Measurement of microbial activity in soil by colorimetric observation of in situ dye reduction: an approach to detection of extraterrestrial life

BACKGROUND: Detecting microbial life in extraterrestrial locations is a goal of space exploration because of ecological and health concerns about possible contamination of other planets with earthly organisms, and vice versa. Previously we suggested a method for life detection based on the fact that living entities require a continual input of energy accessed through coupled oxidations and reductions (an electron transport chain). We demonstrated using earthly soils that the identification of extracted components of electron transport chains is useful for remote detection of a chemical signature of life. The instrument package developed used supercritical carbon dioxide for soil extraction, followed by chromatography or electrophoresis to separate extracted compounds, with final detection by voltammetry and tandem mass-spectrometry. RESULTS: Here we used Earth-derived soils to develop a related life detection system based on direct observation of a biological redox signature. We measured the ability of soil microbial communities to reduce artificial electron acceptors. Living organisms in pure culture and those naturally found in soil were shown to reduce 2,3-dichlorophenol indophenol (DCIP) and the tetrazolium dye 2,3-bis(2-methoxy-4-nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide inner salt (XTT). Uninoculated or sterilized controls did not reduce the dyes. A soil from Antarctica that was determined by chemical signature and DNA analysis to be sterile also did not reduce the dyes. CONCLUSION: Observation of dye reduction, supplemented with extraction and identification of only a few specific signature redox-active biochemicals such as porphyrins or quinones, provides a simplified means to detect a signature of life in the soils of other planets or their moons

Support for UNRWA's survival

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) provides life-saving humanitarian aid for 5·4 million Palestine refugees now entering their eighth decade of statelessness and conflict. About a third of Palestine refugees still live in 58 recognised camps. UNRWA operates 702 schools and 144 health centres, some of which are affected by the ongoing humanitarian disasters in Syria and the Gaza Strip. It has dramatically reduced the prevalence of infectious diseases, mortality, and illiteracy. Its social services include rebuilding infrastructure and homes that have been destroyed by conflict and providing cash assistance and micro-finance loans for Palestinians whose rights are curtailed and who are denied the right of return to their homeland

Atrasentan and renal events in patients with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease (SONAR): a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial

Background: Short-term treatment for people with type 2 diabetes using a low dose of the selective endothelin A receptor antagonist atrasentan reduces albuminuria without causing significant sodium retention. We report the long-term effects of treatment with atrasentan on major renal outcomes. Methods: We did this double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial at 689 sites in 41 countries. We enrolled adults aged 18–85 years with type 2 diabetes, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)25–75 mL/min per 1·73 m 2 of body surface area, and a urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR)of 300–5000 mg/g who had received maximum labelled or tolerated renin–angiotensin system inhibition for at least 4 weeks. Participants were given atrasentan 0·75 mg orally daily during an enrichment period before random group assignment. Those with a UACR decrease of at least 30% with no substantial fluid retention during the enrichment period (responders)were included in the double-blind treatment period. Responders were randomly assigned to receive either atrasentan 0·75 mg orally daily or placebo. All patients and investigators were masked to treatment assignment. The primary endpoint was a composite of doubling of serum creatinine (sustained for ≥30 days)or end-stage kidney disease (eGFR <15 mL/min per 1·73 m 2 sustained for ≥90 days, chronic dialysis for ≥90 days, kidney transplantation, or death from kidney failure)in the intention-to-treat population of all responders. Safety was assessed in all patients who received at least one dose of their assigned study treatment. The study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01858532. Findings: Between May 17, 2013, and July 13, 2017, 11 087 patients were screened; 5117 entered the enrichment period, and 4711 completed the enrichment period. Of these, 2648 patients were responders and were randomly assigned to the atrasentan group (n=1325)or placebo group (n=1323). Median follow-up was 2·2 years (IQR 1·4–2·9). 79 (6·0%)of 1325 patients in the atrasentan group and 105 (7·9%)of 1323 in the placebo group had a primary composite renal endpoint event (hazard ratio [HR]0·65 [95% CI 0·49–0·88]; p=0·0047). Fluid retention and anaemia adverse events, which have been previously attributed to endothelin receptor antagonists, were more frequent in the atrasentan group than in the placebo group. Hospital admission for heart failure occurred in 47 (3·5%)of 1325 patients in the atrasentan group and 34 (2·6%)of 1323 patients in the placebo group (HR 1·33 [95% CI 0·85–2·07]; p=0·208). 58 (4·4%)patients in the atrasentan group and 52 (3·9%)in the placebo group died (HR 1·09 [95% CI 0·75–1·59]; p=0·65). Interpretation: Atrasentan reduced the risk of renal events in patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease who were selected to optimise efficacy and safety. These data support a potential role for selective endothelin receptor antagonists in protecting renal function in patients with type 2 diabetes at high risk of developing end-stage kidney disease. Funding: AbbVie

