Performance of anaerobic-aerobic packed-bed reactor in the treatment of domestic sewage

Este artigo relata a avaliação do desempenho de um reator anaeróbio-aeróbio, preenchido com espuma de poliuretano, para tratamento de esgoto sanitário. Inicialmente, foram testados diferentes tempos de detenção hidráulica (TDH) no reator que operou apenas em condições anaeróbias. Em seguida, foi operado o reator combinado anaeróbio-aeróbio. O melhor resultado para o reator em operação exclusivamente anaeróbia foi para o TDH de 10 horas, no qual se conseguiu reduzir a DQO de 389 ± 70 mg/L para 137 ± 16 mg/L. Para o reator anaeróbio-aeróbio, a DQO foi reduzida de 259 ± 69 mg/L para 93 ± 31 mg/L para TDH de 12 h (6 h no estágio anaeróbio e 6 h no aeróbio). A comparação de todos os resultados obtidos evidenciou a importância do pós-tratamento aeróbio na remoção de parcela de matéria orgânica não removida em tratamento unicamente anaeróbio.This paper reports on the performance evaluation of an upflow anaerobic-aerobic reactor, filled with polyurethane matrices, for domestic sewage treatment. Initially, different hydraulic retention times were assayed with the reactor operating exclusively in anaerobic condition. Afterwards, anaerobic-aerobic combined reactor was operated. The anaerobic operation with HRT of 10 h provided the best organic matter removal with COD reduction from 389 ± 70 mg/L to 137 ± 16 mg/L. Under anaerobic-aerobic condition, the COD dropped from 259 ± 69 mg/L to 93 ± 31 mg/L with HRT of 12 h (6 h in anaerobic and 6 h in aerobic stages). Finally, comparing all the obtained results, it was possible to verify the importance of the aerobic post treatment in the removal of part of the organic matter not removed in an exclusively anaerobic treatment

Inovação e rendibilidade: o caso das empresas do setor têxtil português

Mestrado em Finanças EmpresariaisEste estudo tem como principal objetivo analisar o contributo da inovação para a rendibilidade empresarial. A revisão da literatura permite identificar um conjunto de atributos que condicionam a rendibilidade (inovação, globalização, vantagens/estratégias competitivas, parcerias/alianças, formação de clusters, empreendedorismo e internacionalização, entre outros), centrando-se este estudo na inovação. A inovação constitui-se o elemento-chave para a melhoria de desempenho das empresas, na medida em que permite agregar valor aos produtos, diferenciá-los dos restantes e aceder a novos conhecimentos e mercados, permite, melhorar os processos, diferenciar os produtos/serviços face aos concorrentes, constituindo-se, deste modo, num fator dinamizador da rendibilidade empresarial. A realização do presente estudo sugere que as empresas inovadoras apresentam maior rendibilidade. Constatou-se também que quanto maior é a dimensão da empresa e a relevância dos mercados externos no seu volume de negócios, maior é a propensão para inovar.Abstract: The main objective of this study's is to analyze the contribution of innovation to corporate profitability. The revision of literature identifies a set of attributes that affect profitability (innovation, globalization, advantages/competitive strategies, partnerships/alliances, clustering, entrepreneurship and internationalization, among others), this study is focused on innovation The innovation constitutes the key element to improving corporate performance, as it allows adding value to products, distinguishing them from the others and access new markets and knowledge, allows, improve processes, differentiate products / services from their competitors, becoming thus a factor to foster corporate profitability. The completion of this study suggests that innovative firms have higher profitability. It was also found that the greater the size of the company and the importance of foreign markets in its turnover, the greater the propensity to innovate

Characterization of immobilized biomass by amplified rDNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) in an anaerobic sequencing-batch biofilm reactor (ASBBR) for the treatment of industrial wastewater

The performance of an anaerobic sequencing-batch biofilm reactor (ASBBR- laboratory scale- 14L )containing biomass immobilized on coal was evaluated for the removal of elevated concentrations of sulfate (between 200 and 3,000 mg SO4-2·L-1) from industrial wastewater effluents. The ASBBR was shown to be efficient for removal of organic material (between 90% and 45%) and sulfate (between 95% and 85%). The microbiota adhering to the support medium was analyzed by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA). The ARDRA profiles for the Bacteria and Archaea domains proved to be sensitive for the determination of microbial diversity and were consistent with the physical-chemical monitoring analysis of the reactor. At 3,000 mg SO4-2·L-1, there was a reduction in the microbial diversity of both domains and also in the removal efficiencies of organic material and sulfate

