Comparison of the effectiveness of chlorine, ozone, and photocatalytic disinfection in reducing the risk of antibiotic resistance pollution

Effectiveness of conventional chlorine and ozone disinfection on reduction of antibiotic resistance was compared with less commonly applied heterogeneous photocatalytic process. For this purpose plasmid DNA isolated from a multi-resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) HB101 was treated in two different concentrations with the three oxidation processes. Oxidative damage on the plasmid DNA was analyzed with gel electrophoresis by comparing the extent of conformational changes in the DNA structure. The effectiveness of the applied oxidant in reducing the risk of resistance transfer was also evaluated by comparing the ability of treated plasmid DNA to transform competent cells. Chlorine did not affect plasmid DNA structure at the studied doses, while ozone and photocatalytic treatment resulted in conformational changes and the damage increased with increasing oxidant doses. Transformation experiments confirmed a similar trend. Chlorine did not affect the transformability and the cell counts of competent cells transformed with chlorine treated plasmid DNA were similar to those transformed by non-treated plasmid DNA in the control experiments

A MSFD complementary approach for the assessment of pressures, knowledge and data gaps in Southern European Seas : the PERSEUS experience

PERSEUS project aims to identify the most relevant pressures exerted on the ecosystems of the Southern European Seas (SES), highlighting knowledge and data gaps that endanger the achievement of SES Good Environmental Status (GES) as mandated by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). A complementary approach has been adopted, by a meta-analysis of existing literature on pressure/impact/knowledge gaps summarized in tables related to the MSFD descriptors, discriminating open waters from coastal areas. A comparative assessment of the Initial Assessments (IAs) for five SES countries has been also independently performed. The comparison between meta-analysis results and IAs shows similarities for coastal areas only. Major knowledge gaps have been detected for the biodiversity, marine food web, marine litter and underwater noise descriptors. The meta-analysis also allowed the identification of additional research themes targeting research topics that are requested to the achievement of GES. 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license.peer-reviewe

Recovery of baker's yeast wastewater with membrane processes for agricultural irrigation purpose: Fouling characterization

Increasing water demands for both industrial and public uses as well as more restrictive laws make the industrial wastewater recovery necessary. In this study, it was aimed to propose membrane treatment process for recovery of biologically treated baker's yeast wastewater to the degree of agricultural irrigation water quality. In addition to water recovery, membrane fouling mechanism was investigated. Membrane selection was carried out using FM UP020, FM UP005, NF 270, NF 90 and Desal 5DL membranes. Desal 5DL membrane was selected as appropriate membrane for baker's yeast wastewater treatment according to relatively higher rejection performance, lower flux declines and lower increase in contact angle. The effects of pH, temperature, and transmembrane pressure (TMP) were investigated on Desal 5DL membrane fouling. In addition, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy measurements were used for fouling characterization. NF 90 membrane was determined as suitable membrane to increase the quality of composite permeates obtained from Desal 5DL membrane. As a conclusion, the treated baker's yeast wastewater by two-step nanofiltration (NF) process was classified as class B in terms of pH, biological oxygen demand (BOD5), suspended solids (SS) and fecal coliform parameters. II. Class irrigation water was achieved for degree of restriction on irrigation use. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Baker's yeast wastewater advanced treatment using ozonation and membrane process for irrigation reuse

