Analyse du cycle de vie d'un système bioélectrochimique en tant que plate-forme technologique innovante pour la production d'acide succinique à partir de déchets

International audienceWaste management is a key environmental and socio-economic issue. Environmental concerns are encouraging the use of alternative resources and lower emissions to air, water and soil. Innovative technologies to deal with waste recovery that produce marketable bioproducts are emerging. Bioelectrochemical synthesis systems (BESs) are based on the primary principle of transforming organic waste into added-value products using microorganisms to catalyse chemical reactions. This technology is at the core of a research project called BIORARE (BIoelectrosynthesis for ORganic wAste bioREfinery), an interdisciplinary project that aims to use anaerobic digestion as a supply chain to feed a BES and produce target biomolecules. This technology needs to be driven by environmental strategies. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was used to evaluate the BIORARE concept based on expert opinion and prior experiments for the production of biosuccinic acid and waste management. A multidisciplinary approach based on biochemistry and process engineering expertise was used to collect the inventory data. The BES design and the two-step anaerobic digestion process have many potential impacts on air pollution or ecotoxicity-related categories. The comparison of the BIORARE concept with conventional fermentation processes and a water-fed BES technology demonstrated the environmental benefit resulting from the use of both the BES technology and a waste-based substrate as input thus supporting the BIORARE concept. Some trade-offs among the impact categories were identified but led to options to improve the concept. BES design and synergy management may improve the environmental performance of the BIORARE concep

Clinical and molecular practice of European thoracic pathology laboratories during the COVID-19 pandemic. The past and the near future

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the consequences in Europe of the COVID-19 outbreak on pathology laboratories orientated toward the diagnosis of thoracic diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A survey was sent to 71 pathology laboratories from 21 European countries. The questionnaire requested information concerning the organization of biosafety, the clinical and molecular pathology, the biobanking, the workload, the associated research into COVID-19, and the organization of education and training during the COVID-19 crisis, from 15 March to 31 May 2020, compared with the same period in 2019. RESULTS: Questionnaires were returned from 53/71 (75%) laboratories from 18 European countries. The biosafety procedures were heterogeneous. The workload in clinical and molecular pathology decreased dramatically by 31% (range, 3%-55%) and 26% (range, 7%-62%), respectively. According to the professional category, between 28% and 41% of the staff members were not present in the laboratories but did teleworking. A total of 70% of the laboratories developed virtual meetings for the training of residents and junior pathologists. During the period of study, none of the staff members with confirmed COVID-19 became infected as a result of handling samples. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on most of the European pathology laboratories included in this study. Urgent implementation of several changes to the organization of most of these laboratories, notably to better harmonize biosafety procedures, was noted at the onset of the pandemic and maintained in the event of a new wave of infection occurring in Europe

Analysis of clinical and environmental Candida parapsilosis isolates by microsatellite genotyping – a tool for hospital infections surveillance

Candida parapsilosis emerged as an important opportunistic pathogen, causing candidaemia worldwide. Nosocomial outbreaks triggered by this species have been frequently described, particularly in cancer patients. For a better understanding of its epidemiology, several typing methods are used and microsatellite analysis has been reported as highly discriminant. The main objective of this work was to study C. parapsilosis isolates by application of microsatellite genotyping to distinguish epidemiologically related strains, compare clinical and environmental isolates and determine possible routes of dispersion of the isolates in the hospital setting. A total of 129 C. parapsilosis isolates from different origins, including hospital environment and hands of healthcare workers, were genotyped using four microsatellite markers. The isolates were recovered from different health institutions. Analysis of C. parapsilosis isolates from hospital environment showed great genotypic diversity; however, the same or very similar genotypes were also found. The same multilocus genotype was shared by isolates recovered from the hand of a healthcare worker, from the hospital environment and from patients of the same healthcare institution, suggesting that these could be possible routes of transmission and that infections due to C. parapsilosis may be mainly related with exogenous transmission to the patient. Examination of sequential isolates from the same patients showed that colonizing and bloodstream isolates had the same multilocus genotype in the majority of cases. We demonstrate that this typing method is able to distinguish clonal clusters from genetically unrelated genotypes and can be a valuable tool to support epidemiologic investigations in the hospital setting.This research was supported by FCT/MEC, Portugal through Portuguese funds (PIDDAC) - Pest-OE/BIA/UI4050/2014 (CBMA), University of Minho. Raquel Sabino was financially supported by a fellowship from FCT, Portugal (contract BD/22100/2005).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Multilocus microsatellite analysis of European and African Candida glabrata isolates

