Electrochemical Treatment of Wastewater by ElectroFenton, Photo-ElectroFenton, Pressurized- ElectroFenton and Pressurized Photo ElectroFenton: A First Comparison of these Innovative Routes

In the last few years increasing attention has been devoted to the utilization of electroFenton (EF) and EF based technologies for the treatment of wastewater polluted by recalcitrant organics. It has been shown that the performances of EF can be strongly improved using ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, e.g., by the photo-electroFenton (PEF) method, or pressurized air or oxygen, e.g., by the pressurized-electroFenton (PrEF) one. Although several studies were carried out on the degradation of many organic pollutants using EF, PEF or PrEF, a systematic comparison between PEF and PrEF was never reported as well as the possibility to couple the irradiation with pressurized air. In this study the performances of EF, PEF and PrEF were systematically compared using synthetic solutions of three model organic substrates (e. g., formic acid, oxalic acid and Acid Orange 7). In addition, the pressurized-photo-electroFenton (PrPEF) process was proposed for the first time

Electrochemical Treatment of Synthetic Wastewaters Contaminated by Organic Pollutants at Ti4O7 Anode. Study of the Role of Operative Parameters by Experimental Results and Theoretical Modelling

In the last years, an increasing attention has been devoted to the utilization of anodic oxidation (AO) technologies for the treatment of wastewater polluted by recalcitrant organics. Recently, Ti4O7 was proposed as a promising anode for AO for the treatment of various organics. Here the potential utilization of commercial Ti4O7 anodes has been evaluated considering the electrochemical treatment of synthetic wastewater contaminated by three very different organic molecules (namely, oxalic acid, phenol and Acid Orange 7), all characterized by a very high resistance to AO. The performances of Ti4O7 were compared with that of two largely investigated anodes: Boron-doped diamond (BDD), which is probably the most effective electrode for AO, and an Ir-based anode which presents a relatively low cost. Moreover, the effect of various operative conditions (current density, mixing rate and initial concentration of the organic) was evaluated by both experimental studies and the adoption of a theoretical model previously developed for BDD anodes. It was shown that the performances of the process can be improved by a proper selection of operative conditions. Moreover, it was found that the proposed model can be effectively used to predict the effect of operative parameters at Ti4O7 anodes, thus helping the process optimization

Hi-C-constrained physical models of human chromosomes recover functionally-related properties of genome organization

Combining genome-wide structural models with phenomenological data is at the forefront of efforts to understand the organizational principles regulating the human genome. Here, we use chromosome-chromosome contact data as knowledge-based constraints for large-scale three-dimensional models of the human diploid genome. The resulting models remain minimally entangled and acquire several functional features that are observed in vivo and that were never used as input for the model. We find, for instance, that gene-rich, active regions are drawn towards the nuclear center, while gene poor and lamina associated domains are pushed to the periphery. These and other properties persist upon adding local contact constraints, suggesting their compatibility with non-local constraints for the genome organization. The results show that suitable combinations of data analysis and physical modelling can expose the unexpectedly rich functionally-related properties implicit in chromosome-chromosome contact data. Specific directions are suggested for further developments based on combining experimental data analysis and genomic structural modelling

Haematopoietic stem cells in perisinusoidal niches are protected from ageing.

With ageing, intrinsic haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) activity decreases, resulting in impaired tissue homeostasis, reduced engraftment following transplantation and increased susceptibility to diseases. However, whether ageing also affects the HSC niche, and thereby impairs its capacity to support HSC function, is still widely debated. Here, by using in-vivo long-term label-retention assays we demonstrate that aged label-retaining HSCs, which are, in old mice, the most quiescent HSC subpopulation with the highest regenerative capacity and cellular polarity, reside predominantly in perisinusoidal niches. Furthermore, we demonstrate that sinusoidal niches are uniquely preserved in shape, morphology and number on ageing. Finally, we show that myeloablative chemotherapy can selectively disrupt aged sinusoidal niches in the long term, which is linked to the lack of recovery of endothelial Jag2 at sinusoids. Overall, our data characterize the functional alterations of the aged HSC niche and unveil that perisinusoidal niches are uniquely preserved and thereby protect HSCs from ageing

