Uso de leitos cultivados no tratamento de efluentes da aquicultura.

In the last fifty years, worldwide aquaculture has increased about 8.8% /year. In Brazil, the tilapia culture, the flagship aquaculture production, represents 39% of the total cultivated fish. The increasing demand for aquatic protein, the demographic increasement and the decline of natural stocks have contributed to the promotion of aquaculture around the world. Nevertheless, concerns about the negative environmental impacts caused by this activity are also increasing. Some of these impacts are: destruction of mangroves, significant inputs of nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter downstream nurseries, invasion of exotic species in natural aquatic ecosystems. Natural treatment systems such as constructed wetlands are costeffective, do not depend on energy, and the efficiency of removal of the main physico-chemical parameters of water quality are at 70 to 90% on average. By bacteriological metabolism and mechanical filtration, the organic matter is used as food and nutrient for aquatic plants. This study aims to assess the efficiency of constructed wetlands for treatment of effluents from tilapia culture, using a closed cycle of water. At Embrapa Environment (Jaguariúna, SP), a system composed by 54 plastic boxes was constructed to test three kinds of substrates: pebbles, expanded clay and a mixture of both. The plant Vetiver was used as another part of the treatment system. We expect to verify a great reduction in important parameters such as total nitrogen, total phosphorus, biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids and others. This system could be very useful at smallholder aquaculture worried with best management practices

Using the no-signaling condition for constraining the nonidealness of a Stern-Gerlach setup

On the basis of a variant of the EPR-Bohm example, we show that the no-signaling condition can be employed as a useful tool for deriving a constraint on a suitably defined measure of the `nonidealness' of a Stern-Gerlach(SG) setup. In this demonstration, a key ingredient is provided by the characteristics of the exact solution of the time-dependent Schroedinger equation as applied to a most general SG setup

Validação de método analítico para quantificação de interferentes endócrinos em águas residuárias após tratamento secundário.

Interferentes endócrinos são substâncias que estão cada vez mais presentes no meio ambiente, especialmente nos corpos hídricos, que podem causar câncer em seres humanos e animais, mutagenicidade nos órgãos reprodutores das espécies animais presentes na biota aquática, esterilidade em homens, entre outros efeitos adversos à saúde. Constructed wetlands são métodos alternativos de tratamento de água e efluentes, que se baseiam na retirada de poluentes pelas macrófitas aquáticas e pelo biofilme formado nas raízes das plantas fixadas ao meio suporte, simulando assim os sistemas naturais de tratamento. Eles têm como vantagem o baixo custo de implantação e manutenção, economia de energia elétrica durante seu funcionamento, além de serem eficientes na remoção de poluentes. Constructed wetlands foram citados como um eficiente método de remoção de pesticidas levemente hidrofóbicos. Neste contexto, devido ao fato de estrogênios serem substâncias levemente hidrofóbicas, o presente trabalho visou desenvolver e validar uma metodologia de análise cromatográfica para determinação quantitativa dos hormônios etinilestradiol (EE2) e levonorgestrel (LEV), e do composto químico bisfenol A (BPA) em águas residuárias após tratamento secundário, com o intuito de analisar esses compostos no afluente e efluente de uma wetland construída em escala laboratorial

Avaliação de um sistema de leito cultivado com recirculação para piscicultura.

