Blending based optimisation and pretreatment strategies to enhance anaerobic digestion of poultry manure

This is the accepted manuscript of the following article: Rodriguez-Verde, I., Regueiro, L., Lema, J., & Carballa, M. (2018). Blending based optimisation and pretreatment strategies to enhance anaerobic digestion of poultry manure. Waste Management, 71, 521-531. doi: 10.1016/j.wasman.2017.11.002 © 2018 Elsevier B.V. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)Anaerobic digestion of poultry manure is limited by the excessive levels of nitrogen and the high concentration of dry matter. These limitations are usually overcome either by applying procedures to remove nitrogen or by employing pretreatments that allows to solubilise organic matter. In this work, the treatment of poultry manure was enhanced by co-digestion with pig manure through the methodological determination of optimal mixtures combined together with a thermochemical pretreatment coupled to ammonia stripping. The optimum poultry-pig mixture, resulting in a 24%:76% (volume basis) poultry-pig manure, was determined by applying a methodology based on linear programming which calculates the proportions of the blend which returns the maximum methane production while keeping a stable process. Pretreatment batch experiments, consisting of increasing both temperature and pH simultaneously with ammonia stripping process was optimised for a temperature of 90 °C and a pH of 10 resulting in a nitrogen removal efficiency of 72% and a 1.2-fold higher methane production in comparison to the unpretreated mixture. Continuous anaerobic co-digestion of pretreated optimum mixture enhanced the COD removal efficiency by 37% when compared with the treatment of unpretreated feedstock (37% vs 27%, respectively). This study indicates that combining blending optimisation of substrates, thermochemical pretreatments and ammonia stripping procedures prior to anaerobic co-digestion becomes a good strategy to overtake the limitations offered by solid- and nitrogen-rich substrates, such as poultry manureThis research was supported by the European Comission by ManureEcoMine project (ENV.213.6.3-2) and by CDTI through SmartGreenGas project (2014-CE224). The authors belong to CRETUS (AGRUP2015/02) and to the Galician Competitive Research Group GRC 2013-032, both programme co-funded by FEDERS

Effect of oxygen on the microbial activities of thermophilic anaerobic biomass

Low oxygen levels (ug O2 L-1) in anaerobic reactors are quite common and no relevant consequences are expected. On the contrary, higher concentrations could affect the process. This work aimed to study the influence of oxygen (4.3 and 8.8 mg O2 L-1, respectively) on the different microbial activities (hydrolytic, acidogenic and methanogenic) of thermophilic anaerobic biomass and on the methanogenic community structure. Batch tests in presence of oxygen were conducted using specific substrates for each biological activity and a blank (with minimum oxygen) was included. No effect of oxygen was observed on the hydrolytic and acidogenic activities. In contrast, the methane production rate decreased by 40% in all oxygenated batches and the development of active archaeal community was slower in presence of 8.8 mg O2 L-1. However, despite this sensitivity of methanogens to oxygen at saturation levels, the inhibition was reversible.This research was supported by the European Community Seventh Framework Programme under Grant Agreement nº 603744 (ManureEcoMine project), by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through CDTI (SmartGreenGas project, 2014-CE224) and the Ramón y Cajal contract (RYC-2012- 10397). The authors belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group GRC 2013-032, programme co-funded by FEDERS

Role of age and comorbidities in mortality of patients with infective endocarditis

[Purpose]: The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of patients with IE in three groups of age and to assess the ability of age and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) to predict mortality. [Methods]: Prospective cohort study of all patients with IE included in the GAMES Spanish database between 2008 and 2015.Patients were stratified into three age groups:<65 years,65 to 80 years,and ≥ 80 years.The area under the receiver-operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was calculated to quantify the diagnostic accuracy of the CCI to predict mortality risk. [Results]: A total of 3120 patients with IE (1327 < 65 years;1291 65-80 years;502 ≥ 80 years) were enrolled.Fever and heart failure were the most common presentations of IE, with no differences among age groups.Patients ≥80 years who underwent surgery were significantly lower compared with other age groups (14.3%,65 years; 20.5%,65-79 years; 31.3%,≥80 years). In-hospital mortality was lower in the <65-year group (20.3%,<65 years;30.1%,65-79 years;34.7%,≥80 years;p < 0.001) as well as 1-year mortality (3.2%, <65 years; 5.5%, 65-80 years;7.6%,≥80 years; p = 0.003).Independent predictors of mortality were age ≥ 80 years (hazard ratio [HR]:2.78;95% confidence interval [CI]:2.32–3.34), CCI ≥ 3 (HR:1.62; 95% CI:1.39–1.88),and non-performed surgery (HR:1.64;95% CI:11.16–1.58).When the three age groups were compared,the AUROC curve for CCI was significantly larger for patients aged <65 years(p < 0.001) for both in-hospital and 1-year mortality. [Conclusion]: There were no differences in the clinical presentation of IE between the groups. Age ≥ 80 years, high comorbidity (measured by CCI),and non-performance of surgery were independent predictors of mortality in patients with IE.CCI could help to identify those patients with IE and surgical indication who present a lower risk of in-hospital and 1-year mortality after surgery, especially in the <65-year group

