Ocular expression of avian thymic hormone: changes during the recovery from induced myopia

Purpose: Several studies suggest that postnatal ocular growth is under the control of factors within the eye that regulate the rate of scleral extracellular matrix remodeling and the rate of ocular elongation. A microarray analysis was employed to identify some of the factors involved in the regulation of visually guided ocular growth. Gene expression was compared in the retina-retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE)-choroid of chick eyes that were decelerating in the rate of ocular growth (“recovering ” from myopia) as compared with contralateral control eyes. Methods: Form-deprivation myopia was induced in the right eyes of two-day-old chicks by the application of translucent occluders. Following 10 days of deprivation, occluders were removed and chicks were provided unrestricted vision for an additional 1–7 days (recovery). After one and four days of recovery, chicks were sacrificed, retina, RPE, and choroid were isolated, and mRNA was subjected to microarray analysis using a chicken immune system 4000 gene microarray. In addition, whole eyes and isolated ocular tissues (retina and RPE, choroid, sclera, and extraocular muscle) of treated and control eyes were subjected to real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry, and western blot analyses to verify gene expression results. Results: Following one day of recovery, only one gene, avian thymic hormone (ATH) was highly upregulated (+12.3 fold). ATH gene and protein expression were confirmed in the retina and choroid as well as in the sclera and extraocular muscle. A significant increase in ATH protein was detected in choroids from treated eyes following four days of recover

The Use of Renewable and Alternative Fuel in the Heavy Clay Industry

Abstract The heavy clay industry brick is in many countries a very important economic factor with far reaching financial and environmental impacts. In the industrialized countries the use of alternative fuels in the heavy clay industry is rather limited.The European brick industries common current research activity is mainly focused on synthgas from waste streams. In-house research activity by single brick companies does, at least in Europe, not take place at the moment. The situation in the developing and industrializing countries is far different: The use of alternative,fossil and renewable, fuels in these countries is still wide spread. The use of such fuels does sometimes have severe negative impacts on the environment. This paper gives an overview of the use of various renewable and alternative fuels in the heavy clay industry in several countries and the environmental and financial impacts these fuels have or might have on the operation of a typical installation in various parts of the world (Maghreb, Europe, USA, Australia,India, Vietnam). Two examples in which alternative fuels have been or are used, one in an industrializing and one in an industrialized country, are briefly presented. A comparative product life cycle analysis, LCA, is presented

Removal and survival of fecal indicators in a constructed wetland after uasb pre-treatment

The experimentation plant, based on a sub-surface horizontal flow phytodepuration (SSHFP) unit with a pre-treatment by an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, proved valuable in treating the sewage of a small rural community located in north Brazil. During a six-month trial, the plant achieved an average removal efficiency of 98.2% (1.74 log removal) for fecal coliforms (FC) and 96.0% (1.40 log removal) for Enterococci (EN), as well as 95.6% for BOD5, 91.0% for COD,00 and 95.4% for suspended solids (SS). The contribution of the UASB reactor to this overall performance was very significant as, alone, it achieved a yield of 62.7% for FC and 60% for EN, in addition to 65.2% for BOD5 and 65.0% for SS. EN was chosen, in addition to FC, because of its higher specificity and strong environmental persistence, leading to an increased risk to human health. In fact, the experimental results confirmed its lower removal efficiency compared to FC. The mechanical and biological mechanisms that led to such a removal efficiency of the two fecal indicators (FIs) are outlined in the article. The same mechanisms led to a good level of equivalence between the removal efficiency of the two FIs with the removal efficiency of SS and BOD5, for both the whole plant and the UASB reactor alone. The research demonstrated the close correlation between the concentrations of EN and FC for the plant effluent. This correlation can be explained by the following mathematical expression of the regression line Log EN = 0.2571 Log FC + 3.5301, with a coefficient of determination R-2 = 0.912. This implies that the concentration of the more specific indicator EN could be calculated, with acceptable approximation, from the simple analysis of FC and vice versa. The experimental plant brought important health benefits to the local population. In particular, there were no significant odor emissions; moreover, the risk of fecal pathogenic diseases was drastically reduced; finally, there was no proliferation of insects and other disease vectors, due to the absence of stagnant or semi-stagnant water exposed to the atmosphere

Innovative Biogas Multi-Stage Biogas Plant and Novel Analytical System

AbstractThe here presented applied research and development project is targeted to the development and application of new and improved techniques in plant design, performance analysis and process control. Hereto following the required steps are illustrated and the goals are outlined. The project covers the development of a previously patented anaerobic digestion process, adaption of flow cytometry as an analytical instrument and investigation of innovative ways of disposal of solid fermentation wastes. The preliminary experiences with a newly built research plant employing a novel anaerobic biogas digestion technique are discussed. In this paper the first outcomes concerning the construction and operation are discussed. A novel method of disposal of the fermentation wastes is also discussed and first results are shown