Resumo: O presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a eficiência de leitos cultivados de fluxo subsuperficial no tratamento do efluente de piscicultura da tilápia-do-nilo (Oreochromis niloticus) em escala piloto, com ciclo fechado de água. Para tanto, foi construído um sistema de leitos cultivados composto por três unidades com os seguintes tipos de meio suporte: brita, argila expandida e uma mistura homogênea de ambos os substratos, denominada MIX. Estes meios suportes foram avaliados com e sem a presença da planta vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides). A eficiência dos leitos foi medida por avaliações de parâmetros físicoquímicos da água bruta e tratada, além do desempenho da planta vetiver no tratamento da água. Os resultados indicam que o meio suporte composto de brita com vetiver apresentou melhor eficiência como tratamento do efluente de piscicultura considerando a avaliação da qualidade da água, principalmente para os parâmetros: pH (próximo da neutralidade - 6,55), condutividade elétrica (0,49 mS/cm), e nitrogênio total (0,086 mg/L), com maior percentual de redução após o tratamento, onde a brita em associação com o vetiver apresentou redução de 85% do nitrogênio total. Tais resultados reforçam o potencial deste sistema para uso por piscicultores, pois emprega materiais de custo relativamente baixo, porém com elevada eficiência na redução de parâmetros críticos para a piscicultura. Abstract: The present study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of subsurface flow constructed wetlands to treat effluent from fish farming of nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) in pilot scale with closed water cycle. To this end, it set up a system of constructed wetlands consisting of three types of support media: gravel, expanded clay and a homogeneous mixture of both substrates, called MIX. These support media were tested with and without the association with the plant vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides). The performance of the beds was measured by assessments of physical-chemical parameters of effluent and treated water, besides the performance of the vetiver plant in water filtration. The results indicate that the gravel bed associated with the plant vetiver performed better for the quality of the treated water for pH (closer to neutrality ? 6,55), electric conductivity (0,49 mS/cm) and total nitrogen (0,086 mg/L) (highest percentage reduction after treatment). The gravel in association with vetiver showed a reduction of 85% of the total nitrogen. These results reinforce the potential of this system for use by fish farmers, since it uses materials of relatively low cost but with high efficiency in the reduction of critical parameters for fish farming.bitstream/item/160850/1/BP-71-Mariana.pd

Unraveling the role of protein dynamics in dihydrofolate reductase catalysis

Protein dynamics have controversially been proposed to be at the heart of enzyme catalysis, but identification and analysis of dynamical effects in enzyme-catalyzed reactions have proved very challenging. Here, we tackle this question by comparing an enzyme with its heavy (15N, 13C, 2H substituted) counterpart, providing a subtle probe of dynamics. The crucial hydride transfer step of the reaction (the chemical step) occurs more slowly in the heavy enzyme. A combination of experimental results, quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics simulations, and theoretical analyses identify the origins of the observed differences in reactivity. The generally slightly slower reaction in the heavy enzyme reflects differences in environmental coupling to the hydride transfer step. Importantly, the barrier and contribution of quantum tunneling are not affected, indicating no significant role for “promoting motions” in driving tunneling or modulating the barrier. The chemical step is slower in the heavy enzyme because protein motions coupled to the reaction coordinate are slower. The fact that the heavy enzyme is only slightly less active than its light counterpart shows that protein dynamics have a small, but measurable, effect on the chemical reaction rate

Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction in Patients Diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy during Childhood:Insights from the SHaRe Registry

BACKGROUND: The development of left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is rare but serious and associated with poor outcomes in adults. Little is known about the prevalence, predictors, and prognosis of LVSD in patients diagnosed with HCM as children. METHODS:Data from patients with HCM in the international, multicenter SHaRe (Sarcomeric Human Cardiomyopathy Registry) were analyzed. LVSD was defined as left ventricular ejection fraction &lt;50% on echocardiographic reports. Prognosis was assessed by a composite of death, cardiac transplantation, and left ventricular assist device implantation. Predictors of developing incident LVSD and subsequent prognosis with LVSD were assessed using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS: We studied 1010 patients diagnosed with HCM during childhood (&lt;18 years of age) and compared them with 6741 patients with HCM diagnosed as adults. In the pediatric HCM cohort, median age at HCM diagnosis was 12.7 years (interquartile range, 8.0-15.3), and 393 (36%) patients were female. At initial SHaRe site evaluation, 56 (5.5%) patients with childhood-diagnosed HCM had prevalent LVSD, and 92 (9.1%) developed incident LVSD during a median follow-up of 5.5 years. Overall LVSD prevalence was 14.7% compared with 8.7% in patients with adult-diagnosed HCM. Median age at incident LVSD was 32.6 years (interquartile range, 21.3-41.6) for the pediatric cohort and 57.2 years (interquartile range, 47.3-66.5) for the adult cohort. Predictors of developing incident LVSD in childhood-diagnosed HCM included age &lt;12 years at HCM diagnosis (hazard ratio [HR], 1.72 [CI, 1.13-2.62), male sex (HR, 3.1 [CI, 1.88-5.2), carrying a pathogenic sarcomere variant (HR, 2.19 [CI, 1.08-4.4]), previous septal reduction therapy (HR, 2.34 [CI, 1.42-3.9]), and lower initial left ventricular ejection fraction (HR, 1.53 [CI, 1.38-1.69] per 5% decrease). Forty percent of patients with LVSD and HCM diagnosed during childhood met the composite outcome, with higher rates in female participants (HR, 2.60 [CI, 1.41-4.78]) and patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction &lt;35% (HR, 3.76 [2.16-6.52]). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with childhood-diagnosed HCM have a significantly higher lifetime risk of developing LVSD, and LVSD emerges earlier than for patients with adult-diagnosed HCM. Regardless of age at diagnosis with HCM or LVSD, the prognosis with LVSD is poor, warranting careful surveillance for LVSD, especially as children with HCM transition to adult care.</p