This study focused on the advanced treatment of biologically treated baker's yeast wastewater for the purpose of irrigation reuse. The effects of pH (3, 7.5, 9, 11) and temperature (25 degrees C, 35 degrees C, 45 degrees C) on the removal efficiencies were investigated for ozonation process. Ozone utilization rates were determined at different pH and temperature levels. There were not significant changes in pollutant removal efficiencies at the temperature of 25 degrees C-45 degrees C for ozonation process. 96-98% color, 56% COD, 67% UV254, 10% conductivity, 33% chloride, and 29% total hardness removals were obtained with ozonation process at pH 7.5 and 25 degrees C. NF 90 and BW 30 membranes were used to improve the quality of treated wastewater. Relatively lower flux decline caused from membrane fouling (18%) was occurred for BW 30 membrane. Although higher permeate qualities were achieved with both membranes, the chloride and conductivity values as 35 mg/L and 530 mu s/cm were relatively lower for BW 30 permeate. As a result, the treated wastewater using ozonation and membrane process met the quality of class B regarding pH, biological oxygen demand (BOD5), suspended solids (SS) and fecal coliform parameters. Also, II. class irrigation water was obtained considering SAR parameter for degree of restriction on irrigation use. (C) 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Electrochemical treatment of carwash wastewater using Fe and Al electrode: Techno-economic analysis and sludge characterization

The present study was conducted to investigate the electrochemical treatment of carwash wastewater using electrocoagulation (EC) process with Fe and Al electrodes. The effects of operating conditions such as initial pH (2-10), current density (0.1-5 mA/cm(2)) and operating time (5-50 min) on chemical oxygen demand (COD), oil-grease, chloride removal efficiencies as well as total operating costs were studied. The optimum conditions that achieve higher removal efficiencies were found as pH: 8, current density: 3 mA/cm(2), operating time: 30 min for Fe electrode and pH: 6, current density: 1 mA/cm(2), operating time: 30 min for Al electrode. The removal efficiencies for COD, oil-grease and chloride were obtained as 88%, 90% and 50% for Fe and 88%, 68% and 33% for Al electrodes under the optimum conditions. The total operating costs at the optimum conditions were calculated as 0.6 $/m(3) and 03$/m(3) for Fe and Al electrodes, respectively. The sludge samples generated after EC process were characterized with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and zeta potential measurements for both electrodes. The analyses showed the presence of hydroxides and oxyhydroxides in the sludge samples and the surface of the sludge samples was negatively charged in the wide range of pH. As a conclusion, this study revealed that EC process using Fe electrode should be a feasible technology for higher COD and oil-grease removals from carwash wastewaters. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Chylothorax After Thoracoabdominal Aneurysm Repair: Efficacy of Somatostatin

WOS: 000287189000030PubMed ID: 20926242Chylothorax is a rare but serious complication that presents after thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm surgery. There are insufficient data to reach a consensus on how to manage it. Some researchers have suggested early reoperation for high output drainage. We present the case of a patient who underwent thoracoabdominal aortic replacement and who subsequently developed postoperative chylothorax. High output (> 1,000 mL per day) chest tube drainage until postoperative day 4 drastically decreased and stopped in a week with the administration of somatostatin and total parenteral nutrition which helped avoid a major re-exploration. Surgery should be reserved as an option only for patients with persistent leaks that do not respond to somatostatin therapy

A background infusion of morphine enhances patient-controlled analgesia after cardiac surgery

PubMedID: 15310642Purpose: We compared the efficacy of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA), with or without a background infusion of morphine, on postoperative pain relief in patients extubated in the operating room after-coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. Methods: With Faculty Ethics approval, 60 consenting adults undergoing elective coronary artery surgery were randomly assigned to receive either morphine PCA alone (group PCA-A, n = 30) or morphine PCA plus a background infusion (group PCA-B, n = 30) for 24 hr postoperatively. Pain scores with verbal rating scale (VRS; from 0 to 10) at rest, sedation scores, morphine consumption and delivery/demand ratios were assessed at zero, one, two, four, six, 12 and 24 hr after surgery. Hemodynamic variables and arterial blood gases were also recorded in the same periods. Results: Sedation scores in the two groups were similar. At all study periods after the first postoperative hour, VRS remained below 5 in both groups. Pain scores were significantly lower in the background infusion group, which also had greater cumulative morphine consumption (61.7 ± 10.9 mg vs 38.5 ± 16.2 mg). There were no episodes of hypoxemia or hypertension. Conclusion: Morphine PCA effectively controlled postoperative pain after cardiac surgery. The addition of a background infusion of morphine enhanced analgesia and increased morphine consumption