Pyrometallurgical recycling of Li-ion, Ni–Cd and Ni–MH batteries: A minireview

This brief article review discusses the available pyrometallurgical methods for recycling of rechargeable batteries including Li-ion, Ni–Cd and Ni–MH batteries. Owing to the exponentially growing interest for using portable electronic devices and vehicles, rechargeable batteries have attracted significant attention in recent years, resulting in an increasing demand for critical metals such as Li, Co, Ni, rare earth elements. Because most of the published review articles have been investigated the hydrometallurgical methods, in this minireview, the current status of battery recycling, pretreatment, and especially pyrometallurgical methods of recycling of the rechargeable batteries are summarized

Core–Shell Nanocatalysts of Co3O4 and NiO Shells from New (Discarded) Resources: Sustainable Recovery of Cobalt and Nickel from Spent Lithium-Ion Batteries, Ni–Cd Batteries, and LCD Panel

This work focuses on end-of-life Ni-Cd and Li-ion batteries and introduces a novel approach to prepare two types of core-shell nanocatalysts consisting of NiO and CoO as the shells, respectively. Using a hydrometallurgical technique, we are able to successfully recover metals such as Co and Ni, and then use the recovered metals as precursors in preparation of catalysts via a precipitation technique using an alumina-borosilicate substrate which has been fabricated from scrap LCDs. The structures of the obtained nanocatalysts are carefully investigated by electron microscopes. It is revealed that the NiO show nanowire structure, while the CoO has nanobelt structure shells over the core of the substrates. The synthesized nanomaterials are used as photocatalysts to decompose methylene blue as an organic pollution model available in wastewater. Our nanocatalysts exhibit high photocatalytic performance with four times the reusability under a very low power UV (9 W) irradiation

Thermal Isolation of a Clean Alloy from Waste Slag and Polymeric Residue of Electronic Waste

Unprecedented advances and innovation in technology and short lifespans of electronic devices have resulted in the generation of a considerable amount of electronic waste (e-waste). Polymeric components present in electronic waste contain a wide range of organic materials encompassing a significant portion of carbon (C). This source of carbon can be employed as a reducing agent in the reduction of oxides from another waste stream, i.e., steelmaking slag, which contains &asymp;20 wt%&ndash;40 wt% iron oxide. This waste slag is produced on a very large scale by the steel industry due to the nature of the process. In this research, the polymeric residue leftover from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) after a physical-chemical recycling process was used as the source of carbon in the reduction of iron oxide from electric arc furnace (EAF) slag. Prior to the recycling tests, the polymer content of e-waste was characterized in terms of composition, morphology, thermal behavior, molecular structure, hazardous elements such as Br, the volatile portion, and the fixed carbon content. After the optimization of the ratio between the waste slag (Fe source) and the waste polymer (the carbon source), the microstructure of the recycled alloy showed no Br, Cl, S, or other contamination. Hence, two problematic and complex waste streams were successfully converted to a clean alloy with 4 wt% C, 4% Cr, 2% Si, 1% Mn, and 89% Fe

