Short communication: Use of calcium sulphate dihydrate as an alternative to the conventional use of aluminium sulphate in the primary treatment of wastewater

The application of calcium sulphate dihydrate (CaSO4.2H2O) as a coagulant-flocculant alternative to the conventional use of aluminium sulphate in the primary treatment of wastewater was evaluated using a jar test apparatus. Samples from the State Water Commission (CEA) in Queretaro, Mexico, were collected for the experiments. Turbidity and pH were measured before and after applying the calcium sulphate dihydrate (CaSO4.2H2O). Turbidity readings obtained for the doses of 4 gE.-1 of aluminium sulphate varied from 3.91 to 3.87. The corresponding water pH was 3.90, giving the water an acidic character. Use of aluminium sulphate in the clarification of wastewater, thus, has financial and environmental implications due to the need to raise the pH of the treated water to 6.5.8.5, the recommended optimum interval for the physical-chemical-biological removal of pollutants. By contrast, calcium sulphate di-hydrate (CaSO4E2H2O) (gypsum) doses of 1, 1.5 and 2 gE.-1 resulted in a pH of between 7.04 and 7.51 repeatedly. These findings suggest that the application of calcium sulphate di-hydrate (CaSO4.2H2O) as coagulant-flocculant, followed by the process of sedimentation, may be a suitable alternative for the clarification of wastewater. However, the turbidity reported for the same doses was 74.05, 80.5 and 74.5 NTU, respectively, well above the international standard of 5 NTU. The effect of gypsum on turbidity warrants further research

Evaluation of Aloe Vera Coated Polylactic Acid Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

3D-printed polylactic acid (PLA) scaffolds have been demonstrated as being a promising tool for the development of tissue-engineered replacements of bone. However, this material lacks a suitable surface chemistry to efficiently interact with extracellular proteins and, consequently, to integrate into the surrounding tissue when implanted in vivo. In this study, aloe vera coatings have been proposed as a strategy to improve the bioaffinity of this type of structures. Aloe vera coatings were applied at three different values of pH (3, 4 and 5), after treating the surface of the PLA scaffolds with oxygen plasma. The surface modification of the material has been assessed through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis and water contact angle measurements. In addition, the evaluation of the enzymatic degradation of the structures showed that the pH of the aloe vera extracts used as coating influences the degradation rate of the PLA-based scaffolds. Finally, the cell metabolic activity of an in vitro culture of human fetal osteoblastic cells on the samples revealed an improvement of this parameter on aloe vera coated samples, especially for those treated at pH 3. Hence, these structures showed potential for being applied for bone tissue regeneration

Costs and consequences of chronic pain due to musculoskeletal disorders from a health system perspective in Chile

Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The International Association for the Study of Pain. Background: Chronic pain is a prevalent and distressing condition caused by an unceasing pain lasting more than 3 months or a pain that persists beyond the normal healing time. There is evidence of inadequate management partly explained by the unawareness regarding the magnitude of the problem. Objectives: To estimate the annual expected costs and consequences of chronic pain caused by musculoskeletal diseases from the health system perspective in Chile. Methods: A Markov cohort model was built to represent chronic pain and estimate expected costs and consequences over 1-year time horizon. Transition probabilities were obtained through expert elicitation. Consequences examined were: years lost to disability (YLD), depression, anxiety, and productivity losses. Direct health care costs were estimated using local sources. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was performed to characterize second-order uncertainty. Results: The annual expected cost due to musculoskeletal chronic pain was estimated in USD $1387.2 million, equivalent to 0.417$94 million (Bayesian credibility interval 95% $49.1-$156.26). Productivity losses were also important cost, although early retirement and presenteeism were not measured. Chronic pain causes 137,037 YLDs. Conclusion: Chronic pain is not only an important cause of disability but also responsible for high social and financial burden in Chile. Public health programs focused on managing chronic pain may decrease burden of disease and possibly reduce costs.

Micropartículas de alginato conteniendo paracetamol

Micropartículas conteniendo paracetamol (PCT) han sido obtenidas por emulsificación/gelificación interna de unasolución de alginato dispersada en un aceite vegetal. La morfología y la distribución de tamaño de partícula fuerondeterminadas. Se estudió la concentración de ión calcio resultando ser un parámetro crítico en la producción de lasmicropartículas. Se observó que el incremento en la concentración de calcio produce un aumento en el rendimientototal de micropartículas y en el encapsulación de PCT. La técnica desarrollada permite obtener un sistema concaracterísticas micrométricas óptimas y una mayor eficacia de encapsulación de PCT

NSAID Use Selectively Increases the Risk of Non-Fatal Myocardial Infarction: A Systematic Review of Randomised Trials and Observational Studies