Le syndrome de rosai dorfman de l’enfant (a propos d’un cas)

Le syndrome de rOSaï DOrFman ou histiocytose sinusale avec lymphadénopathie massive est une maladie rare d’étiologie inconnue, peut se voir à tout âge, l’enfant n’étant pas épargné. nous rapportons le cas d’un enfant de 4 ans avec multiples adénopathies cervicales bilatérales. Le diagnostic a été confirmé par la biopsie ganglionnaire. Une corticothérapie a été instaurée avec régression partielle des adénopathies. La discussion portera sur le profil clinique, histologique et thérapeutique de cette maladie.Mots clés : syndrome de rosai Dorfman , enfant , traitementSinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy or Destombes – rosai – Dorfman ‘s syndrome is a rare disease of unknown etiology. all ages are affected, including child. The case reported concerned a 4 years old boy with bilateral cervical lymphadenopathy. Diagnosis was performed by superficial lymph node biopsy. a partial regression of lymphadenopathy was obtained with corticosteroid. The clinical presentation, histolologic characteristics, and the treatment of Destombes – rosai – Dorfman‘s syndrome are discussed.Keywords: rosai – Dorfman‘s syndrome , Child , treatmen

The sensitivity of a specific denitrification rate under the dissolved oxygen pressure

The biological denitrification process is extensively discussed in scientific literature. The process requires anoxic conditions, but the influence of residual dissolved oxygen (DO) on the efficiency is not yet adequately documented. The present research aims to fill this gap by highlighting the effects of DO on the specific denitrification rate (SDNR) and consequently on the efficiency of the process. SDNR at a temperature of 20◦C (SDNR20◦C) is the parameter normally used for the sizing of the denitrification reactor in biological-activated sludge processes. A sensitivity analysis of SNDR20◦C to DO variations is developed. For this purpose, two of the main empirical models illustrated in the scientific literature are taken into consideration, with the addition of a deterministic third model proposed by the authors and validated by recent experimentations on several full-scale plants. In the first two models, SDNR20◦C is expressed as a function of the only variable food:microrganism ratio in denitrification (F:MDEN), while in the third one, the dependence on DO is made explicit. The sensitivity analysis highlights all the significant dependence of SDNR20◦C on DO characterized by a logarithmic decrease with a very pronounced gradient in correspondence with low DO concentrations. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates the relatively small influence of F:MDEN on the SDNR20◦C and on the correlation between SDNR20◦C and DO. The results confirm the great importance of minimizing DO and limiting, as much as possible, the transport of oxygen in the denitrification reactor through the incoming flows and mainly the mixed liquor recycle. Solutions to achieve this result in full-scale plants are reported

Oxidative stability of microalgae oil and its acylglycerol mixture obtained by enzymatic glycerolysis and the antioxidant effect of supercritical rosemary extract

The oxidative stability of microalgae oil (MO) and its enzymatic glycerolysis product (GP) have been determined by using the accelerated oxidation methods differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Rancimat at temperatures in the range 50–90 °C. Kinetic analyses of MO and GP provide Arrhenius activation energy and activation enthalpy and entropy, temperature coefficients, Q10 and oxidative stability index at 20 °C (OSI20), based on secondary and tertiary oxidation products. Susceptibility of microalgae oil to oxidation has been compared to that of fish and vegetable oils, with OSI20 values of 647 h for MO and 381 h for GP. The tcoeff and Q10 values are very similar to those observed for fish and vegetable oils. Protective effect from oxidation of a supercritical rosemary extract (RE) for both MO and GP have been evaluated. In the presence of this antioxidant, up to twofold increase of OSI20 has been obtained for MO. Lower protection for GP was observed. Activity antioxidant Index (AAI), related to the mechanism of action of the antioxidant, should be carefully examined for a reliable determination of OSI20 valuesThis study has been funded by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion ´ (project number PID 2020-119084RB-C21), Universidad Autonoma ´ de Madrid (ALIBIRD, S2018/BAA-4343) and Fundacion ´ Ramon ´ Areces (CIVP20A6607). Celia Banares ˜ thanks Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and the European Social Fund for a pre-doctoral FPI grant (BES-2017-080853). Assamae Chabni also thanks Comunidad de Madrid for a pre-doctoral grant (PEJD-2019-PRE/BIO-14522