This study aimed to elucidate the genetic relatedness and epidemiology of 127 clinical and environmental Candida glabrata isolates from Europe and Africa using multilocus microsatellite analysis. Each isolate was first identified using phenotypic and molecular methods and subsequently, six unlinked microsatellite loci were analyzed using automated fluorescent genotyping. Genetic relationships were estimated using the minimum-spanning tree (MStree) method. Microsatellite analyses revealed the existence of 47 different genotypes. The fungal population showed an irregular distribution owing to the over-representation of genetically different infectious haplotypes. The most common genotype was MG-9, which was frequently found in both European and African isolates. In conclusion, the data reported here emphasize the role of specific C. glabrata genotypes in human infections for at least some decades and highlight the widespread distribution of some isolates, which seem to be more able to cause disease than others.This research was supported in part by the EU Mare Nostrum (EUMN-III Call) program of the European Union, grant agreement number 2011-4050/001-EMA2. Dr Sanae Rharmitt was the recipient of a scholarship (10 months) signed within the EUMN program for PhD students (F.S. 1.04.11.01 UORI) under the supervision of Prof Orazio Romeo.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Clinical and molecular practice of European thoracic pathology laboratories during the COVID-19 pandemic. The past and the near future.

This study evaluated the consequences in Europe of the COVID-19 outbreak on pathology laboratories orientated toward the diagnosis of thoracic diseases. A survey was sent to 71 pathology laboratories from 21 European countries. The questionnaire requested information concerning the organization of biosafety, the clinical and molecular pathology, the biobanking, the workload, the associated research into COVID-19, and the organization of education and training during the COVID-19 crisis, from 15 March to 31 May 2020, compared with the same period in 2019. Questionnaires were returned from 53/71 (75%) laboratories from 18 European countries. The biosafety procedures were heterogeneous. The workload in clinical and molecular pathology decreased dramatically by 31% (range, 3%-55%) and 26% (range, 7%-62%), respectively. According to the professional category, between 28% and 41% of the staff members were not present in the laboratories but did teleworking. A total of 70% of the laboratories developed virtual meetings for the training of residents and junior pathologists. During the period of study, none of the staff members with confirmed COVID-19 became infected as a result of handling samples. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on most of the European pathology laboratories included in this study. Urgent implementation of several changes to the organization of most of these laboratories, notably to better harmonize biosafety procedures, was noted at the onset of the pandemic and maintained in the event of a new wave of infection occurring in Europe

Travelers With Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Cured Without Systemic Therapy

Guidelines recommend wound care and/or local therapy as first-line treatment for cutaneous leishmaniasis. An analysis of a referral treatment program in 135 travelers showed that this approach was feasible in 62% of patients, with positive outcome in 83% of evaluable patient

Clinical and molecular practice of European thoracic pathology laboratories during the COVID-19 pandemic The past and the near future

BackgroundThis study evaluated the consequences in Europe of the COVID-19 outbreak on pathology laboratories orientated toward the diagnosis of thoracic diseases.Materials and methodsA survey was sent to 71 pathology laboratories from 21 European countries. The questionnaire requested information concerning the organization of biosafety, the clinical and molecular pathology, the biobanking, the workload, the associated research into COVID-19, and the organization of education and training during the COVID-19 crisis, from 15 March to 31 May 2020, compared with the same period in 2019.ResultsQuestionnaires were returned from 53/71 (75%) laboratories from 18 European countries. The biosafety procedures were heterogeneous. The workload in clinical and molecular pathology decreased dramatically by 31% (range, 3%-55%) and 26% (range, 7%-62%), respectively. According to the professional category, between 28% and 41% of the staff members were not present in the laboratories but did teleworking. A total of 70% of the laboratories developed virtual meetings for the training of residents and junior pathologists. During the period of study, none of the staff members with confirmed COVID-19 became infected as a result of handling samples.ConclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a strong impact on most of the European pathology laboratories included in this study. Urgent implementation of several changes to the organization of most of these laboratories, notably to better harmonize biosafety procedures, was noted at the onset of the pandemic and maintained in the event of a new wave of infection occurring in Europe

Ecoconception d'un procédé innovant pour la production de molécules à forte valeur ajoutée

SETAC Europe LCA case study symposium, Montpellier, FRA, 20-/09/2016 - 22/09/2016International audienceComparative LCA of bioethanol production from waste and from beets.ACV comparative de la production de bioéthanol à partir de déchets et bioéthanol à partir de betteraves

Ecoconception d'un procédé innovant pour la production de molécules à forte valeur ajoutée

SETAC Europe LCA case study symposium, Montpellier, FRA, 20-/09/2016 - 22/09/2016International audienceComparative LCA of bioethanol production from waste and from beets.ACV comparative de la production de bioéthanol à partir de déchets et bioéthanol à partir de betteraves