Agroecologic valuation of organic waste in different technologies of storage

A study has been conducted, based on three types of fertilizers / cow, pig and bird manure/ and bioshlam /received from clearing station/ that have been storage in different technologies in order to make an agroecologic valuation. The different types of fertilizers and wastewater in different technologies of storage have been analyzed according to the following parameters: Dry matter (DM) ,Organic matter (OM), Organic Carbon (OC), Nitrogen Kjeldahl (N), Nitrogen Ammonium (N -ammonium), Nitrogen nitrate (N- nitrate), Sulfates (SO4) , Calcium Oxide (CaO), Magnesium Oxide (MgO), Patassium (K), P (Phosphorus), pH (H2O) and heavy metals – arsenic (As), Cadmium (Cd), Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Mercury (Hg), Nickel (Ni), Lead (Pd), Zinc (Zn). The received results show: variation of the percentage of dry material /from 92,12% to 4,03%/ according to the technology of storage. The way of storage has no essential influence on the content of carbon in the various stable fertilizers, where pig manure has the highest value of nitrogen in all technologies of storage. Near to the recommendable optimal values of C:N is stayed/dry/ and fresh/hard/ in all three fertilizer types. The technology of storage by the different manure types has no influence on the content of heavy metal. Exception can be observed as far as the zinc content in stale /fluid/ pig manure is concerned. High content of dry material can be observed in bioshlam received from clearing station. In both ways of production of variation in the content of dry material the ratio between the biogenic macro elements C:N remains. The free nitrogen forms (N-ammonium and Nnitrate) in bioshlam are higher to other organic waste in both technologies of storage. No values over the critically admissible in bioshlam are observed in both technologies of production

Search for excess showers from Crab Nebula

The arrival directions of muon poor showers registrated in the Tien Shan experiment during an effective running time about I,8.IO(4)h were analyzed. It is shown that there is a significant excess of these showers coming the direction of Crab Nebula

Use of the GATE Monte Carlo package for dosimetry applications

6 pages, 3 figures - submitted to NIM A, presented by D. VisvikisInternational audienceOne of the roles for MC simulation studies is in the area of dosimetry. A number of different codes dedicated to dosimetry applications are available and widely used today, such as MCNP, EGSnrc and PTRAN. However, such codes do not easily facilitate the description of complicated 3D sources or emission tomography systems and associated data flow, which may be useful in different dosimetry application domains. Such problems can be overcome by the use of specific MC codes such as GATE, which is based on Geant4 libraries, providing a scripting interface with a number of advantages for the simulation of SPECT and PET systems. Despite this potential, its major disadvantage is in terms of efficiency involving long execution times for applications such as dosimetry. The strong points and disadvantages of GATE in comparison to other dosimetry specific codes are discussed and illustrated in terms of accuracy, efficiency and flexibility. A number of features, such as the use of voxelised and moving sources, as well as developments such as advanced visualisation tools and the development of dose estimation maps allowing GATE to be used for dosimetry applications are presented. In addition, different examples from dosimetry applications with GATE are given. Finally, future directions with respect to the use of GATE for dosimetry applications are outlined

Reduction of sanitary indicator microorganisms in anaerobic digestion of poultry litter in combination with silages

ABSTRACT: In connection with experiments aimed at optimizing anaerobic digestion of organic fertilizers, microbiological tests were performed to assess the epizootiological safety of resulting finished product to fertilize the soil by quantities of sanitary indicator microorganisms. Mixtures of substrates were composed and tested in technological parameters established for other experiments: mesophilic temperature regime 33oC, dry matter content of 7%, residence time in the digester 15 days. The substrates tested were beetroot, sugar and salad beets, corn silage and leaves of Paulownia elongata, and silage combinations of these feeds in ratio 60:40 with mulch litter from broiler chickens. It was found that significant reduction of microorganisms was realized in the final products, which were assessed as safe for soil application. The ensiling of poultry litter in combinations of these feeds had the effect of reducing the amount of microorganisms in almost all examined groups therein. The most significant was the reduction in the quantity of sanitary revealing bacteria in the manure after its ensilage with autumn leaves of P. elongata and beetroot, and the least - with the participation of sugar beet. Microbial reduction was to the greatest extent in bioslime produced by anaerobic digestion of poultry litter ensiled with corn. Of the silages from different types of beets with poultry manure, during anaerobic digestion highest decontamination was achieved in this with sugar beets. After anaerobic degradation of the studied feed without poultry litter, at least microorganisms were found in bioslimes from the three types of beet, as well from the silage from P. elongata. РЕЗЮМЕ: Във връзка с експерименти, насочени към оптимизиране на анаеробното разграждане на органични торове, са извършени микробиологични изследвания за преценка на епизоотологичната безопасност на получените крайни продукти за наторяване на почви според количествата на санитарно индикаторните микроорганизми. Съставени са смеси от субстрати при установени при други експерименти технологични параметри: мезофилен температурен режим 33оС, съдържание на сухо вещество 7%, време на престой в биореактора 15 денонощия. Изпитани са захарно, кръмно и салатно цвекло, царевичен силаж и листа от Paulownia elongata, както и силажи от комбинации на тези фуражи в съотношение 60:40 с торова постеля от пилета-бройлери. Установено е, че се осъществява значително редуциране на микроорганизмите в крайните продукти, които се преценяват като безопасни за внасяне в почвите. В най-голяма степен микробната редукция е при биошлама, получен при анаеробното разграждане на комбинацията от торова постеля с царевичен силаж. От трите вида цвекло, силажирани с птичи тор, при анаеробно разграждане се постига най-висока деконтаминация с участие на захарното цвекло. При анаеробно разграждане на изследваните фуражи без птичи тор най-малко микроорганизми се установяват в биошламовете от трите вида цвекло, както и в силажа от P. elongata

The continuum of spreading depolarizations in acute cortical lesion development: Examining Leao's legacy.

