Sustainable Irrigation Management of Ornamental Cordyline Fruticosa “Red Edge” Plants with Saline Water

The aim of this work was to analyze the influence of the salinity of the nutrient solution on the transpiration and growth of Cordyline fruticosa var. “Red Edge” plants. A specific irrigation management model was calibrated with the experimental data. An experiment was performed with four treatments. These treatments consisted of the application of four nutrient solutions with different electrical conductivity (ECw) levels ranging from 1.5 dS m−1 (control treatment) to 4.5 dS m−1. The results showed that day-time transpiration decreases when salt concentration in the nutrient solution increases. The transpiration of the plant in the control treatment was modelled by applying a combination method while the effect of the salinity of the nutrient solution was modelled by deriving a saline stress coefficient from the experimental data. The results showed that significant reductions in plant transpiration were observed for increasing values of ECw. The crop development and yield were also affected by the increasing salinity of the nutrient solution. A relationship between the ECw and the relative crop yield was derived

The association between green space and cause-specific mortality in urban New Zealand: an ecological analysis of green space utility

<b>Background:</b> There is mounting international evidence that exposure to green environments is associated with health benefits, including lower mortality rates. Consequently, it has been suggested that the uneven distribution of such environments may contribute to health inequalities. Possible causative mechanisms behind the green space and health relationship include the provision of physical activity opportunities, facilitation of social contact and the restorative effects of nature. In the New Zealand context we investigated whether there was a socioeconomic gradient in green space exposure and whether green space exposure was associated with cause-specific mortality (cardiovascular disease and lung cancer). We subsequently asked what is the mechanism(s) by which green space availability may influence mortality outcomes, by contrasting health associations for different types of green space. <b>Methods:</b> This was an observational study on a population of 1,546,405 living in 1009 small urban areas in New Zealand. A neighbourhood-level classification was developed to distinguish between usable (i.e., visitable) and non-usable green space (i.e., visible but not visitable) in the urban areas. Negative binomial regression models were fitted to examine the association between quartiles of area-level green space availability and risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease (n = 9,484; 1996 - 2005) and from lung cancer (n = 2,603; 1996 - 2005), after control for age, sex, socio-economic deprivation, smoking, air pollution and population density. <b>Results:</b> Deprived neighbourhoods were relatively disadvantaged in total green space availability (11% less total green space for a one standard deviation increase in NZDep2001 deprivation score, p < 0.001), but had marginally more usable green space (2% more for a one standard deviation increase in deprivation score, p = 0.002). No significant associations between usable or total green space and mortality were observed after adjustment for confounders. <b>Conclusion</b> Contrary to expectations we found no evidence that green space influenced cardiovascular disease mortality in New Zealand, suggesting that green space and health relationships may vary according to national, societal or environmental context. Hence we were unable to infer the mechanism in the relationship. Our inability to adjust for individual-level factors with a significant influence on cardiovascular disease and lung cancer mortality risk (e.g., diet and alcohol consumption) will have limited the ability of the analyses to detect green space effects, if present. Additionally, green space variation may have lesser relevance for health in New Zealand because green space is generally more abundant and there is less social and spatial variation in its availability than found in other contexts

Evaluation of polymeric adsorbents via fixed-bed columns for emulsified oil removal from industrial wastewater

Polymeric adsorbents (PAs) have been gaining increased attention for application in industrial wastewater (WW) treatment. However, most studies on evaluating PAs specifically for emulsified oil removal are currently limited to performance screening through batch mode testing. Hence, this paper presents a thorough fixed-bed assessment of advanced PAs for the removal of emulsified oil from industrial WWs. A unique custom-built column setup was developed with a continuous test protocol that involves both adsorption and regeneration of media. A robust procedure was also established to automatically prepare a representative synthetic produced water (PW) containing the oil-water emulsions. Four cutting-edge PAs were evaluated, out of which two being tested for the first time targeting emulsified oil removal. Experimental tests were conducted to address resin capacity, regeneration efficiency, and performance reproducibility in repeat cycles. PA2 treated 168 ± 58 bed volumes (BVs) achieving the lowest capacity of 44 ± 14 mg/g. Higher comparable capacities were observed for PA1 and PA3 at ~100 mg/g, yet PA1 was found capable of treating 807 ± 3 BVs against 548 ± 115 BVs measured for PA3. PA4 treated 1219 ± 86 BVs with a capacity of 301 ± 27 mg/g which indicate its strong potential for industrial WW treatment application. This performance data can provide a reference for comparison when testing other novel resins for emulsified oil removal. Future studies will focus on testing PAs using real PW and evaluating their long-term performance via pilot testing

Integrated Molecular-Morphologic Meningioma Classification: A Multicenter Retrospective Analysis, Retrospectively and Prospectively Validated

PURPOSE: Meningiomas are the most frequent primary intracranial tumors. Patient outcome varies widely from benign to highly aggressive, ultimately fatal courses. Reliable identification of risk of progression for individual patients is of pivotal importance. However, only biomarkers for highly aggressive tumors are established (CDKN2A/B and TERT), whereas no molecularly based stratification exists for the broad spectrum of patients with low- and intermediate-risk meningioma. METHODS: DNA methylation data and copy-number information were generated for 3,031 meningiomas (2,868 patients), and mutation data for 858 samples. DNA methylation subgroups, copy-number variations (CNVs), mutations, and WHO grading were analyzed. Prediction power for outcome was assessed in a retrospective cohort of 514 patients, validated on a retrospective cohort of 184, and on a prospective cohort of 287 multicenter cases. RESULTS: Both CNV- and methylation family-based subgrouping independently resulted in increased prediction accuracy of risk of recurrence compared with the WHO classification (c-indexes WHO 2016, CNV, and methylation family 0.699, 0.706, and 0.721, respectively). Merging all risk stratification approaches into an integrated molecular-morphologic score resulted in further substantial increase in accuracy (c-index 0.744). This integrated score consistently provided superior accuracy in all three cohorts, significantly outperforming WHO grading (c-index difference P = .005). Besides the overall stratification advantage, the integrated score separates more precisely for risk of progression at the diagnostically challenging interface of WHO grade 1 and grade 2 tumors (hazard ratio 4.34 [2.48-7.57] and 3.34 [1.28-8.72] retrospective and prospective validation cohorts, respectively). CONCLUSION: Merging these layers of histologic and molecular data into an integrated, three-tiered score significantly improves the precision in meningioma stratification. Implementation into diagnostic routine informs clinical decision making for patients with meningioma on the basis of robust outcome prediction

