Parameters influencing calcium phosphate precipitation in granular sludge sequencing batch reactor

Parameters influencing calcium phosphate precipitation in Calcium phosphate precipitation inside microbial granules cultivated in a granular sequenced batch reactor (GSBR) has been demonstrated to contribute to phosphorus removal during wastewater treatment. Whereas hydroxyapatite (HAP) is proven to accumulate in the granule, the main calcium phosphate precursors that form prior to HAP are here investigated. A separate batch reactor was used to distinguish reactions involving biological phosphate removal from physicochemical reactions involving phosphateprecipitation in order to establish the kinetics and stoichiometry of calcium phosphate formation. Experiments and simulations with PHREEQC and AQUASIM software support the assumption that amorphous calciumphosphate (ACP) is the intermediary in HAP crystallization. The results provide the kinetic rate constants and thermodynamic constants of ACP. The formation of bioliths inside biological aggregates as well as the main parameters that drive their formations are discussed here. Finally, the influence of pH and calcium and phosphate concentrations in the influent was also assessed, in order to determine the contribution of precipitation in the different operating conditions

Plan de negocios de un restaurante orgánico en Villa de Leyva

115 páginas : ilustraciones, mapas, planos, gráficos, fotografías.This project aims to demonstrate the viability of Villa Organica, a restaurant with a gastronomic offer that is responsible with the environment and with great nutritional contributions. It is the result of the existence of an unparalleled market opportunity: the growing global demand for organic products due to the desire to maintain a healthier quality of life and to protect biodiversity, and the existence of a single organic restaurant in Villa de Leyva. The creation of this microenterprise, seeks, through alliances and agreements, to benefit consumers, suppliers, business partners and society in general, and promote the development of tourism in the municipality, thanks to the constant growth of gastronomy. The value proposition resides in the commercialization of organic dishes during lunch hours, in a pleasant space, set to talk and share around the food that satisfies the change of lifestyle in front of the tendency to consume and demand organic and healthy products. The restaurant's potential clientele is made up of international tourists followed by national tourists, between 25 and 65 years old, of both genders, with medium-high purchasing power who enjoy a healthy meal with their partners and families.Este proyecto busca demostrar la viabilidad de Villa Orgánica, un restaurante con una oferta gastronómica responsable con el ambiente y con grandes aportes nutricionales. Es el resultado de la existencia de una oportunidad inigualable de mercado: la creciente demanda mundial de productos orgánicos, por el deseo de mantener una calidad de vida más sana y de proteger la biodiversidad, y la existencia de un único restaurante orgánico en Villa de Leyva. La creación de esta microempresa, busca, por medio de alianzas y convenios, beneficiar a los consumidores, los proveedores, los socios de la empresa y la sociedad en general, y favorecer el desarrollo turístico del municipio, gracias al constante crecimiento gastronómico. La propuesta de valor reside en la comercialización de platos orgánicos en horas de almuerzo, en un espacio agradable, ambientado para conversar y compartir en torno a la comida que satisfaga el cambio de estilo de vida de frente a la tendencia de consumir y exigir productos orgánicos y saludables. La clientela potencial del restaurante se compone de turistas internacionales seguido de turistas nacionales, entre 25 y 65 años, de ambos géneros, con poder adquisitivo medio-alto que disfruten de una comida saludable con sus parejas y familias.Administrador(a) de Empresas Turísticas y HotelerasPregrad

Les figures de l’oubli

L’édit de Nantes, édit de pacification, proclame en 1598 que mémoire des guerres civiles de religion est « éteinte et assoupie, comme de chose non advenue ». On se propose d’étudier les variations autour des métaphores de l’oubli du texte de l’Édit à la tragédie d’Alexandre Hardy Mariamne en passant par les textes préfaciels du début du xviie siècle. Les images circulant du texte de loi au texte tragique font alors entendre le réveil toujours possible de cette mémoire endormie. La tragédie peut ainsi déplacer la réflexion sur l’oubli derrière le voile de la fiction, révélant le trésor enfoui dans la métaphore : l’oubli suppose une mémoire paradoxale.The Edict of Nantes, an edict of pacification, proclaimed in 1598 that the memory of civil wars of religion was ‘extinguished and numbed, like a thing that had never come to pass’. This article will study the variations surrounding the metaphors of oblivion, from the text of the Edict to the tragedy of Alexandre Hardy’s Mariamne, to the prefatory texts of the beginning of the 17th century. The images in circulation, from the legal to the tragic text, make it understood then that it is always possible to awaken this dormant memory. Tragedy can thus displace reflection on oblivion from behind the veil of fiction, revealing the treasure buried in the metaphor: oblivion presupposes a paradoxical memory