Recent clinical trials and observational studies have reported increased coronary events associated with non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). There appeared to be a disproportionate increase in non-fatal versus fatal events, however, numbers of fatal events in individual studies were too small, and event rates too low, to be meaningful.We undertook a pooled analysis to investigate the effect of NSAIDs on myocardial infarction (MI) risk with the specific aim to differentiate non-fatal from fatal events.We searched Pubmed (January, 1990 to March, 2010) for observational studies and randomised controlled trials that assessed the effect of NSAIDs (traditional or selective COX-2 inhibitors [coxibs]) on MI incidence separately for fatal and non-fatal events. Summary estimates of relative risk (RR) for non-fatal and fatal MIs were calculated with a random effects model.NSAID therapy carried a RR of 1.30 (95% CI, 1.20-1.41) for non-fatal MI with no effect on fatal MI (RR 1.02, 95% CI, 0.89-1.17) in six observational studies. Overall, the risk increase for non-fatal MI was 25% higher (95% CI, 11%-42%) than for fatal MI. The two studies that included only individuals with prior cardiovascular disease presented risk estimates for non-fatal MI on average 58% greater (95% CI, 26%-98%) than those for fatal MI. In nine randomised controlled trials, all investigating coxibs, the pooled RR estimate for non-fatal MI was 1.61 (95% CI, 1.04-2.50) and 0.86 (95% CI 0.51-1.47) for fatal MIs.NSAID use increases the risk of non-fatal MI with no substantial effect on fatal events. Such differential effects, with potentially distinct underlying pathology may provide insights into NSAID-induced coronary pathology. We studied the association between the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and the risk of myocardial infarction (MI), separating non-fatal from fatal events, summarizing the evidence from both observational studies and randomised controlled trials. An increased risk of non-fatal MI was clearly found in both types of studies while use of NSAID did not confer an increased risk of fatal MI. Our findings provide support for the concept that thrombi generated under NSAID treatment could be different from spontaneous thrombi

Comparative serology techniques for the diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in a rural population from the state of Querétaro, Mexico

Immunological diagnostic methods for Trypanosoma cruzi depend specifically on the presence of antibodies and parasitological methods lack sensitivity during the chronic and “indeterminate” stages of the disease. This study performed a serological survey of 1,033 subjects from 52 rural communities in 12 of the 18 municipalities in the state of Querétaro, Mexico. We detected anti-T. cruzi antibodies using the following tests: indirect haemagglutination assay (IHA), indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), ELISA and recombinant ELISA (rELISA). We also performed Western blot (WB) analysis using iron superoxide dismutase (FeSOD), a detoxifying enzyme excreted by the parasite, as the antigen. Positive test results were distributed as follows: ELISA 8%, rELISA 6.2%, IFA and IHA 5.4% in both cases and FeSOD 8%. A comparative study of the five tests was undertaken. Sensitivity levels, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, concordance percentage and kappa index were considered. Living with animals, trips to other communities, gender, age, type of housing and symptomatology at the time of the survey were statistically analysed using SPSS software v.11.5. Detection of the FeSOD enzyme that was secreted by the parasite and used as an antigenic fraction in WBs showed a 100% correlation with traditional ELISA tests

Impaired autophagic flux is associated with increased endoplasmic reticulum stress during the development of NAFLD

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialNoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.-- et al.The pathogenic mechanisms underlying the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are not fully understood. In this study, we aimed to assess the relationship between endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and autophagy in human and mouse hepatocytes during NAFLD. ER stress and autophagy markers were analyzed in livers from patients with biopsy-proven non-alcoholic steatosis (NAS) or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) compared with livers from subjects with histologically normal liver, in livers from mice fed with chow diet (CHD) compared with mice fed with high fat diet (HFD) or methionine-choline-deficient (MCD) diet and in primary and Huh7 human hepatocytes loaded with palmitic acid (PA). In NASH patients, significant increases in hepatic messenger RNA levels of markers of ER stress (activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP)) and autophagy (BCN1) were found compared with NAS patients. Likewise, protein levels of GRP78, CHOP and p62/SQSTM1 (p62) autophagic substrate were significantly elevated in NASH compared with NAS patients. In livers from mice fed with HFD or MCD, ER stress-mediated signaling was parallel to the blockade of the autophagic flux assessed by increases in p62, microtubule-associated protein 2 light chain 3 (LC3-II)/LC3-I ratio and accumulation of autophagosomes compared with CHD fed mice. In Huh7 hepatic cells, treatment with PA for 8 h triggered activation of both unfolding protein response and the autophagic flux. Conversely, prolonged treatment with PA (24 h) induced ER stress and cell death together with a blockade of the autophagic flux. Under these conditions, cotreatment with rapamycin or CHOP silencing ameliorated these effects and decreased apoptosis. Our results demonstrated that the autophagic flux is impaired in the liver from both NAFLD patients and murine models of NAFLD, as well as in lipid-overloaded human hepatocytes, and it could be due to elevated ER stress leading to apoptosis. Consequently, therapies aimed to restore the autophagic flux might attenuate or prevent the progression of NAFLD.We acknowledge the following grant support: SAF2012-33283 (MINECO, Spain), Comunidad de Madrid S2010/BMD-2423, EFSD and Amylin Paul Langerhans Grant and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Diabetes y Enfermedades Metabólicas Asociadas (CIBERDEM, ISCIII, Barcelona, Spain) to AMV.; SAF2010-16037, SAF2013-43713-R (MINECO) and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD, ISCIII) to PMS. RD12/0042/0019 (ISCIII) and S2010/BMD-2478 (Comunidad de Madrid) to LB, PI 13/01299 and Fundación Mutua Madrileña 2012 to C G-M and AIRC IG-2012 to GMF.Peer Reviewe

Diets containing sea cucumber (Isostichopus badionotus) meals are hypocholesterolemic in young rats

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Pedestrian, Crowd, and Evacuation Dynamics

This contribution describes efforts to model the behavior of individual pedestrians and their interactions in crowds, which generate certain kinds of self-organized patterns of motion. Moreover, this article focusses on the dynamics of crowds in panic or evacuation situations, methods to optimize building designs for egress, and factors potentially causing the breakdown of orderly motion.Comment: This is a review paper. For related work see http://www.soms.ethz.c