Influence of Nutrients and pH on the Efficiency of Vertical Flow Constructed Wetlands Treating Winery Wastewater

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG[Abstract] Winery wastewater is characterized by high organic content, low nutrient content and low pH at least during vintage periods. The effect of nutrient shortage and low pH on constructed wetlands (CWs) operation was scarcely studied, but early field studies indicate that some operational problems can arise. This work aims to determine the effect of nutrient shortage and acidic pH during the treatment of high organic load wastewater in one-step vertical subsurface flow (VF) CWs. Two lab scale VF units at hydraulic loading rates over 70 L/m2·d and surface loading rate in the range of 110−170 g COD/m2·d were operated for periods with and without nutrients in the influent as well as with influent pH of 7.0 and 4.5. The results showed that neither low nutrient nor low pH impair organic matter removal whilst low pH decreased nitrogen removal rates. At low pH, the effluent concentration of ammonia and nitrate increased, indicating deterioration in both nitrification and denitrification processes. The paper discuss the implications of these findings for a better strategy in the treatment of winery process wastewater, such as options for separate treatment or its combination with other nutrient-containing streams

Propiedades de la membrana y viabilidad celular: Importancia de la fluidez

Numerosos estudios sugieren que las vías de señalización y por ende la funcionalidad celular dependen de la organización de dominios en la membrana, que a su vez está determinada por la composición lipídica de la misma. El colesterol (Col) interviene en la regulación de la fluidez al particionar de manera selectiva en dominios específicos de la membrana, y se ha demostrado que su homeostasis es crucial para la viabilidad celular. Además, se sabe que el exceso de Col puede resultar citotóxico. Este lípido no puede ser degradado o utilizado como combustible, por lo que su exceso debe ser removido por aceptores o almacenado en compartimientos intracelulares. Las lipoproteínas de alta densidad (HDL) y en particular su apolipoproteína mayoritaria, la apoA-I, cumplen un rol fundamental en el transporte reverso del Col, que consiste en transportar el excedente desde los tejidos periféricos hacia el hígado para su eliminación en forma de sales biliares, o para ser redirigido desde los hepatocitos hacia los tejidos esteroidogénicos

Right radical hemicolectomy secondary to cecal appendix mucocele: case report

The cecal appendix mucocele is considered a cystic dilation of obstructive etiology that produces an accumulation of mucoid substance. It may be of benign or malignant origin. 50-year-old female, with no significant personal pathological history, presents with repetitive clinical symptoms of abdominal pain, similar to the process of acute appendicitis, without systemic inflammatory response data, which improves with analgesic management, is protocolized by laboratory studies and imaging, diagnosing appendicular tumor, so it is protocolized for surgical resolution, during which it is decided to do right hemicolectomy due to the macroscopic features of ascending colon. The clinical course and prognosis of mucinous appendicular lesions are closely related to their histology and the presence and extent of peritoneal dissemination. With a survival of 91 to 100% after a conventional appendectomy. The cecal appendix mucocele is considered a benign neoplasm; with good survival provided it is diagnosed in time and an appropriate surgical approach is performed; in our case fortunately it could be protocolized correctly; perform a surgical resection with free edges of oncological cells confirmed by histopathology, so our patient could be discharged from the service being free of oncological pathology at this time

A confinable female-lethal population suppression system in the malaria vector, Anopheles gambiae

Malaria is among the world's deadliest diseases, predominantly affecting Sub-Saharan Africa and killing over half a million people annually. Controlling the principal vector, the mosquito Anopheles gambiae, as well as other anophelines, is among the most effective methods to control disease spread. Here, we develop a genetic population suppression system termed Ifegenia (inherited female elimination by genetically encoded nucleases to interrupt alleles) in this deadly vector. In this bicomponent CRISPR-based approach, we disrupt a female-essential gene, femaleless (fle), demonstrating complete genetic sexing via heritable daughter gynecide. Moreover, we demonstrate that Ifegenia males remain reproductively viable and can load both fle mutations and CRISPR machinery to induce fle mutations in subsequent generations, resulting in sustained population suppression. Through modeling, we demonstrate that iterative releases of nonbiting Ifegenia males can act as an effective, confinable, controllable, and safe population suppression and elimination system