Comparison of Two Mathematical Models for Greenhouse Gas Emission from Membrane Bioreactors

In this study two mathematical models (Model I and Model II), able to predict the nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from an University Cape Town (UCT) \u2013 membrane bioreactor (MBR) plant, have been compared. Model I considers the N2O production only during the denitrification. Model II takes into account the two ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) formation pathways for N2O. Both models were calibrated adopting real data. Results highlight that Model II had a better capability of reproducing the measured data especially in terms of N2O model outputs. Indeed, the average efficiency related to the N2O model outputs was equal to 0.3 and 0.38 for Model I and Model II respectively

Zika vector competence data reveals risks of outbreaks: the contribution of the European ZIKAlliance project

First identified in 1947, Zika virus took roughly 70 years to cause a pandemic unusually associated with virus-induced brain damage in newborns. Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitoes, mainly Aedes aegypti, and secondarily, Aedes albopictus, both colonizing a large strip encompassing tropical and temperate regions. As part of the international project ZIKAlliance initiated in 2016, 50 mosquito populations from six species collected in 12 countries were experimentally infected with different Zika viruses. Here, we show that Ae. aegypti is mainly responsible for Zika virus transmission having the highest susceptibility to viral infections. Other species play a secondary role in transmission while Culex mosquitoes are largely non-susceptible. Zika strain is expected to significantly modulate transmission efficiency with African strains being more likely to cause an outbreak. As the distribution of Ae. aegypti will doubtless expand with climate change and without new marketed vaccines, all the ingredients are in place to relive a new pandemic of Zika

Zika vector competence data reveals risks of outbreaks: the contribution of the European ZIKAlliance project

First identified in 1947, Zika virus took roughly 70 years to cause a pandemic unusually associated with virus-induced brain damage in newborns. Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitoes, mainly Aedes aegypti, and secondarily, Aedes albopictus, both colonizing a large strip encompassing tropical and temperate regions. As part of the international project ZIKAlliance initiated in 2016, 50 mosquito populations from six species collected in 12 countries were experimentally infected with different Zika viruses. Here, we show that Ae. aegypti is mainly responsible for Zika virus transmission having the highest susceptibility to viral infections. Other species play a secondary role in transmission while Culex mosquitoes are largely non-susceptible. Zika strain is expected to significantly modulate transmission efficiency with African strains being more likely to cause an outbreak. As the distribution of Ae. aegypti will doubtless expand with climate change and without new marketed vaccines, all the ingredients are in place to relive a new pandemic of Zika.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Local selection in the presence of high levels of gene flow: Evidence of heterogeneous insecticide selection pressure across Ugandan Culex quinquefasciatus populations

Background: Culex quinquefasciatus collected in Uganda, where no vector control interventions directly targeting this species have been conducted, was used as a model to determine if it is possible to detect heterogeneities in selection pressure driven by insecticide application targeting other insect species. Methodology/Principal findings: Population genetic structure was assessed through microsatellite analysis, and the impact of insecticide pressure by genotyping two target-site mutations, Vgsc-1014F of the voltage-gated sodium channel target of pyrethroid and DDT insecticides, and Ace1-119S of the acetylcholinesterase gene, target of carbamate and organophosphate insecticides. No significant differences in genetic diversity were observed among populations by microsatellite markers with HE ranging from 0.597 to 0.612 and low, but significant, genetic differentiation among populations (FST = 0.019, P = 0.001). By contrast, the insecticide-resistance markers display heterogeneous allelic distributions with significant differences detected between Central Ugandan (urban) populations relative to Eastern and Southwestern (rural) populations. In the central region, a frequency of 62% for Vgsc-1014F, and 32% for the Ace1-119S resistant allele were observed. Conversely, in both Eastern and Southwestern regions the Vgsc-1014F alleles were close to fixation, whilst Ace1-119S allele frequency was 12% (although frequencies may be underestimated due to copy number variation at both loci). Conclusions/Significance: Taken together, the microsatellite and both insecticide resistance target-site markers provide evidence that in the face of intense gene flow among populations, disjunction in resistance frequencies arise due to intense local selection pressures despite an absence of insecticidal control interventions targeting Culex

