Microbial electrolysis cell accelerates phosphate remobilisation from iron phosphate contained in sewage sludge

Phosphate was remobilised from iron phosphate contained in digested sewage sludge using a bio-electric cell. A significant acceleration above former results was caused by strongly basic catholytes. For these experiments a dual chambered microbial electrolysis cell with a small cathode (40 mL) and an 80 times larger anode (2.5 L) was equipped with a platinum sputtered reticulated vitreous carbon cathode. Various applied voltages (0.2–6.0 V) generated moderate to strongly basic catholytes using artificial waste water with pH close to neutral. Phosphate from iron phosphate contained in digested sewage sludge was remobilised most effectively at pH ∼13 with up to 95% yield. Beside minor electrochemical reduction, hydroxyl substitution was the dominating remobilisation mechanism. Particle–fluid kinetics using the “shrinking core” model allowed us to determine the reaction controlling step. Reaction rates changed with temperature (15–40 °C) and an activation energy of Ea = 55 kJ mol−1 was found. These analyses indicated chemical and physical reaction control, which is of interest for future scale-up work. Phosphate remobilisation rates increased significantly, yields doubled and recovered PO43− concentrations increased four times using a task specific bio-electric system. The result is a sustainable process for decentralized phosphate mining and a green chemical base generator useful also for many other sustainable processing needs

Scale-up of phosphate remobilization from sewage sludge in a microbial fuel cell

Phosphate remobilization from digested sewage sludge containing iron phosphate was scaled-up in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). A 3 litre triple chambered MFC was constructed. This reactor was operated as a microbial fuel cell and later as a microbial electrolysis cell to accelerate cathodic phosphate remobilization. Applying an additional voltage and exceeding native MFC power accelerated chemical base formation and the related phosphate remobilization rate. The electrolysis approach was extended using a platinum-RVC cathode. The pH rose to 12.6 and phosphate was recovered by 67% in 26 h. This was significantly faster than using microbial fuel cell conditions. Shrinking core modelling particle fluid kinetics showed that the reaction resistance has to move inside the sewage sludge particle for considerable rate enhancement. Remobilized phosphate was subsequently precipitated as struvite and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry indicated low levels of cadmium, lead, and other metals as required by law for recycling fertilizers

Représenter la corruption à l'âge baroque (1580-1660)

Réunissant critiques littéraires, philosophes et historiens de la culture, ce volume aborde l’expression de la corruption dans l’intervalle qui s’étend de la diffusion du post-tridentisme à l’avènement de l’absolutisme en France (1580-1660). L’enquête est guidée par la remarquable efflorescence sémantique et stylistique que cette notion a connue dans un nombre considérable d’imprimés: pamphlets hostiles au roi, satires, ouvrages de controverse confessionnelle, hagiographies et martyrologes, poésie spirituelle, littérature sermonnaire, histoires tragiques, natures mortes et vanités, écrits libertins, traités médicaux… autant de productions textuelles ou iconographiques destinées à rappeler à l’individu sa nature vandalisée par le péché originel ou, du moins, l’inéluctable altération physique qui l’accaparera

A novel non-integrative single-cycle chimeric HIV lentivector DNA vaccine

International audienceNovel HIV vaccine vectors and strategies are needed to control HIV/AIDS epidemic in humans and eradicate the infection. DNA vaccines alone failed to induce immune responses robust enough to control HIV-1. Development of lentivirus-based DNA vaccines deficient for integration and with a limited replication capacity is an innovative and promising approach. This type of vaccine mimics the early stages of virus infection/replication like the live-attenuated viruses but lacks the inconvenient integration and persistence associated with disease. We developed a novel lentivector DNA vaccine "CAL-SHIV-IN-" that undergoes a single round of replication in the absence of integration resulting in augmented expression of vaccine antigens in vivo. Vaccine gene expression is under control of the LTRs of a naturally attenuated lentivirus, Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) the natural goat lentivirus. The safety of this vaccine prototype was increased by the removal of the integrase coding sequences from the pal gene. We examined the functional properties of this lentivector DNA in cell culture and the immunogenicity in mouse models. Viral proteins were expressed in transfected cells, assembled into viral particles that were able to transduce once target permissive cells. Unlike the parental replication-competent SHIV-KU2 that was detected in DNA samples from any of the serial passage infected cells, CAL-SHIV-IN- DNA was detected only in target cells of the first round of infection, hence demonstrating the single cycle replication of the vaccine. A single dose DNA immunization of humanized NOD/SCID/beta 2 mice showed a substantial increase of IFN-gamma-ELISPOT in splenocytes compared to the former replication and integration defective Delta 4SHIV-KU2 DNA vaccine. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Mirror extreme BMI phenotypes associated with gene dosage at the chromosome 16p11.2 locus

Both obesity and being underweight have been associated with increased mortality. Underweight, defined as a body mass index (BMI) ≤ 18.5 kg per m(2) in adults and ≤ -2 standard deviations from the mean in children, is the main sign of a series of heterogeneous clinical conditions including failure to thrive, feeding and eating disorder and/or anorexia nervosa. In contrast to obesity, few genetic variants underlying these clinical conditions have been reported. We previously showed that hemizygosity of a ∼600-kilobase (kb) region on the short arm of chromosome 16 causes a highly penetrant form of obesity that is often associated with hyperphagia and intellectual disabilities. Here we show that the corresponding reciprocal duplication is associated with being underweight. We identified 138 duplication carriers (including 132 novel cases and 108 unrelated carriers) from individuals clinically referred for developmental or intellectual disabilities (DD/ID) or psychiatric disorders, or recruited from population-based cohorts. These carriers show significantly reduced postnatal weight and BMI. Half of the boys younger than five years are underweight with a probable diagnosis of failure to thrive, whereas adult duplication carriers have an 8.3-fold increased risk of being clinically underweight. We observe a trend towards increased severity in males, as well as a depletion of male carriers among non-medically ascertained cases. These features are associated with an unusually high frequency of selective and restrictive eating behaviours and a significant reduction in head circumference. Each of the observed phenotypes is the converse of one reported in carriers of deletions at this locus. The phenotypes correlate with changes in transcript levels for genes mapping within the duplication but not in flanking regions. The reciprocal impact of these 16p11.2 copy-number variants indicates that severe obesity and being underweight could have mirror aetiologies, possibly through contrasting effects on energy balance