Propiedades de la membrana y viabilidad celular: importancia de la fluidez

Numerosos estudios sugieren que las vías de señalización y por ende la funcionalidad celular dependen de la organización de dominios en la membrana, que a su vez está determinada por la composición lipídica de la misma. El colesterol (Col) interviene en la regulación de la fluidez al particionar de manera selectiva en dominios específicos de la membrana, y se ha demostrado que su homeostasis es crucial para la viabilidad celular. Además, se sabe que el exceso de Col puede resultar citotóxico. Este lípido no puede ser degradado o utilizado como combustible, por lo que su exceso debe ser removido por aceptores o almacenado en compartimientos intracelulares. Las lipoproteínas de alta densidad (HDL) y en particular su apolipoproteína mayoritaria, la apoA-I, cumplen un rol fundamental en el transporte reverso del Col, que consiste en transportar el excedente desde los tejidos periféricos hacia el hígado para su eliminación en forma de sales biliares, o para ser redirigido desde los hepatocitos hacia los tejidos esteroidogénicos.Universidad Nacional de La Plat

A surge of light at the birth of a supernova

It is difficult to establish the properties of massive stars that explode as supernovae. The electromagnetic emission during the first minutes to hours after the emergence of the shock from the stellar surface conveys important information about the final evolution and structure of the exploding star. However, the unpredictable nature of supernova events hinders the detection of this brief initial phase. Here we report the serendipitous discovery of a newly born, normal type IIb supernova (SN 2016gkg), which reveals a rapid brightening at optical wavelengths of about 40 magnitudes per day. The very frequent sampling of the observations allowed us to study in detail the outermost structure of the progenitor of the supernova and the physics of the emergence of the shock. We develop hydrodynamical models of the explosion that naturally account for the complete evolution of the supernova over distinct phases regulated by different physical processes. This result suggests that it is appropriate to decouple the treatment of the shock propagation from the unknown mechanism that triggers the explosion.Instituto de Astrofísica de La PlataInstituto Argentino de RadioastronomíaFacultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

A surge of light at the birth of a supernova

It is difficult to establish the properties of massive stars that explode as supernovae. The electromagnetic emission during the first minutes to hours after the emergence of the shock from the stellar surface conveys important information about the final evolution and structure of the exploding star. However, the unpredictable nature of supernova events hinders the detection of this brief initial phase. Here we report the serendipitous discovery of a newly born, normal type IIb supernova (SN 2016gkg), which reveals a rapid brightening at optical wavelengths of about 40 magnitudes per day. The very frequent sampling of the observations allowed us to study in detail the outermost structure of the progenitor of the supernova and the physics of the emergence of the shock. We develop hydrodynamical models of the explosion that naturally account for the complete evolution of the supernova over distinct phases regulated by different physical processes. This result suggests that it is appropriate to decouple the treatment of the shock propagation from the unknown mechanism that triggers the explosion.Instituto de Astrofísica de La PlataInstituto Argentino de RadioastronomíaFacultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísica

Metal-THINGS: On the metallicity and ionization of ULX sources in NGC 925

We present an analysis of the optical properties of three Ultra Luminous X-ray (ULX) sources identified in NGC 925. We use Integral field unit data from the George Mitchel spectrograph in the context of the Metal-THINGS survey. The optical properties for ULX-1 and ULX-3 are presented, while the spaxel associated with ULX-2 had a low S/N, which prevented its analysis. We also report the kinematics and dimensions of the optical nebula associated with each ULX using ancillary data from the PUMA Fabry-Perot spectrograph. A BPT analysis demonstrates that most spaxels in NGC 925 are dominated by star-forming regions, including those associated with ULX-1 and ULX-3. Using the resolved gas-phase metallicities, a negative metallicity gradient is found, consistent with previous results for spiral galaxies, while the ionization parameter tends to increase radially throughout the galaxy. Interestingly, ULX-1 shows a very low gas metallicity for its galactocentric distance, identified by two independent methods, while exhibiting a typical ionization. We find that such low gas metallicity is best explained in the context of the high-mass X-ray binary population, where the low-metallicity environment favours active Roche lobe overflows that can drive much higher accretion rates. An alternative scenario invoking accretion of a low-mass galaxy is not supported by the data in this region. Finally, ULX-3 shows both a high metallicity and ionization parameter, which is consistent with the progenitor being a highly-accreting neutron star within an evolved stellar population region.Comment: Accepted by Ap

Efecto prebiótico de dos fuentes de inulina en el crecimiento in vitro de Lactobacillus salivarius y Enterococcus faecium