GERENCIAMENTO DE SOLUÇÃO DE FORMOL EM LABORATÓRIOS DE ANATOMIA

O formaldeído é de grande importância na fixação de tecidos para aulas de anatomia, patologia eestudos tanatológicos. A solução mais utilizada para a conservação de cadáveres e peças constituisede formol em água de torneira, diluído de 8 a 10%. Devido às suas características tóxicas aos seresvivos e ao meio ambiente em geral, é necessário que seja realizado seu gerenciamento. Aplicandoseas três metas básicas da gestão de resíduos, “redução, reutilização e reciclagem”, pode-sealcançar uma otimização do emprego de formaldeído. A redução pode ser conseguida pelo controlede qualidade da solução ou de possível redistribuição de peças nos tanques. A reutilização e areciclagem, práticas pouco difundidas, seriam possíveis com a recuperação de solução de escoamento,com posterior filtração, clarificação, análise para determinação de formaldeído e ajuste daconcentração. As soluções consideradas inservíveis podem ser tratadas em sistema local, por meiode reator anaeróbio horizontal de leito fixo (RAHLF), que demonstrou eficiência de até 99% nadegradação de formaldeído. Portanto, algumas atitudes simples e de custo relativamente baixo podemtrazer economia de recursos financeiros, além de grandes contribuições para o meio ambiente.Formaldehyde is of great importance for the fixation of cadavers for anatomy classes, pathology and tanatology studies. The most common solution used for the conservation of corpses and pieces is constituted of formol in tap water, diluted by 8 to 10%. Due to their poisonous characteristics to the alive beings and the environment in general, it is necessary that its management is accomplished. Applying the three basic goals of the management of residues, “reduction, reuse and recycling”, it can be reached an optimization of the formaldehyde utilization. The reduction can be gotten through the quality control of the solution or with a redistribution of pieces in the tanks, when possible. The reuse and the recycling, little spread practices, would be possible with the recovery of drainage solution, with subsequent filtration, clarification, analysis for formaldehyde determination and adjustment of the concentration. The solutions considered useless can be treated in local system, through horizon- tal anaerobic reactor of fixed bed, which demonstrated efficiency of up to 99% in the formaldehyde degradation. Therefore, some simple attitudes, with relatively low cost, can bring economy of financial resources, besides great contributions for the environment

Development and validation of a HPLC method for the determination of aldicarb, aldicarb sulfoxide and aldicarb sulfone in liquid samples from anaerobic reactors

This study describes the development and validation of a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for detecting aldicarb and its residues in liquid samples without pretreatment. The HPLC system was equipped with a C-18 column and the mobile phase was composed of a mixture of water and acetonitrile using a linear gradient elution. The UV detector was utilized at 210 nm. Methomyl was used as an internal standard. Water and synthetic medium were used as solvents. The method was linear from 0.49-15.0 mg L-1 (r² > 0.9985), 0.1-5.0 mg L-1 (r² > 0.9974) and 0.1-5.0 mg L-1 (r² > 0.9987) for aldicarb, aldicarb sulfoxide and aldicarb sulfone, respectively. The linearity of the method was confirmed by the ANOVA F-test through adjustment of the linear model, validity of the regression and efficiency of the regression tests. The limit of detection in water and synthetic medium were of 0.391/0.440 mg L-1, 0.069/0.192 mg L-1 and 0.033/0.068 mg L-1 for aldicarb, aldicarb sulfoxide and aldicarb sulfone, respectively. Total time of analysis was of 22 min. In the application of the method, the aldicarb degradation in horizontal-flow anaerobic immobilized biomass (HAIB) reactor was evaluated under different conditions (methanogenic, sulfidogenic and denitrifying).Este trabalho descreve o desenvolvimento e validação de um método de detecção de aldicarbe e seus metabólitos por cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência (HPLC) em amostras líquidas sem pré-tratamento. O sistema HPLC foi equipado com coluna C-18 e fase móvel composta de água e acetonitrila empregando gradiente de eluição linear. O detector UV foi operado em 210 nm. Metomil foi utilizado como padrão interno. Água e meio sintético foram utilizados como solventes. O método foi linear de 0,49-15,0 mg L-1 (r² > 0,9985), 0,1-5,0 mg L-1 (r² > 0,9974) e 0,1-5,0 mg L-1 (r² > 0,9987) para o aldicarbe, sulfóxido de aldicarbe e sulfona de aldicarbe, respectivamente. A linearidade do método foi confirmada pelo teste F (ANOVA) através dos testes de ajuste do modelo linear, validade da regressão e eficiência da regressão. Os limites de detecção na água e em meio sintético foram de 0,391/0,440 mg L-1, 0,069/0,192 mg L-1 e 0,033/0,068 mg L-1 para o aldicarbe, sulfóxido de aldicarbe e sulfona de aldicarbe, respectivamente. O tempo total de análise foi de 22 minutos. Na aplicação do método, avaliou-se a degradação do aldicarbe no reator anaeróbio horizontal de leito fixo (RAHLF) em diferentes condições operacionais (metanogênese, sulfetogênese e desnitrificação).Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

An optimized methodology for whole genome sequencing of RNA respiratory viruses from nasopharyngeal aspirates