An International Multicenter Cohort Study on beta-Blockers for the Treatment of Symptomatic Children With Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia

Background: Symptomatic children with catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) are at risk for recurrent arrhythmic events. β-Blockers decrease this risk, but studies comparing individual β-blockers in sizeable cohorts are lacking. We aimed to assess the association between risk for arrhythmic events and type of β-blocker in a large cohort of symptomatic children with CPVT.Methods: From 2 international registries of patients with CPVT, RYR2 variant–carrying symptomatic children (defined as syncope or sudden cardiac arrest before β-blocker initiation and age at start of β-blocker therapy &lt;18 years), treated with a β-blocker were included. Cox regression analyses with time-dependent covariates for β-blockers and potential confounders were used to assess the hazard ratio (HR). The primary outcome was the first occurrence of sudden cardiac death, sudden cardiac arrest, appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator shock, or syncope. The secondary outcome was the first occurrence of any of the primary outcomes except syncope.Results: We included 329 patients (median age at diagnosis, 12 [interquartile range, 7–15] years, 35% females). Ninety-nine (30.1%) patients experienced the primary outcome and 74 (22.5%) experienced the secondary outcome during a median follow-up of 6.7 (interquartile range, 2.8–12.5) years. Two-hundred sixteen patients (66.0%) used a nonselective β-blocker (predominantly nadolol [n=140] or propranolol [n=70]) and 111 (33.7%) used a β1-selective β-blocker (predominantly atenolol [n=51], metoprolol [n=33], or bisoprolol [n=19]) as initial β-blocker. Baseline characteristics did not differ. The HRs for both the primary and secondary outcomes were higher for β1-selective compared with nonselective β-blockers (HR, 2.04 [95% CI, 1.31–3.17]; and HR, 1.99 [95% CI, 1.20–3.30], respectively). When assessed separately, the HR for the primary outcome was higher for atenolol (HR, 2.68 [95% CI, 1.44–4.99]), bisoprolol (HR, 3.24 [95% CI, 1.47–7.18]), and metoprolol (HR, 2.18 [95% CI, 1.08–4.40]) compared with nadolol, but did not differ from propranolol. The HR of the secondary outcome was only higher in atenolol compared with nadolol (HR, 2.68 [95% CI, 1.30–5.55]).Conclusions: β1-selective β-blockers were associated with a significantly higher risk for arrhythmic events in symptomatic children with CPVT compared with nonselective β-blockers, specifically nadolol. Nadolol, or propranolol if nadolol is unavailable, should be the preferred β-blocker for treating symptomatic children with CPVT.</p

Heart Rate Recovery After Exercise Is Associated With Arrhythmic Events in Patients With Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia

