Secondary treated domestic wastewater in reverse electrodialysis : what is the best pre-treatment?

Although Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) is most commonly known as a selective separation technology used for the production of sustainable energy, it can also serve as a valuable pre-desalination tool. By coupling RED to Reverse Osmosis (RO) for seawater desalination: (1) sustainable energy is produced in the RED process and (2) seawater is partially desalinated prior to RO thus, decreasing the energy demand. In this study, secondary-treated wastewater is proposed as the low salinity source in RED and suitable pre-treatment techniques for this effluent are investigated. Although it is generally accepted that RED is less prone to fouling than typical pressure driven membrane processes, results showed that pre-treatment is a key to ensure efficient operation of the wastewater-seawater RED. Both 100 mu m filtration and rapid sand filtration proved to be suitable, with an increase in pressure drop of only 0.09-0.18 bar and a permselectivity decrease of only approximately 20% during 40 days of continuous operation. Conversely, River bank filtration did not perform better than the non-pretreated sample. As such, 100 mu m filtration and rapid sand filtration are considered suitable, robust, and cost efficient pre-treatment options for wastewater fed RED, enabling the improvement of the hybrid process of RED-RO seawater desalination

A five-stage treatment train for water recovery from urine and shower water for long-term human Space missions

Long-term human Space missions will rely on regenerative life support as resupply of water, oxygen and food comes with constraints. The International Space Station (ISS) relies on an evaporation/condensation system to recover 74-85% of the water in urine, yet suffers from repetitive scaling and biofouling while employing hazardous chemicals. In this study, an alternative non-sanitary five-stage treatment train for one "astronaut" was integrated through a sophisticated monitoring and control system. This so-called Water Treatment Unit Breadboard (WTUB) successfully treated urine (1.2-L-d with crystallisation, COD-removal, ammonification, nitrification and electrodialysis, before it was mixed with shower water (3.4-L-d(-1)). Subsequently, ceramic nanofiltration and single-pass flat-sheet RO were used. A four-months proof-of-concept period yielded: (i) chemical water quality meeting the hygienic standards of the European Space Agency, (ii) a 87- +/- -5% permeate recovery with an estimated theoretical primary energy requirement of 0.2-kWh p -L-1, (iii) reduced scaling potential without anti-scalant addition and (iv) and a significant biological reduction in biofouling potential resulted in stable but biofouling-limited RO permeability of 0.5 L-m(-2)-h(-1)-bar(-1). Estimated mass breakeven dates and a comparison with the ISS Water Recovery System for a hypothetical Mars transit mission show that WTUB is a promising biological membrane-based alternative to heat-based systems for manned Space missions

COGNITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE

In this report an overview is given of the contribution of cognitive approaches to behavioral medicine. The (possible) contribution of cognitive therapy is reviewed in the area of coronary heart disease, obesity, bulimia nervosa, chronic pain, benign headache, cancer, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome/human immunodeficiency virus and asthma. Although the relative contribution of cognitive therapy varies across these various disorders, its positive effects are now well established and new advances undoubtedly will be made in the next few years

COGNITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE

In this report an overview is given of the contribution of cognitive approaches to behavioral medicine. The (possible) contribution of cognitive therapy is reviewed in the area of coronary heart disease, obesity, bulimia nervosa, chronic pain, benign headache, cancer, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome/human immunodeficiency virus and asthma. Although the relative contribution of cognitive therapy varies across these various disorders, its positive effects are now well established and new advances undoubtedly will be made in the next few years

THE SENSITIVITY TO CHANGE OF MEASURES FOR OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER

This study presents data on the sensitivity to change of the Padua Inventory-Revised (PI-R), the Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), and the Anxiety Discomfort Scale (ADS) for obsessive-compulsive disorder. In a sample of obsessive-compulsives (n = 63) who received either behaviour therapy, cognitive therapy, or a combination of fluvoxamine and cognitive therapy or behaviour therapy, evidence was found for the sensitivity of these three measures. However, low correlations were found at pretreatment, and only moderate correlations on percentage difference score. These findings indicate that different measures assess relatively different features of the OCD. All three measures demonstrated highly significant treatment effects and large effect sizes. Although the PI-R, the Y-BOCS, and the ADS showed clinically significant changes, there was only a small overlap (57%) on this index. The ADS is the most sensitive treatment outcome measure. It is recommended to use all three measures in outcome studies of OCD

Drugs - a study in post-primary schools situated outside Dublin 1981.

The article reports on a survey of a random sample of pupils attending post-primary schools outside Dublin city and county. The survey of 5,408 students from 16 schools was conducted between September and December 1981. Information on the availability, use and knowledge of illicit drugs was gathered by means of self administered questionnaires. Some of the survey results were compared with those from a study of Irish rural post-primary school-children dating from 1970/71, and another carried out among Dublin post-primary school-children in 1981. A three- to eight-fold increase in the numbers of respondents who said they had taken a drug was found when the results were compared to the 1970/71 survey, and these students occurred with one-third to one-half the frequency to the Dublin 1980/81 survey. The authors suggested that their findings exposed the need to improve the drugs education available in schools