EducaFarma 9.0

Memoria ID-020 Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2020-2021

EducaFarma 11.0

Memoria ID2022-036. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2022-2023

Educafarma 10.0

Memoria ID-030. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2021-2022

INTERFAZ GESTUAL PARA LA MANIPULACIÓN DE SISTEMAS ROBÓTICOS (GESTURAL INTERFACE FOR ROBOTIC SYSTEMS MANIPULATION)

Resumen Este artículo expone el desarrollo de una interfaz gestual electrónica que permite manipular de forma remota, un sistema robótico de 3 grados de libertad. Este proyecto surge en el contexto de ofrecer una herramienta simple para manipular y programar robots. Se pretende proporcionar a las personas que carecen de un conocimiento experto en lenguajes de programación de robots, una alternativa para controlar los movimientos de un manipulador, grabar posiciones y generar rutinas y trayectorias que representen una tarea específica, tanto en el campo académico y de investigación, como en el ámbito industrial. El sistema consiste en un sensor inercial MPU9250 que detecta los movimientos gestuales de la mano, de un microcontrolador PIC18F4550 que procesa esta información y la envía por bluetooth, y de un sistema de actuación conformado por servomotores, que le permiten a un pequeño manipulador reproducir tales movimientos. Palabras Clave: Instrumentación, interfaz gestual, MPU9250, PIC18F4550, Robótica. Abstract This paper exposes the development of an electronic gestural interface, that allow to manipulate a robotic system with 3 degrees of freedom. This project arises in the context of offering a simple tool to manipulate and to program to robots. The intention is to give to the people without knowledge in robotics programming languages, an alternative to control the movements of a manipulator, to record positions and to generate routines and trajectories for a specific task., so in the academic and research field, as in the industrial ambit. This system consists of an MPU9250 inertial sensor that detects the gestural movements of the hand, besides of a PIC18F4550 microcontroller that process the information and send it through Bluetooth, and also for an actuation system conformed by servomotors that allow to a little manipulator to reproduce such movements. Keywords: Instrumentation, gestural interface, MPU9250, PIC18F4550, Robotics

Role of age and comorbidities in mortality of patients with infective endocarditis.

The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of patients with IE in three groups of age and to assess the ability of age and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) to predict mortality. Prospective cohort study of all patients with IE included in the GAMES Spanish database between 2008 and 2015.Patients were stratified into three age groups: A total of 3120 patients with IE (1327  There were no differences in the clinical presentation of IE between the groups. Age ≥ 80 years, high comorbidity (measured by CCI),and non-performance of surgery were independent predictors of mortality in patients with IE.CCI could help to identify those patients with IE and surgical indication who present a lower risk of in-hospital and 1-year mortality after surgery, especially in th

Contemporary use of cefazolin for MSSA infective endocarditis: analysis of a national prospective cohort

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the real use of cefazolin for methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) infective endocarditis (IE) in the Spanish National Endocarditis Database (GAMES) and to compare it with antistaphylococcal penicillin (ASP). Methods: Prospective cohort study with retrospective analysis of a cohort of MSSA IE treated with cloxacillin and/or cefazolin. Outcomes assessed were relapse; intra-hospital, overall, and endocarditis-related mortality; and adverse events. Risk of renal toxicity with each treatment was evaluated separately. Results: We included 631 IE episodes caused by MSSA treated with cloxacillin and/or cefazolin. Antibiotic treatment was cloxacillin, cefazolin, or both in 537 (85%), 57 (9%), and 37 (6%) episodes, respectively. Patients treated with cefazolin had significantly higher rates of comorbidities (median Charlson Index 7, P <0.01) and previous renal failure (57.9%, P <0.01). Patients treated with cloxacillin presented higher rates of septic shock (25%, P = 0.033) and new-onset or worsening renal failure (47.3%, P = 0.024) with significantly higher rates of in-hospital mortality (38.5%, P = 0.017). One-year IE-related mortality and rate of relapses were similar between treatment groups. None of the treatments were identified as risk or protective factors. Conclusion: Our results suggest that cefazolin is a valuable option for the treatment of MSSA IE, without differences in 1-year mortality or relapses compared with cloxacillin, and might be considered equally effective