Pilot-scale evaluation of forward osmosis membranes for volume reduction of industrial wastewater

Water treatment is a key aspect for the sustainable management of oil & gas operations. Osmotic concentration (OC) is an advanced water treatment process, adapted from forward osmosis (FO), that does not require water recovery from the draw solution. In this study, two commercial hollow fiber FO membranes [Module 1, cellulose triacetate (CTA) and Module 2, thin film composite (TFC)] were evaluated at pilot scale using actual process water obtained from a gas production facility. The evaluation focused on assessing the membrane productivity, fouling potential and chemical cleaning efficiency while normalizing the performance using a theoretical model that account for the variability of the operating conditions. Performance tests showed that Module 2 has a higher flux compared to Module 1, 9.9 L/m2·h vs 1.7 L/m2·h; and lower specific reverse solute flux (RSF) for most of the ions. Additionally, Module 1 benchmark experiment showed a 13% flux loss attributed to inorganic fouling (calcium phosphate precipitation) while the flux loss in Module 2 was <5% possibly due to enhanced module hydrodynamics and variation in membrane chemistry. Chemical cleaning (citric acid) proved to be successful in restoring the flux for Module 1. From the 8.1 mg/L organic carbon present in the feed, advanced organic characterization revealed that certain group of hydrophilic organics are able to pass through Module 1, but not Module 2, translating to a specific forward organic solute flux of 0.9 mg/L and 0.1 mg/L for Module 1 and 2, respectively. Finally, key sustainable and environmental considerations were presented in support of further development of process implementation. The OC process has strong potential for full-scale installation; however, demonstrating its performance in the field would be the next step necessary for successful implementation of the technology

Protocol for Preparing Synthetic Solutions Mimicking Produced Water from Oil and Gas Operations

Produced water (PW) is the water associated with hydrocarbons during the extraction of oil and gas (O&G) from either conventional or unconventional resources. Existing efforts to enhance PW management systems include the development of novel membrane materials for oil-water separation. In attempting to evaluate these emerging physical separation technologies, researchers develop various formulations of test solutions aiming to represent actual PW. However, there is no clear scientific guideline published in the literature about how such a recipe should be prepared. This article develops a protocol for preparing synthetic solutions representing the characteristics and behavior of actual PW and enabling the performance comparisons of different oil-water separation membranes at the bench scale level. In this study, two different brine recipes were prepared based on salts present in actual PW, crude oil was used as the hydrocarbon source, and a surfactant was added to disperse the oil into the aqueous phase. The recipe is accessible to the wider scientific community and was proven to be reproduceable, homogenous, stable, and comparable to actual PW field samples through analytical monitoring measurements and bench scale evaluations.Development of the synthetic PW solution protocol was part of an internally funded project conducted at ConocoPhillips Global Water Sustainability Center (GWSC). The authors would like to acknowledge that the bench scale validation testing was supported by the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) under its National Priorities Research Program award number NPRP 10-0127-170269. Content of this article is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of QNRF or ConocoPhillips. The authors would also like to acknowledge members of ConocoPhillips GWSC for their contributions to the project, specifically Samir Gharfeh, Nabin Upadhyay, Altaf Hussain, and Eman AlShamari in addition to the QNRF project team from Qatar University Deepalekshmi Ponnamma, Yara Elgawady, and Ali El-Samak.Scopu

Access and quality of biomarker testing for precision oncology in Europe

BACKGROUND Predictive biomarkers are essential for selecting the best therapeutic strategy in patients with cancer. The International Quality Network for Pathology, the European Cancer Patient Coalition and the European Federation of Pharmaceuticals Industries and Associations evaluated the access to and quality of biomarker testing across Europe. METHODS Data sources included surveys of 141 laboratory managers and 1.665 patients, and 58 in-depth interviews with laboratory managers, physicians and payers. Four access metrics (laboratory access, test availability, test reimbursement, test order rate) and three quality metrics (quality scheme participation, laboratory accreditation, test turnaround time) were applied to rank the results. RESULTS The access to precision medicines is higher in countries with public national reimbursement processes in place. Lack of diagnostic laboratory infrastructure, inefficient organization and/or insufficient public reimbursement narrow the access to single biomarker tests in many European countries. In countries with limited public reimbursement, pharma and patients' out of pocket were the primary funding sources for testing. Uptake of multi-biomarker next generation sequencing (NGS) is highly varied, ranging from 0% to >50%. Financial constraints, a lack of NGS testing capabilities and the failure to include NGS testing in the guidelines represent the main barriers to NGS implementation. The quality of biomarker testing is highest in Western and Northern Europe, with more than 90% of laboratories participating in quality assurance schemes. CONCLUSIONS Our data clearly indicate the need for a call to action to ensure the clinical implementation of precision medicine in Europe