Cytoplasmic Incompatibility as a Means of Controlling Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus Mosquito in the Islands of the South-Western Indian Ocean

The use of the bacterium Wolbachia is an attractive alternative method to control vector populations. In mosquitoes, as in members of the Culex pipiens complex, Wolbachia induces a form of embryonic lethality called cytoplasmic incompatibility, a sperm-egg incompatibility occurring when infected males mate either with uninfected females or with females infected with incompatible Wolbachia strain(s). Here we explore the feasibility of the Incompatible Insect Technique (IIT), a species-specific control approach in which field females are sterilized by inundative releases of incompatible males. We show that the Wolbachia wPip(Is) strain, naturally infecting Cx. p. pipiens mosquitoes from Turkey, is a good candidate to control Cx. p. quinquefasciatus populations on four islands of the south-western Indian Ocean (La Réunion, Mauritius, Grande Glorieuse and Mayotte). The wPip(Is) strain was introduced into the nuclear background of Cx. p. quinquefasciatus mosquitoes from La Réunion, leading to the LR[wPip(Is)] line. Total embryonic lethality was observed in crosses between LR[wPip(Is)] males and all tested field females from the four islands. Interestingly, most crosses involving LR[wPip(Is)] females and field males were also incompatible, which is expected to reduce the impact of any accidental release of LR[wPip(Is)] females. Cage experiments demonstrate that LR[wPip(Is)] males are equally competitive with La Réunion males resulting in demographic crash when LR[wPip(Is)] males were introduced into La Réunion laboratory cages. These results, together with the geographic isolation of the four south-western Indian Ocean islands and their limited land area, support the feasibility of an IIT program using LR[wPip(Is)] males and stimulate the implementation of field tests for a Cx. p. quinquefasciatus control strategy on these islands

X-exome sequencing of 405 unresolved families identifies seven novel intellectual disability genes

X-linked intellectual disability (XLID) is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorder. During the past two decades in excess of 100 X-chromosome ID genes have been identified. Yet, a large number of families mapping to the X-chromosome remained unresolved suggesting that more XLID genes or loci are yet to be identified. Here, we have investigated 405 unresolved families with XLID. We employed massively parallel sequencing of all X-chromosome exons in the index males. The majority of these males were previously tested negative for copy number variations and for mutations in a subset of known XLID genes by Sanger sequencing. In total, 745 X-chromosomal genes were screened. After stringent filtering, a total of 1297 non-recurrent exonic variants remained for prioritization. Co-segregation analysis of potential clinically relevant changes revealed that 80 families (20%) carried pathogenic variants in established XLID genes. In 19 families, we detected likely causative protein truncating and missense variants in 7 novel and validated XLID genes (CLCN4, CNKSR2, FRMPD4, KLHL15, LAS1L, RLIM and USP27X) and potentially deleterious variants in 2 novel candidate XLID genes (CDK16 and TAF1). We show that the CLCN4 and CNKSR2 variants impair protein functions as indicated by electrophysiological studies and altered differentiation of cultured primary neurons from Clcn4−/− mice or after mRNA knock-down. The newly identified and candidate XLID proteins belong to pathways and networks with established roles in cognitive function and intellectual disability in particular. We suggest that systematic sequencing of all X-chromosomal genes in a cohort of patients with genetic evidence for X-chromosome locus involvement may resolve up to 58% of Fragile X-negative cases