Vermiculite bio-barriers for Cu and Zn remediation: an eco-friendly approach for freshwater and sediments protection

The increase in heavy metal contamination in freshwater systems causes serious environmental problems in most industrialized countries, and the effort to find ecofriendly techniques for reducing water and sediment contamination is fundamental for environmental protection. Permeable barriers made of natural clays can be used as low-cost and eco-friendly materials for adsorbing heavy metals from water solution and thus reducing the sediment contamination. This study discusses the application of permeable barriers made of vermiculite clay for heavy metals remediation at the interface between water and sediments and investigates the possibility to increase their efficiency by loading the vermiculite surface with a microbial biofilm of Pseudomonas putida, which is well known to be a heavy metal accumulator. Some batch assays were performed to verify the uptake capacity of two systems and their adsorption kinetics, and the results indicated that the vermiculite bio-barrier system had a higher removal capacity than the vermiculite barrier (?34.4 and 22.8 % for Cu and Zn, respectively). Moreover, the presence of P. putida biofilm strongly contributed to fasten the kinetics of metals adsorption onto vermiculite sheets. In open-system conditions, the presence of a vermiculite barrier at the interface between water and sediment could reduce the sediment contamination up to 20 and 23 % for Cu and Zn, respectively, highlighting the efficiency of these eco-friendly materials for environmental applications. Nevertheless, the contribution of microbial biofilm in open-system setup should be optimized, and some important considerations about biofilm attachment in a continuous-flow system have been discussed.This work has been produced thanks to the collaboration of Dip.SA (University of Bologna) and IBB (University of Minho). A particular acknowledgment is due to Dr. E. Rosales. The work was partially financed by the FCT Strategic Project Pest-OE/EQB/LA0023 and the Project ‘‘BioEnv—Biotechnology and Bioengineering for a sustainable world,’’ co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2–O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER

A novel approach of electrification of the high rise buildings at dhaka city during load shedding hours

The scope of this paper concentrates on an approach to provide additional power supply by the implementation of the integration of wind turbine and Pico hydro turbine installed at the roof of high rise building. The Pico hydro turbine is installed over the storage tank where the tank is filled with water by the high capacity pump which is installed at the ground floor of the building. In the storage tank of high rise building water is thrown by the pump with a very high velocity which pushes the turbine to make it spin. The spinning of the turbine is turned into electricity by means of a generator and immense amount of wasted kinetic energy of the water is recovered thrown by the pump. The electrical energy created is usually stored in a battery which can then power electrical objects in house, such as appliances and lights. When the storage tank will be filled by water no more power can be extracted from the Pico hydro turbine. A wind turbine could also be installed at the roof of the high rise building with the purpose of acquiring additional power supply as the wind velocity is generally higher at the roof of the building. The electrical power, obtained from both the generators one coupled with the Pico hydro turbine impeller and another with the wind turbine blade can be utilized in houses, offices, and also in the industries. With the integration of Pico hydro turbine and wind turbine more electrical power could be gained. Moreover the major advantage of this system is the elimination of the cost of fuel and it is an eco-friendly clean power generation method. The feasibility of the overall integrated system is analyzed in this research work

Extracellular Polysaccharides of a Copper-Sensitive and a Copper-Resistant Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Strain: Synthesis, Chemical Nature and Copper Binding

Extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) of a copper-sensitive (Cus) and a copper-resistant (Cur) Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain were investigated in terms of their production, chemical nature and response towards copper exposure. The extent of EPS synthesis by the resistant strain (4.78 mg mg)1 cell dry wt.) was considerably higher over its sensitive counterpart (2.78 mg mg)1 dry wt.). FTIR-spectroscopy and gas chromatography revealed that both the polymers were acidic in nature, containing alginate as the major component along with various neutraland amino-sugars. Acid content in the Cur EPS (480.54 mg g)1) was greater than that in the Cus EPS (442.0mg g)1). Presence of Cu2þ in the growth medium caused a dramatic stimulation (approximately 4-fold) in EPS synthesis by the Cur strain, while in a similar condition, the Cus failed to exhibit such response. The polymer of the resistant strain showed elevated Cu2þ binding (320mg g)1 EPS) compared to that of the sensitive type (270mg g)1). The overall observations show the potential of the Cur EPS for its deployment in metal bioremediation

A rectovaginalis sövény elsődleges adenocarcinomája az endometriosis egyidejű jelenléte nélkül

Primary adenocarcinoma of the rectovaginal septum is a rare clinical entity that arises in most of the cases from endometriosis. The authors report a successfully treated case of primary adenocarcinoma of the rectovaginal septum without associated endometriosis in a 68-year-old woman. Diagnostic and treatment modalities were reviewed by the authors emphasizing that the early diagnosis is difficult and the only curative method is primary surgical therapy