Experimental Anaerobic Digestion of Poultry Droppings and Microbiological and Energetic Monitoring of the Process under Study

Tunisia has limited primary energy resources and produces only fossil fuels. The technology of biogas production by anaerobic digestion or biomethanation is very little known and poorly applied in Tunisia. Indeed biogas is very neglected among the main sources of energy in the country. The use of biogas technology can solve a number of ecological and economic problems. Today, its prospects for the future appear promising, justifying the need for a judicious awareness, followed by pilot experiments with a view to the further popularization of biogas technology and its interests. In Tunisia, the poultry sector produces a large quantity of laying inches, abandoned without any recycling or recovery, which can constitute a potential source of an environmental contamination in general, although it is an organic source that can be valued and has important energy and agronomic interests. This study aims to optimize and to follow the experimental biometanation of the poultry litter. Physicochemical and microbiological evaluation of the substrates was carried out. As for the energy side, the anaerobic digestion chosen is in discontinuous (batch), mesophile (35 ° C) and wet (8% DM of digester) mode. The main results show that poultry excreta is rich in organic matter and bacterial load, which favors the production of biogas, in particular with the addition of inoculum and activator. It should also be noted that anaerobic digestion resulted in a decrease in microorganisms and that the activator (especially with 18%) improved the speed of the hydrolysis phase and favored the production of biogas and especially methane

A non-APOE polygenic risk score for Alzheimer's disease is associated with CSF neurofilament light in a representative sample of cognitively unimpaired 70-year-olds

The effect of Alzheimer's disease (AD) polygenic risk scores (PRSs) on amyloid and tau pathophysiology and neurodegeneration in cognitively unimpaired older adults is not known in detail. This study aims to investigate non-APOE AD-PRS and APOE ε4 in relation to AD pathophysiology evaluated by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers in a population-based sample of 70-year-olds. A total of 303 dementia-free individuals from the Gothenburg H70 Birth Cohort Studies were included. Genotyping was performed using the NeuroChip, and AD-PRSs were calculated. CSF levels of amyloid-β (Aβ42), total tau (t-tau), phosphorylated tau (p-tau), neurogranin (Ng), and neurofilament light (NfL) were measured with ELISA. Associations were found between non-APOE PRS and both NfL (p=0.001) and Aβ42 (p=0.02), and between APOE ε4 and Aβ42 (p=1e-10), t-tau (p=5e-4), and p-tau (p=0.002). Similar results were observed when only including individuals with CDR=0, except for no evidence of an association between non-APOE PRS and Aβ42. There was an interaction between non-APOE PRS and Aβ42 pathology status in relation to NfL (p=0.005); association was only present in individuals without Aβ42 pathology (p=0.0003). In relation to Aβ42, there was a borderline interaction (p=0.06) between non-APOE PRS and APOE ε4; association was present in ε4 carriers only (p=0.03). Similar results were observed in individuals with CDR=0 (n=246). In conclusion, among cognitively healthy 70-year-olds from the general population genetic risk of AD beyond the APOE locus was associated with NfL in individuals without Aβ42 pathology, and with Aβ42 in APOE ε4 carriers, suggesting these associations are driven by different mechanisms

Citizen stance towards mandatory COVID-19 vaccination and vaccine booster doses: a study in Colombia, El Salvador and Spain

The infections and deaths resulting from Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) triggered the need for some governments to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory. The present study aims to analyze the position of 3026 adults in Colombia, El Salvador, and Spain regarding the possibility of making COVID-19 vaccine mandatory and the intention to be vaccinated with the booster or possible successive doses. Data from an online survey conducted from August to December 2021 among a non-representative sample of Spanish-speaking countries were collected. Multinomial Logistic Regression Models were used. A total of 77.4% of Colombians were in favor of mandatory vaccination compared to 71.5% of Salvadorians and 65.4% of Spaniards (p < 0.000). Women and people over 65 years of age were the groups most in favor of making the vaccine mandatory (p < 0.000). A total of 79.4% said they had received a third dose or would intend to receive the third dose or future doses, if necessary, compared with 9.4% who expressed doubts and 9.9% who refused to be vaccinated or did not intend to be vaccinated. Among the measures that could be taken to motivate vaccination, 63.0% and 60.6% were in favor of requiring a negative test to enter any place of leisure or work, respectively, compared to 16.2% in favor of suspension from work without pay. The acceptance of mandatory vaccination and of third or future doses varies greatly according to sociodemographic characteristics and work environment. As such, it is recommended that policy makers adapt public health strategies accordingly