Pathways to cellular supremacy in biocomputing

Synthetic biology uses living cells as the substrate for performing human-defined computations. Many current implementations of cellular computing are based on the “genetic circuit” metaphor, an approximation of the operation of silicon-based computers. Although this conceptual mapping has been relatively successful, we argue that it fundamentally limits the types of computation that may be engineered inside the cell, and fails to exploit the rich and diverse functionality available in natural living systems. We propose the notion of “cellular supremacy” to focus attention on domains in which biocomputing might offer superior performance over traditional computers. We consider potential pathways toward cellular supremacy, and suggest application areas in which it may be found.A.G.-M. was supported by the SynBio3D project of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/R019002/1) and the European CSA on biological standardization BIOROBOOST (EU grant number 820699). T.E.G. was supported by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (grant UF160357) and BrisSynBio, a BBSRC/ EPSRC Synthetic Biology Research Centre (grant BB/L01386X/1). P.Z. was supported by the EPSRC Portabolomics project (grant EP/N031962/1). P.C. was supported by SynBioChem, a BBSRC/EPSRC Centre for Synthetic Biology of Fine and Specialty Chemicals (grant BB/M017702/1) and the ShikiFactory100 project of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 814408

Reduction of oxygen to H2O2 at carbon felt cathode in undivided cells. Effect of the ratio between the anode and the cathode surfaces and of other operative parameters

In the last years, the electrochemical conversion of oxygen to hydrogen peroxide at carbon felt has been largely studied in order to define a new route for the production of H2O2 and to optimize the electro-Fenton process, which is based on the cathodic generation of H2O2. In particular, many studies regarding electro-Fenton process were carried out in undivided cells in order to avoid the costs of the separator and to reduce the cell potentials. Hence, in order to optimize the cathodic conversion of oxygen to H2O2 in undivided cells, the effect of many parameters linked to the anodic process were here evaluated. In particular, it was demonstrated that the performances of the process strongly depends on the ratio between the cathode and the anode surfaces, the nature of the anode, the mixing rate and the current density

Electrochemical treatment of real wastewater. Part 1: Effluents with low conductivity

The treatment of a real wastewater characterized by low conductivity was performed by anodic oxidation at boron doped diamond (BDD) in both conventional and microfluidic cells. The electrolyses carried out in conventional cells without supporting electrolyte were characterized by very high TOC removals but excessively high energetic consumptions and operating costs. The addition of sodium sulphate, as supporting electrolyte, allowed to strongly reduce the cell potentials and consequently the energetic consumptions and the operating costs. However, under various operating conditions, the addition of Na2SO4caused a lower removal of the TOC. The best results in terms of both TOC removal, energetic consumptions and operating costs (about 1 â¬/m3) were obtained using a cell with a very low inter-electrode distance (50 µm) with no addition of a supporting electrolyte

Devolopment of a process for the treatment of synthetic wastewater without energy inputs using the salinity gradient of wastewaters and a reverse electrodialysis stack

Electrochemical processes are considered very effective methods for the treatment of wastewater contaminated by organics resistant to conventional biological processes and various inorganic pollutants. Large sites that treat wastewaters usually deal with a large number of waters often characterized by different salinity contents, that could be potentially used to provide the energy necessary for the electrochemical remediation. Hence, in this work a reverse electrodialysis (RED) process for the treatment of synthetic wastewaters contaminated by organics, without energy inputs, using the salinity gradient of different wastewaters, was studied, for the first time. It was found that two synthetic wastewaters with different NaCl content can be effectively used in a RED system to drive anodic and cathodic processes for the removal of their organic contents without external energy supplies. The effects of salinity gradient, external resistance and set-up of the process was evaluated. Under optimized operating conditions, a fast and high removal of TOC (about 70% every hour) in the anodic compartment and a good stability of operating conditions for all the monitored time (10 h) were achieved. In addition, about 67% of the solution with high salinity used in the stack to provide the salinity gradient was effectively treated in the anodic compartment of the stack