A modern understanding of how cerebral cortical lesions develop after acute brain injury is based on Aristides Leao's historic discoveries of spreading depression and asphyxial/anoxic depolarization. Treated as separate entities for decades, we now appreciate that these events define a continuum of spreading mass depolarizations, a concept that is central to understanding their pathologic effects. Within minutes of acute severe ischemia, the onset of persistent depolarization triggers the breakdown of ion homeostasis and development of cytotoxic edema. These persistent changes are diagnosed as diffusion restriction in magnetic resonance imaging and define the ischemic core. In delayed lesion growth, transient spreading depolarizations arise spontaneously in the ischemic penumbra and induce further persistent depolarization and excitotoxic damage, progressively expanding the ischemic core. The causal role of these waves in lesion development has been proven by real-time monitoring of electrophysiology, blood flow, and cytotoxic edema. The spreading depolarization continuum further applies to other models of acute cortical lesions, suggesting that it is a universal principle of cortical lesion development. These pathophysiologic concepts establish a working hypothesis for translation to human disease, where complex patterns of depolarizations are observed in acute brain injury and appear to mediate and signal ongoing secondary damage

Association of Aβ with Ceramide-Enriched Astrosomes Mediates Aβ Neurotoxicity

Amyloid-β (Aβ) associates with extracellular vesicles termed exosomes. It is not clear whether and how exosomes modulate Aβ neurotoxicity in Alzheimer\u27s disease (AD). We show here that brain tissue and serum from the transgenic mouse model of familial AD (5xFAD) and serum from AD patients contains ceramide-enriched and astrocyte-derived exosomes (termed astrosomes) that are associated with Aβ. In Neuro-2a cells, primary cultured neurons, and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons, Aβ-associated astrosomes from 5xFAD mice and AD patient serum were specifically transported to mitochondria, induced mitochondrial clustering, and upregulated the fission protein Drp-1 at a concentration corresponding to 5 femtomoles Aβ/L of medium. Aβ-associated astrosomes, but not wild type or control human serum exosomes, mediated binding of Aβ to voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1) and subsequently, activated caspases. Aβ-associated astrosomes induced neurite fragmentation and neuronal cell death, suggesting that association with astrosomes substantially enhances Aβ neurotoxicity in AD and may comprise a novel target for therapy

Microbiological evaluation of sewage sludge in terms of possibility of applications in soil as a fertilizer

The studies were carried out of sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plant for the presence of microorganisms of several main groups, containing pathogenic representatives with epizootological significance (Gram-negative aerobic bacteria, E. coli, Clostridium perfringens, the genera Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Enterococcus, fungi, and the total number of microorganisms), in order to assess the environmental safety of the final product. In parallel similar studies were made of fresh and composted cattle manures. A comparison of the results was made with the ready for manuring compost in order to assess the possibilities for the use of sludge for fertilizing. The quantities of microorganisms were given in CFU per 1 g of the investigated material, as well as per 1 g of dry substance for each of them. In our opinion this new approach to the reporting of the results per unit of dry matter of the investigated materials, allows for a more accurate comparison. It was found that the examined sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plant were rich in microorganisms from studied groups and their direct application in soils without prior treatment by aerobic or anaerobic digestion may represent epidemiological danger

Schizophrenia copy number variants and associative learning

Large-scale genomic studies have made major progress in identifying genetic risk variants for schizophrenia. A key finding from these studies is that there is an increased burden of genomic copy number variants (CNVs) in schizophrenia cases compared with controls. The mechanism through which these CNVs confer risk for the symptoms of schizophrenia, however, remains unclear. One possibility is that schizophrenia risk CNVs impact basic associative learning processes, abnormalities of which have long been associated with the disorder. To investigate whether genes in schizophrenia CNVs impact on specific phases of associative learning we combined human genetics with experimental gene expression studies in animals. In a sample of 11 917 schizophrenia cases and 16 416 controls, we investigated whether CNVs from patients with schizophrenia are enriched for genes expressed during the consolidation, retrieval or extinction of associative memories. We show that CNVs from cases are enriched for genes expressed during fear extinction in the hippocampus, but not genes expressed following consolidation or retrieval. These results suggest that CNVs act to impair inhibitory learning in schizophrenia, potentially contributing to the development of core symptoms of the disorder

Gac two-component system in Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci is required for virulence but not for hypersensitive reaction

Pseudomonas syringae pv. tabaci 6605 causes wildfire disease on host tobacco plants. To investigate the regulatory mechanism of the expression of virulence, Gac two-Component system-defective mutants, Delta gacA and Delta gacS, and a double mutant, Delta gacA Delta gacS, were generated. These mutants produced smaller amounts of N-acyl homoserine lactones required for quorum sensing, had lost swarming motility, and had reduced expression of virulence-related hrp genes and the algT gene required for exopolysaccharide production. The ability of the mutants to cause disease symptoms in their host tobacco plant was remarkably reduced, while they retained the ability to induce hypersensitive reaction (HR) in the nonhost plants. These results indicated that the Gac two-component system of P. syringae pv. tabaci 6605 is indispensable for virulence on the host plant, but not for HR induction in the nonhost plants.</p