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

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

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

Association study in the 5q31-32 linkage region for schizophrenia using pooled DNA genotyping

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several linkage studies suggest that chromosome 5q31-32 might contain risk loci for schizophrenia (SZ). We wanted to identify susceptibility genes for schizophrenia within this region.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We saturated the interval between markers D5S666 and D5S436 with 90 polymorphic microsatellite markers and genotyped two sets of DNA pools consisting of 300 SZ patients of Bulgarian origin and their 600 parents. Positive associations were followed-up with SNP genotyping.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Nominally significant evidence for association (p < 0.05) was found for seven markers (D5S0023i, IL9, RH60252, 5Q3133_33, D5S2017, D5S1481, D5S0711i) which were then individually genotyped in the trios. The predicted associations were confirmed for two of the markers: D5S2017, localised in the <it>SPRY4-FGF1 </it>locus (p = 0.004) and IL9, localized within the IL9 gene (p = 0.014). Fine mapping was performed using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) around D5S2017 and IL9. In each region four SNPs were chosen and individually genotyped in our full sample of 615 SZ trios. Two SNPs showed significant evidence for association: rs7715300 (p = 0.001) and rs6897690 (p = 0.032). Rs7715300 is localised between the <it>TGFBI </it>and <it>SMAD5 </it>genes and rs6897690 is within the <it>SPRY4 </it>gene.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our screening of 5q31-32 implicates three potential candidate genes for SZ: <it>SMAD5</it>, <it>TGFBI </it>and <it>SPRY4</it>.</p

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

Twofold efficiency increase in nanocrystalline-TiO2/polymer photovoltaic devices by interfacial modification with a lithium salt

Modification of the interface of titanium dioxide/poly[2-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-5-methoxy-1,4,-phenylenevinylene] (TiO2/MEH-PPV) nanocomposite photovoltaic devices with a lithium salt, Li[CF3SO2](2)N, is shown to result in a twofold increase in device efficiency. The devices are of the type ITO/TiO2/MEH-PPV/Au. The TiO2 layer is deposited by doctor blading a colloidal anatase paste, and the polymer is then spin-coated on top followed by thermal evaporation of gold contacts. Careful control of manufacturing conditions and use of a 35 nm polymer layer leads to a device efficiency of 0.48% for un-modified devices. The increased efficiency following Li treatment is the result of a 40% increase in both the short-circuit current and fill factor, while the open-circuit voltage remains unchanged. A maximum efficiency of 1.05% has been achieved under 80% sun illumination. This represents a record efficiency for this type of cell. Photoconductivity experiments show a substantial increase in conductivity of the TiO2 layer following Li modification. Interfacial modification is done via a simple soaking procedure, and the effect of varying the concentration of Li[CF3SO2](2)N is discussed. We report investigations into optimization and the mechanism of such improvement, for example by varying processing parameters of the modification procedure or the ionic species themselves