazepine was the most persistent pharmaceutical and it passed through both the MBR and CAS systems untransformed. Because there was no washout of biomass from the reactor, high-quality effluent in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonium content (N-NH(4)), total suspended solids (TSS), and total organic carbon (TOC) was obtained

Engineering a novel self-powering electrochemical biosensor

This paper records the efforts of a multi-disciplinary team of undergraduate students from Glasgow University to collectively design and carry out a 10 week project in Synthetic Biology as part of the international Genetic Engineered Machine competition (iGEM). The aim of the project was to design and build a self-powering electrochemical biosensor called ‘ElectrEcoBlu’. The novelty of this engineered machine lies in coupling a biosensor with a microbial fuel cell to transduce a pollution input into an easily measurable electrical output signal. The device consists of two components; the sensor element which is modular, allowing for customisation to detect a range of input signals as required, and the universal reporter element which is responsible for generating an electrical signal as an output. The genetic components produce pyocyanin, a competitive electron mediator for microbial fuel cells, thus enabling the generation of an electrical current in the presence of target chemical pollutants. The pollutants tested in our implementation were toluene and salicylate. ElectrEcoBlu is expected to drive forward the development of a new generation of biosensors. Our approach exploited a range of state-of-the-art modelling techniques in a unified framework of qualitative, stochastic and continuous approaches to support the design and guide the construction of this novel biological machine. This work shows that integrating engineering techniques with scientific methodologies can provide new insights into genetic regulation and can be considered as a reference framework for the development of biochemical systems in synthetic biology

Morphologic and Kinematic Characteristics of Elite Sprinters

The purpose of the study was to ascertain the basic morphologic and kinematic characteristics of elite sprinters. The sample included 24 sprinters, with times over a 100 m distance between 10.21 s and 11.19 s. Morphologic characteristics of the sprinters were measured with a test battery of 17 measures, obtained according to the methodology prescribed by the International Biologic Programme (IBP). The kinematic variables were obtained from a flying start 20 m run and a 20 m run with a low start, with the technology of a contact carpet (ERGO TESTER – Bosco). Stride frequency and length, duration of contact and flight phases were registered. Time parameters were measured with a system of infrared photocells (BROWER Timing System). T-test showed that elite sprinters do not differ significantly in morphologic characteristics (p > 0.05) from the 100 m results point of view. However, statistically significant differences were obtained in starting acceleration and maximal velocity. The most important kinematic parameters for generating differences between the elite sprinters are contact time and stride frequency

Effects of the Veterinary Pharmaceutical Ivermectin in Indoor Aquatic Microcosms

The effects of the parasiticide ivermectin were assessed in plankton-dominated indoor microcosms. Ivermectin was applied once at concentrations of 30, 100, 300, 1000, 3000, and 10,000 ng/l. The half-life (dissipation time 50%; DT50) of ivermectin in the water phase ranged from 1.1 to 8.3 days. The lowest NOECcommunity that could be derived on an isolated sampling from the microcosm study by means of multivariate techniques was 100 ng/l. The most sensitive species in the microcosm study were the cladocerans Ceriodaphnia sp. (no observed effect concentration, NOEC = 30 ng/l) and Chydorus sphaericus (NOEC = 100 ng/l). The amphipod Gammarus pulex was less sensitive to ivermectin, showing consistent statistically significant reductions at the 1000-ng/l treatment level. Copepoda taxa decreased directly after application of ivermectin in the highest treatment but had already recovered at day 20 posttreatment. Indirect effects (e.g., increase of rotifers, increased primary production) were observed at the highest treatment level starting only on day 13 of the exposure phase. Cladocera showed the highest sensitivity to ivermectin in both standard laboratory toxicity tests as well as in the microcosm study. This study demonstrates that simple plankton-dominated test systems for assessing the effects of ivermectin can produce results similar to those obtained with large complex outdoor systems