Anticardiolipin, anti-ß(2)-glycoprotein I and antiprothrombin antibodies in black South African patients with infectious disease

Objectives: To investigate IgG, IgM, and IgA, antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL), against cardiolipin (aCL), ß(2)-glycoprotein I (anti-ß(2)GPI), and prothrombin (anti-PT), in black South African patients with infectious disease. Unlike patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), raised levels of aPL in infectious diseases are not usually associated with thrombotic complications. Patients and methods: Serum samples from 272 patients with a variety of infectious diseases (100 HIV positive, 112 leprosy, 25 syphilis, 25 malaria, and 10 HCV patients) were studied and compared with autoantibody levels in 100 normal controls. All three aPL were measured using commercial enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. Results: Raised levels of all thee aPL were found in all patient groups studied: aCL in 7%, anti-ß(2)GPI in 6%, and aPT in 43% of 100 HIV patients, in 29%, 89%, and 21% of 112 patients with leprosy, in 8%, 8%, and 28% of 25 patients with syphilis, in 12%, 8%, and 28% of 25 patients with malaria, and in 20%, 30%, and 30% of 10 HCV patients studied, respectively. Conclusions: The prevalence of aCL and anti-ß(2)GPI in black South African HIV positive patients, or those with syphilis, malaria, or hepatitis C virus is lower than reported for mixed race or white populations. aPT were the most prevalent aPL detected in these patient groups, except in patients with leprosy, for whom anti-ß(2)GPI was the most prevalent, and where the spectrum of aPL was similar to that seen in patients with SLE and APS

Energy efficient treatment of A-stage effluent : pilot-scale experiences with shortcut nitrogen removal

Energy autarky of sewage treatment plants, while reaching chemical oxygen demand (COD) and N discharge limits, can be achieved by means of shortcut N-removal. This study presents the results of a shortcut N-removal pilot, located at the biological two-'stage (high/low rate) wastewater treatment plant of Breda, The Netherlands. The pilot treated real effluent of a high-rate activated sludge (COD/N=3), fed in a continuous mode at realistic loading rates (90-100 g N/(m(3).d)). The operational strategy, which included increased stress on the sludge settling velocity, showed development of a semi-granular sludge, with average particle size of 280 mu m (empty set(4,3)), resulting in increased suppression of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria. The process was able to remove part of the nitrogen (51 +/- 23%) over nitrite, with COD/N removal ratios of 3.2 +/- 0.9. The latter are lower than the current operation of the full-scale B-stage in Breda (6.8-9.4), showing promising results for carbon-efficient N-removal, while producing a well settling sludge (SVI30 < 100 mL/g)