Diarrhea in livestock species is controlled with antibiotics, but its inadequate use causes bacterial resistance. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in the intestinal microbiota have competitive exclusion against pathogens causing diarrhea, and inulin is a substrate for LAB. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the prebiotic effect of two inulin sources on in vitro growth of Lactobacillus salivarius (Ls) and Enterococcus faecium (Ef), with the use of Lactobacillus casei (Lc) as a positive control. In vitro incubations were performed at 37 °C, with glucose substitution by inulin of chicory (IAc) or agave (IAg) in MRS medium. The treatments (T) evaluated were T1: MRS-glucose+Lc; T2: MRS-IAc+Ls, T4: MRS-IAc+Ef, T5: MRS-IAg+Lc, T6: MRS-IAg+Ls and T7: MRS-IAg+Ef. The curve and the growth rate were determined by optical density (630 nm) at 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 30, 36, 48, 54 and 60 h. A completely randomized design was used and the Tukey test for means comparison. MRS-IAg treatments showed higher (P<0.05) growth rates (0.51a, 0.50a and 0.50a h-1, T5, T6 and T7, respectively) and were similar to the positive control (T2) when grown in MRS- IAc (0.48a h-1). The positive control (T1) had a low growth rate (0.34b h-1) when the medium included glucose (MRS-glucose). pH during growth was different between treatments (P<0.05). Agave inulin favors the growth of probiotic bacteria such as Lactobacillus salivarius and Enterococcus faecium, and its prebiotic effect is better than chicory inulin.Las diarreas en especies pecuarias son controladas con antibióticos, pero su uso inadecuado causa problemas de resistencia bacteriana. Las bacterias ácido lácticas (BAL) en la microbiota intestinal ejercen exclusión competitiva contra patógenos causantes de diarreas, y la inulina es un sustrato para las BAL. Por lo tanto, el objetivo de este estudio fue determinar el efecto prebiótico de dos fuentes de inulina en el crecimiento in vitro de Lactobacillus salivarius (Ls) y Enterococcus faecium (Ef), con el uso de Lactobacillus casei (Lc) como control positivo. Las incubaciones in vitro se realizaron a 37 °C, con sustitución de glucosa por inulina de achicoria (IAc) o de agave (IAg) en el medio MRS. Los tratamientos (T) evaluados fueron T1: MRS-glucosa+Lc; T2: MRS-IAc+Lc, T3: MRS-IAc+Ls, T4: MRS-IAc+Ef, T5: MRS-IAg+Lc, T6: MRS-IAg+Ls y T7: MRS-IAg+Ef. La curva y la tasa de crecimiento se determinaron mediante densidad óptica (630 nm) a las 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 30, 36, 48, 54 y 60 h. El diseño experimental fue completamente al azar, los datos se analizaron con PROC GLM (SAS) y la comparación de medias se realizó mediante la prueba de Tukey. Los tratamientos con MRS-IAg mostraron mayores (P<0.05) tasas de crecimiento (0.51a, 0.50a y 0.50a h-1, T5, T6 y T7, respectivamente) y resultaron similares al control positivo (T2) cuando creció en MRS-IAc (0.48a h-1). El pH durante el crecimiento fue diferente entre tratamientos (P<0.05). La inulina de agave favorece el crecimiento de bacterias probióticas como Lactobacillus salivarius y Enterococcus faecium, y su efecto prebiótico supera a la inulina de achicoria

KIR+ CD8+ T Lymphocytes in Cancer Immunosurveillance and Patient Survival: Gene Expression Profiling

Killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) are molecules expressed by the most important cells of the immune system for cancer immune vigilance, natural killer (NK) and effector T cells. In this manuscript we study the role that cytotoxic CD8+ T cells expressing KIR receptors could play in cancer immune surveillance. With this objective, frequencies of different KIR+ CD8+ T cell subsets are correlated with the overall survival of patients with melanoma, ovarian and bladder carcinomas. In addition, the gene expression profile of KIR+ CD8+ T cell subsets related to the survival of patients is studied with the aim of discovering new therapeutic targets, so that the outcome of patients with cancer can be improved. Killer-cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) are expressed by natural killer (NK) and effector T cells. Although KIR+ T cells accumulate in oncologic patients, their role in cancer immune response remains elusive. This study explored the role of KIR+CD8+ T cells in cancer immunosurveillance by analyzing their frequency at diagnosis in the blood of 249 patients (80 melanomas, 80 bladder cancers, and 89 ovarian cancers), their relationship with overall survival (OS) of patients, and their gene expression profiles. KIR2DL1+ CD8+ T cells expanded in the presence of HLA-C2-ligands in patients who survived, but it did not in patients who died. In contrast, presence of HLA-C1-ligands was associated with dose-dependent expansions of KIR2DL2/S2+ CD8+ T cells and with shorter OS. KIR interactions with their specific ligands profoundly impacted CD8+ T cell expression profiles, involving multiple signaling pathways, effector functions, the secretome, and consequently, the cellular microenvironment, which could impact their cancer immunosurveillance capacities. KIR2DL1/S1+ CD8+ T cells showed a gene expression signature related to efficient tumor immunosurveillance, whereas KIR2DL2/L3/S2+CD8+ T cells showed transcriptomic profiles related to suppressive anti-tumor responses. These results could be the basis for the discovery of new therapeutic targets so that the outcome of patients with cancer can be improved