BACKGROUND: Risk stratification in catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia remains ill defined. Heart rate recovery (HRR) immediately after exercise is regulated by autonomic reflexes, particularly vagal tone, and may be associated with symptoms and ventricular arrhythmias in patients with catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. Our objective was to evaluate whether HRR after maximal exercise on the exercise stress test (EST) is associated with symptoms and ventricular arrhythmias. METHODS: In this retrospective observational study, we included patients ≤65 years of age with an EST without antiarrhythmic drugs who attained at least 80% of their age- and sex-predicted maximal HR. HRR in the recovery phase was calculated as the difference in heart rate (HR) at maximal exercise and at 1 minute in the recovery phase (ΔHRR1'). RESULTS: We included 187 patients (median age, 36 years; 68 [36%] symptomatic before diagnosis). Pre-EST HR and maximal HR were equal among symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Patients who were symptomatic before diagnosis had a greater ΔHRR1' after maximal exercise (43 [interquartile range, 25-58] versus 25 [interquartile range, 19-34] beats/min; P<0.001). Corrected for age, sex, and relatedness, patients in the upper tertile for ΔHRR1' had an odds ratio of 3.4 (95% CI, 1.6-7.4) of being symptomatic before diagnosis (P<0.001). In addition, ΔHRR1' was higher in patients with complex ventricular arrhythmias at EST off antiarrhythmic drugs (33 [interquartile range, 22-48] versus 27 [interquartile range, 20-36] beats/min; P=0.01). After diagnosis, patients with a ΔHRR1' in the upper tertile of its distribution had significantly more arrhythmic events as compared with patients in the other tertiles (P=0.045). CONCLUSIONS: Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia patients with a larger HRR following exercise are more likely to be symptomatic and have complex ventricular arrhythmias during the first EST off antiarrhythmic drug

An International Multi-Center Evaluation of Type 5 Long QT Syndrome: A Low Penetrant Primary Arrhythmic Condition.

Background: Insight into type 5 long QT syndrome (LQT5) has been limited to case reports and small family series. Improved understanding of the clinical phenotype and genetic features associated with rare KCNE1 variants implicated in LQT5 was sought through an international multi-center collaboration. Methods: Patients with either presumed autosomal dominant LQT5 (N = 229) or the recessive Type 2 Jervell and Lange-Nielsen syndrome (JLNS2, N = 19) were enrolled from 22 genetic arrhythmia clinics and 4 registries from 9 countries. KCNE1 variants were evaluated for ECG penetrance (defined as QTc > 460ms on presenting ECG) and genotype-phenotype segregation. Multivariable Cox regression was used to compare the associations between clinical and genetic variables with a composite primary outcome of definite arrhythmic events, including appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator shocks, aborted cardiac arrest, and sudden cardiac death. Results: A total of 32 distinct KCNE1 rare variants were identified in 89 probands and 140 genotype positive family members with presumed LQT5 and an additional 19 JLNS2 patients. Among presumed LQT5 patients, the mean QTc on presenting ECG was significantly longer in probands (476.9 ± 38.6ms) compared to genotype positive family members (441.8 ± 30.9ms, p<0.001). ECG penetrance for heterozygous genotype positive family members was 20.7% (29/140). A definite arrhythmic event was experienced in 16.9% (15/89) of heterozygous probands in comparison with 1.4% (2/140) of family members (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 11.6, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.6-52.2; p=0.001). Event incidence did not differ significantly for JLNS2 patients relative to the overall heterozygous cohort (10.5% [2/19]; HR: 1.7, 95% CI: 0.3-10.8, p=0.590). The cumulative prevalence of the 32 KCNE1 variants in the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD), which is a human database of exome and genome sequencing data from now over 140,000 individuals, was 238-fold greater than the anticipated prevalence of all LQT5 combined (0.238% vs. 0.001%). Conclusions: The present study suggests that putative/confirmed loss-of-function KCNE1 variants predispose to QT-prolongation, however the low ECG penetrance observed suggests they do not manifest clinically in the majority of individuals, aligning with the mild phenotype observed for JLNS2 patients

The Quantum Mitochondrion and Optimal Health

A sufficiently complex set of molecules, if subject to perturbation, will self-organise and show emergent behaviour. If such a system can take on information it will become subject to natural selection. This could explain how self-replicating molecules evolved into life and how intelligence arose. A pivotal step in this evolutionary process was of course the emergence of the eukaryote and the advent of the mitochondrion, which both enhanced energy production per cell and increased the ability to process, store and utilise information. Recent research suggest that from its inception life embraced quantum effects such as “tunnelling” and “coherence” while competition and stressful conditions provided a constant driver for natural selection. We believe that the biphasic adaptive response to stress described by hormesis – a process that captures information to enable adaptability, is central to this whole process. Critically, hormesis could improve mitochondrial quantum efficiency, improving the ATP/ROS ratio, while inflammation, which is tightly associated with the aging process, might do the opposite. This all suggests that to achieve optimal health and healthy ageing, one has to sufficiently stress the system to ensure peak mitochondrial function, which itself could reflect selection of optimum efficiency at the quantum level