Recycling of the Indium and Glass from Scrap LCD Screens

With technological advancement and increasingly short production cycles of electronic devices, LCD with flat screen TV has become a major component of e-waste destined for landfills. According to published data, more than 200 million of LCD-TV are produced annually. Such massive production of LCD requires a high consumption of indium (i. e., approximately 55% to 85% of global indium generation is used in the form of indium-tin-oxide ITO layer in LCDs). However, indium as a scattered and rare element in the Earth’s crust is challenging to be extracted and the scrap LCD screens are one of the most favorable alternative resources for indium demand. On the other hand, the majority of the weight of the LCD screen is made of glass with no available method for industrial recycling in the market. This thesis investigates different chemical and physical methods aiming to propose scalable procedures for recycling of the indium and glass contents of the waste LCD panels. The thesis first studies the extraction and concentration of the indium content using an acidic leaching and adsorption/desorption process as a hydrometallurgical method. For the extraction section, inorganic acids with the help of ultrasonic waves were used. To concentrate extracted indium, three macroporous polystyrene-divinylbenzene resins (Lewatit TP 208, Lewatit TP 260 and Amberlite IRA 743) were employed and effective parameters on the efficiency of the adsorption/desorption process was investigated. The data showed that Lewatit TP 208 with an iminodiacetic as a functional group on its surface had better efficiency when adsorption process was operated at optimized parameters (i.e., pH of 2, resin loading mass of 0.5 g resin, the temperature of 25oC, and reaction time of 30 min). Thermodynamic and kinetic studies were also investigated and it was found that adsorption of indium had an endothermic and spontaneous nature which was fitted to the pseudo-second-order model. A new approach for recovery of the e-waste and its embedded valuable metals can be a direct conversion of them into value-added products such as nanostructured or functional materials. In this thesis, using of waste LCD panel as a precursor for the preparation of nanostructure indium borate (InBO3) was achieved in a relatively easy manner by acid leaching and precipitation methods. The oxalic acid was used to leach the indium from a crushed LCD sample. Through the leaching process, boric acid was also extracted along with the In content. This novel recycling method was followed by drying and thermal processing of the extracted compounds which resulted in the synthesis of nanoparticles of InBO3 with an average particle size of 20 nm. A multi-mechanism was also proposed to explain the reaction of the synthesis and the mechanism was confirmed by thermodynamic data using HSC software.In order to propose a holistic methodology for recycling of the LCD panels, in addition to the concentration of the indium and synthesis of InBO3, the glass content of the LCD was also considered as a valuable raw material for the preparation of functional products. Waste glasses can be used as a raw material for the preparation of glass foams, as porous ceramics with low density, and high thermal stability. Glass foams have demanding application as insulation panels in building industries aiming to reduce the energy consumption. Therefore, this thesis details a comprehensive study on the recycling of the glass proportion of the waste LCD by preparation of a glass foam with highlighted mechanical properties. In this work, the glass powder obtained from a shredded LCD panel was mixed with some foaming agents and subjected to a heating process at 900oC with a controlled ramping temperature. To propose a procedure with more sustainability, the foaming agents were chosen mostly from waste resources. By optimizing the concentration of the foaming agents such as 25 wt.% of spent coffee as an organic C-based foaming agent with 1.25 wt.% of MnO2 and Na2CO3 at 900oC for 30 minutes, promising mechanical properties such as compressive strength of 18.7 MPa, the high flexural strength of 6 MPa, at the low density of 0.85 g/cm3 were achieved. The XRD result showed that through the foaming process a silica phase had been formed into the glass foam ceramic leading to the enhancement of the crystallinity and mechanical properties of the as-prepared foams. The formation of bubbles into the foam structure was observed by SEM images.Finally, to propose another route for the direct conversion of the LCD into functional materials, the possibility of using the glass compounds from the LCD in the synthesis of the nanocatalysts was investigated. In this method, instead of consuming raw materials such as silica and alumina as a substrate in the synthesis of the catalysts, recycled glass was replaced. The glass part of the waste LCD is effectively used for the synthesis of two types of core-shell nanocatalysts consisting of glass as the core substrate, and NiO and Co3O4 as the shells. In the catalyst manufacturing, the precursor materials for the synthesis is always supplied from raw chemicals. However, in this work, instead of using raw synthetic precursors for NiO and Co3O4 synthesis, the metallic resources were also supplied from waste batteries such as Ni-Cd and Li-ion batteries, respectively. The core-shell structure of the observed products was examined using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) maps coupled with TEM technique. The photocatalytic activity data of NiO@substrate and Co3O4@substrate shows that using a low power UV (9W) irradiation can degrade an organic dye presenting a common pollution structure in wastewater resources

Sterile Water Versus Isotonic Saline Solution as Irrigation Fluid in Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy

Introduction: We evaluated the safety of sterile water as an irrigation solution for percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL). Materials and Methods: Forty-four patients with kidney calculi were enrolled in this study and randomly divided into two groups for PCNL. Approaches to the calculi were through a single subcostal access with an Amplatz sheath, and either sterile water or isotonic saline solution was used as the irrigation fluid. Serum hemoglobin, haptoglobin, sodium, potassium, and creatinine were measured before and 12 hours after the procedure. The patients were evaluated for signs of transurethral resection of the prostate syndrome during the operation for 24 hours afterwards. Results: The mean calculus size, irrigation volume, irrigation time, and age were not significantly different between the two groups. Hemolysis occurred in 10 and 9 patients in sterile water and saline groups, respectively. The mean change in haptoglobin level was -1.7 ± 59 mg/dL in the sterile water and 11 ± 55 mg/dL in the saline group. Also, the mean change in plasma sodium level was -2.2 ± 4.7 and -0.4 ± 3.8 in sterile water and saline groups, respectively. None of these values were significantly different between the two groups, nor were other laboratory values. None of the patients developed transurethral resection of the prostate syndrome or needed transfusion. Conclusion: Sterile water is an inexpensive alternative to isotonic saline for irrigation during PCNL. We did not find any difference between the two irrigation solutions regarding the safety; however, this should be confirmed further, especially for larger calculi