How the rise of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman impacts India

As the new Saudi Crown Prince gains more control, Pieter-Jan Dockx writes that India has a new balancing act to play between the House of Saud and the Islamic Republic. While counter-terrorism cooperation may increase, other indicators foretell a gloomy future

Good governance, the best counter narrative and antidote to radicalisation

Nearly a month ago, Pakistan launched a religious fatwa against terrorism and use of violence against the government. Pieter-Jan Dockx on why this is a narrow understanding of counter narratives and the only solution to radicalisation and fundamentalism can be found in good governance

Prevalence and severity of antipsychotic related constipation in patients with schizophrenia: a retrospective descriptive study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Antipsychotic are the cornerstone in the treatment of schizophrenia. They also have a number of side-effects. Constipation is thought to be common, and a potential serious side-effect, which has received little attention in recent literature.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>We performed a retrospective study in consecutively admitted patients, between 2007 and 2009 and treated with antipsychotic medication, linking different electronic patient data to evaluate the prevalence and severity of constipation in patients with schizophrenia under routine treatment conditions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Over a period of 22 months 36.3% of patients (99) received at least once a pharmacological treatment for constipation. On average medication for constipation was prescribed for 273 days. Severe cases (N = 50), non-responsive to initial treatment, got a plain x-ray of the abdomen. In 68.4% fecal impaction was found.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A high prevalence of constipation, often severe and needing medical interventions, was confirmed during the study period. Early detection, monitoring over treatment and early intervention of constipation could prevent serious consequences such as ileus.</p

MGOUN1 and MGOUN2: two genes required for primordium initiation at the shoot apical and floral meristems in Arabidopsis thaliana

International audienc

Implementation of an anaerobic selector step for the densification of activated sludge treating high-salinity petrochemical wastewater

Sludge bulking is a common challenge in industrial biological wastewater treatment. Leading to difficulties such as bad sludge settling and washout, which is a problem also encountered in the petrochemical industry. Anaerobic feeding strategies can be used to induce the growth of storage-capable organisms, such as glycogen-accumulating organisms (GAO), leading to denser sludge flocs and better settling. In this study, the implementation of an anaerobic feeding strategy was investigated for high-salinity petrochemical wastewater (±35 g salts·L−1), using a sequencing batch reactor. Influent, effluent and sludge characteristics were analyzed throughout the operational period, which can be divided into three stages: I (normal operation), II (increased influent volume) and III (longer anaerobic mixing). Good effluent quality was observed during all stages with effluent chemical oxygen demand (COD) < 100 mgO2·L−1 and removal efficiencies of 95%. After 140 days, the sludge volume index decreased below 100 mL·g−1 reaching the threshold of good settling sludge. Sludge morphology clearly improved, with dense sludge flocs and less filaments being present. A maximum anaerobic dissolved oxygen carbon (DOC) uptake was achieved on day 80 with 74% during stage III. 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing showed the presence of GAOs, with increasing relative read abundance over time from 1 to 3.5%. HIGHLIGHTS Dense and compact sludge flocs were achieved under high-saline conditions; Filamentous organisms were suppressed in the system, favoring the growth of glycogen-accumulating organisms; Settling characteristics of the sludge were improved to the point of the sludge being characterized as well-settling