Over the last decade, the number of viral genome sequences deposited in available databases has grown exponentially. However, sequencing methodology vary widely and many published works have relied on viral enrichment by viral culture or nucleic acid amplification with specific primers rather than through unbiased techniques such as metagenomics. The genome of RNA viruses is highly variable and these enrichment methodologies may be difficult to achieve or may bias the results. In order to obtain genomic sequences of human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) from positive nasopharyngeal aspirates diverse methodologies were evaluated and compared. A total of 29 nearly complete and complete viral genomes were obtained. The best performance was achieved with a DNase I treatment to the RNA directly extracted from the nasopharyngeal aspirate (NPA), sequence-independent single-primer amplification (SISPA) and library preparation performed with Nextera XT DNA Library Prep Kit with manual normalization. An average of 633,789 and 1,674,845 filtered reads per library were obtained with MiSeq and NextSeq 500 platforms, respectively. The higher output of NextSeq 500 was accompanied by the increasing of duplicated reads percentage generated during SISPA (from an average of 1.5% duplicated viral reads in MiSeq to an average of 74% in NextSeq 500). HRSV genome recovery was not affected by the presence or absence of duplicated reads but the computational demand during the analysis was increased. Considering that only samples with viral load E+06 copies/ml NPA were tested, no correlation between sample viral loads and number of total filtered reads was observed, nor with the mapped viral reads. The HRSV genomes showed a mean coverage of 98.46% with the best methodology. In addition, genomes of human metapneumovirus (HMPV), human rhinovirus (HRV) and human parainfluenza virus types 1–3 (HPIV1-3) were also obtained with the selected optimal methodology.Fil: Goya, Stephanie. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Valinotto, Laura Elena. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Tittarelli, Estefanía. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Rojo, Gabriel Lihue. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; ArgentinaFil: Nabaes Jodar, Mercedes Soledad. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Greninger, Alexander L.. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Zaiat, Jonathan Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Marti, Marcelo Adrian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Mistchenko, Alicia Susana. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Viegas, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital General de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez"; Argentin

Acidogenesis is a key step in the anaerobic biotransformation of organic micropollutants

Understanding the role of the different anaerobic digestion stages on the removal of organic micropollutants (OMPs) is essential to mitigate their release from wastewater treatment plants. This study assessed the fate of 21 OMPs during hydrolysis and acidogenesis to elucidate the contribution of these stages to the overall anaerobic removal. Moreover, the removal mechanisms and factors influencing them were investigated. To this purpose, a fermentation reactor was operated and fed with two different substrates: starch (to jointly evaluate hydrolysis and acidogenesis) and glucose (to isolate acidogenesis). Results indicate that sulfamethoxazole was highly biotransformed (>80 %), while galaxolide, celestolide, tonalide, erythromycin, roxithromycin, trimethoprim, octylphenol and nonylphenol achieved a 50–80 % biotransformation. Since no significant differences in the biotransformation efficiencies were found between starch and glucose fermentation, it is stated that the enzymatic activities involved in starch hydrolysis do not significantly contribute to the cometabolic biotransformation of OMPs, while acidogenesis appears as the major player. Moreover, a higher biotransformation (≥15 percentage points and p ≤ 0.05) was found for galaxolide, celestolide, tonalide, erythromycin and roxithromycin during acidogenesis in comparison with the efficiencies reported for the acetogenic/methanogenic step. The biotransformation of some OMPs was explained considering their chemical structure and the enzymatic activitiesThis work was funded by São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), process n° 2017/13066-0 and the Spanish Government (AEI) through COMETT Project (CTQ2016-80847-R). Authors from Universidade de Santiago de Compostela belong to CRETUS Strategic Partnership (ED431E 2018/01) and to Galicia Competitive Research Group (GRC ED431C 2017/29), programs co-funded by FEDER (EU)S

Rational basis for designing Horizontal-Flow Anaerobic Immobilized Sludge (HAIS) reactor for wastewater treatment

The conception and development on a rational basis of a new configuration of anaerobic fixed-bed bioreactor for wastewater treatment, the horizontal-flow anaerobic immobilized sludge (HAIS) reactor, is presented. Such a reactor containing immobilized sludge in polyurethane foam matrices was first assayed for treating paper industry wastewater. A very short start-up period was observed and the reactor achieved stable operation by the eighth day. Afterwards, fundamental aspects of the process were investigated in order to obtain a rational basis for HAIS reactor design. A sequence of experiments was carried out for evaluating the cell wash-out from polyurethane foam matrices, the liquid-phase mass transfer coefficient and the intrinsic kinetic parameters, besides the hydrodynamic flow pattern of the reactor. The knowledge of such fundamental phenomena is useful for improving the reactor s design and operation. Besides, these fundamental studies are essential to provide parameters for simulation and optimization of processes that make use of immobilized biomass. Keywords: HAIS reactor, mass transfer, kinetic, hydrodynamic, design