Antifungal activity and chemical composition of seven essential oils to control the main seedborne fungi of cucurbits

none9siEssential oils represent novel alternatives to application of synthetic fungicides to control against seedborne pathogens. This study investigated seven essential oils for in vitro growth inhibition of the main seedborne pathogens of cucurbits. Cymbopogon citratus essential oil completely inhibited mycelial growth of Stagonosporopsis cucurbitacearum and Alternaria alternata at 0.6 and 0.9 mg/mL, respectively. At 1 mg/mL, Lavandula dentata, Lavandula hybrida, Melaleuca alternifolia, Laurus nobilis, and two Origanum majorana essential oils inhibited mycelia growth of A. alternata by 54%, 71%, 68%, 36%, 90%, and 74%, respectively. S. cucurbitacearum mycelia growth was more sensitive to Lavandula essential oils, with inhibition of ~74% at 1 mg/mL. To determine the main compounds in these essential oils that might be responsible for this antifungal activity, they were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). C. citratus essential oil showed cirtal as its main constituent, while L. dentata and L. nobilis essential oils showed eucalyptol. The M. alternifolia and two O. majorana essential oils had terpinen-4-ol as the major constituent, while for L. hybrida essential oil, this was linalool. Thus, in vitro, these essential oils can inhibit the main seedborne fungi of cucurbits, with future in vivo studies now needed to confirm these activities.openMoumni M.; Romanazzi G.; Najar B.; Pistelli L.; Amara H.B.; Mezrioui K.; Karous O.; Chaieb I.; Allagui M.B.Moumni, M.; Romanazzi, G.; Najar, B.; Pistelli, L.; Amara, H. B.; Mezrioui, K.; Karous, O.; Chaieb, I.; Allagui, M. B

Reproductive period and preclinical cerebrospinal fluid markers for Alzheimer disease: a 25-year study

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to examine the association between reproductive period, as an indicator of endogenous estrogen, and levels of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers for Alzheimer disease (AD). METHODS: A population-based sample of women from Gothenburg, Sweden was followed from 1968 to 1994 (N = 75). All women had natural menopause and were free from dementia. Information on reproductive period (age at menarche to age at menopause) was obtained from interviews from 1968 to 1980. Lumbar puncture was performed from 1992 to 1994 and CSF levels of Aβ42, Aβ40, P-tau, and T-tau were measured with immunochemical methods. Linear regression models adjusted for potential confounders were used to analyze the relationship between reproductive period and CSF biomarkers for AD. RESULTS: Longer reproductive period was associated with lower levels of Aβ42 (β = -19.2, P  = 0.01), higher levels of P-tau (β = 0.03, P  = 0.01), and lower ratio of Aβ42/Aβ40 (β = -0.02, P  = 0.01), while no association was observed for T-tau (β = 0.01, P  = 0.46). In separate analyses, examining the different components of reproductive period, earlier age at menarche was associated higher levels of P-tau (β = -0.07, P  = 0.031) and lower ratio of Aβ42/Aβ40 (β = 0.05, P  = 0.021), whereas no association was observed with Aβ42 (β = 31.1, P  = 0.11) and T-tau (β = -0.001, P  = 0.98). Furthermore, no association was observed between age at menopause and CSF biomarkers for AD. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that longer exposure to endogenous estrogen may be associated with increased levels of AD biomarkers in the preclinical phase of AD. These findings, however, need to be confirmed in larger samples. / Video Summary: http://links.lww.com/MENO/A804

A Fusion-Based Approach for Breast Ultrasound Image Classification Using Multiple-ROI Texture and Morphological Analyses

Ultrasound imaging is commonly used for breast cancer diagnosis, but accurate interpretation of breast ultrasound (BUS) images is often challenging and operator-dependent. Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems can be employed to provide the radiologists with a second opinion to improve the diagnosis accuracy. In this study, a new CAD system is developed to enable accurate BUS image classification. In particular, an improved texture analysis is introduced, in which the tumor is divided into a set of nonoverlapping regions of interest (ROIs). Each ROI is analyzed using gray-level cooccurrence matrix features and a support vector machine classifier to estimate its tumor class indicator. The tumor class indicators of all ROIs are combined using a voting mechanism to estimate the tumor class. In addition, morphological analysis is employed to classify the tumor. A probabilistic approach is used to fuse the classification results of the multiple-ROI texture analysis and morphological analysis. The proposed approach is applied to classify 110 BUS images that include 64 benign and 46 malignant tumors. The accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity obtained using the proposed approach are 98.2%, 98.4%, and 97.8%, respectively. These results demonstrate that the proposed approach can effectively be used to differentiate benign and malignant tumors

Spectral and localization properties of the Dirichlet wave guide with two concentric Neumann discs

Bound states of the Hamiltonian describing a quantum particle living on three dimensional straight strip of width $d$ are investigated. We impose the Neumann boundary condition on the two concentric windows of the radii $a$ and $b$ located on the opposite walls and the Dirichlet boundary condition on the remaining part of the boundary of the strip. We prove that such a system exhibits discrete eigenvalues below the essential spectrum for any $a,b>0$. When $a$ and $b$ tend to the infinity, the asymptotic of the eigenvalue is derived. A comparative analysis with the one-window case reveals that due to the additional possibility of the regulating energy spectrum the anticrossing structure builds up as a function of the inner radius with its sharpness increasing for the larger outer radius. Mathematical and physical interpretation of the obtained results is presented; namely, it is derived that the anticrossings are accompanied by the drastic changes of the wave function localization. Parallels are drawn to the other structures exhibiting similar phenomena; in particular, it is proved that, contrary to the two-dimensional geometry, at the critical Neumann radii true bound states exist.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figure

The levels of IFN- , IL-12 And Testosterone Hormone in Persons with Asymptomatic Toxoplasmosis

Background: The primary goal of this study is to perceive the immunological differences in mean level of IFN- and IL-12 in persons who have positive results for anti-toxoplasma gondii antibodies compared to persons who gave negative results for these antibodies. The secondary goal is to inspect the endocrineimmune interaction in thesepersons by detecting the effect of testosterone hormone level on cellular immune response namely, IL-12& IFN- . This study also detect the effect of Toxoplasma gondii on the level of testosterone hormone in those persons compared with healthy control. Objective: Investigate the relationship between T. gondii and serum IL-12,IFN- and testosterone hormone levels in asymptomatic persons with positive anti-toxoplasma antibodies compared with healthy control and Study the endocrine _immune interaction in these persons . Patients and methods: Seventy seven asymptomatic persons who have positive anti-toxoplasma antibodies and 30 persons who have negative anti-toxoplasma antibodies were included in this study and subjected to estimating the levels of IL-12, IFN- and testosterone hormone by ELISA technique. Results: The levels of both IL-12 and IFN- were statistically higher in persons with positive antitoxoplasma antibodies than in control. The levels of testosterone hormone were higher in both males and females with positive toxoplasmosis than control. There was a positive association between increased level of testosterone and IL-12 level while there was no effectiveness of testosterone on IFN- level in persons with positive anti-toxoplasma antibodies. Conclusion: Toxoplasma gondii elicits cellular immune response detected by statistically important increased in IL-12 and IFN- level compared with control. Not only host hormone can affect responses to infection, but parasites can both enhance production and alter hormone concentration in their hosts

Passive and active suicidal ideation in a population-based sample of older adults: Associations with polygenic risk scores of relevance for suicidal behavior

Introduction: There are few studies investigating genetic factors related to suicidal ideation or behavior in older adult populations. Our aim was to test associations between passive and active suicidal ideation and polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for suicidality and other traits of relevance for suicidality in old age (i.e. depression, neuroticism, loneliness, Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive performance, educational attainment, and several specified vascular diseases) in a population-based sample aged 70 years and older. / Methods: Participants in the prospective H70 study in Gothenburg, Sweden, took part in a psychiatric examination that included the Paykel questions on active and passive suicidal ideation. Genotyping was performed with the Neurochip (Illumina). After quality control of the genetic data the sample included 3467 participants. PRSs for suicidality and other related traits were calculated based on summary statistics from recent GWASs of relevance. Exclusion of persons with dementia or incomplete data on suicidal ideation yielded 3019 participants, age range 70–101 years. Associations between past year suicidal ideation (any level) and selected PRSs were analysed using general estimation equation (GEE) models, adjusted for sex and age. / Results: We observed associations between passive/active suicidal ideation and PRSs for depression (three versions), neuroticism, and general cognitive performance. After excluding individuals with current major depressive disorder (MDD), similar associations were seen with PRS for neuroticism, general cognitive performance and two PRSs for depression. No associations were found between suicidal ideation and PRSs for suicidality, loneliness, Alzheimer’s disease, educational attainment, or vascular disease. / Discussion: Our results could indicate which types of genetic susceptibility that are of importance for suicidality in old age, and these findings can help to shed light on potential mechanisms that may be involved in passive and active suicidal ideation in late-life, also in those with no current MDD. However, due to the limited sample size, the results need to be interpreted with caution until replicated in larger samples