Disinfection of Ebola Virus in Sterilized Municipal Wastewater

Concerns have been raised regarding handling of Ebola virus contaminated wastewater, as well as the adequacy of proposed disinfection approaches. In the current study, we investigate the inactivation of Ebola virus in sterilized domestic wastewater utilizing sodium hypochlorite addition and pH adjustment. No viral inactivation was observed in the one-hour tests without sodium hypochlorite addition or pH adjustment. No virus was recovered after 20 seconds (i.e. 4.2 log10 unit inactivation to detection limit) following the addition of 5 and 10 mg L-1 sodium hypochlorite, which resulted in immediate free chlorine residuals of 0.52 and 1.11 mg L-1, respectively. The addition of 1 mg L-1 sodium hypochlorite resulted in an immediate free chlorine residual of 0.16 mg L-1, which inactivated 3.5 log10 units of Ebola virus in 20 seconds. Further inactivation was not evident due to the rapid consumption of the chlorine residual. Elevating the pH to 11.2 was found to significantly increase viral decay over ambient conditions. These results indicate the high susceptibility of the enveloped Ebola virus to disinfection in the presence of free chlorine in municipal wastewater; however, we caution that extension to more complex matrices (e.g. bodily fluids) will require additional verification

Influence of community food environment on adult body mass index (BMI): a systematic review

To verify the association between community food environment and Body Mass Index (BMI) of adults. Systematic review conducted in EMBASE, PubMed, and Web of Science databases, considering the period from 2010 to 2022. Out of 10,407 articles, 24 observational studies were eligible according to the inclusion criteria. The methodological approaches were evaluated using STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) and OSQE (Observational Study Quality Evaluation). The protocol was registered at PROSPERO (number 42021260594). Most studies reported that BMI tends to increase with proximity to and a greater number of supermarkets, fast-food establishments, and convenience stores. The prevalence of adults with BMI greater than 25 kg/m2 was higher in locations with lower socioeconomic status. BMI was lower in more financially advantaged neighborhoods near grocery stores and fruit and vegetable markets. The selected studies indicate that a community food environment with higher availability of unhealthy foods is related to high BMI. The socioeconomic level can worsen this association, showing that people in social vulnerability have more difficulty accessing healthy food

Complicações cardiovasculares decorrentes do uso abusivo de esteroides anabolizantes: uma revisão

Este trabalho tem por objetivo examinar e evidenciar as principais complicações cardiovasculares sucedidas do uso abusivo de esteroides anabolizantes. Sendo o presente estudo uma revisão integrativa, realizado a partir da busca dos seguintes Descritores em Ciências da Saúde (DeCS): cardiovascular; anabolic; steroid. Destes, foram escolhidos apenas artigos publicados de 2021 a 2023, até a data de 24/10/2023, sendo selecionados 14 artigos, em que 5 foram excluídos e somente 9 foram examinados para a produção deste estudo. As complicações cardiovasculares associadas ao uso de esteroide anabolizantes são de grande relevância levando em consideração sua morbidade e mortalidade, uma vez que podem possuir desfechos graves como infarto agudo do miocárdio, acidente vascular cerebral isquêmico e eventos trombóticos. A partir do conhecimento destas informações, necessita-se de um apanhado dos principais estudos acerca desta temática para que seja feita a conscientização dos usuários e da população no geral além de auxiliar no diagnóstico diferencial das etiologias para as referidas complicações cardiovasculares.  &nbsp

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

Towards Rational and Sustainable Design of Graphitic Carbon Nitride for Antibacterial Applications

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is an emerging visible-light-responsive photocatalyst with desirable antimicrobial activity. Considering synthesis choices that lead to competitive performance and minimize environmental and human health impacts is critical for developing g-C3N4 as an effective and sustainable disinfection alternative. This dissertation demonstrates the ability to rationally design g-C3N4 by chemical composition manipulations during synthesis, enabling control of g-C3N4 photocatalytic antibacterial response. Further, a life cycle assessment (LCA) of g-C3N4 syntheses offers concrete opportunities for the reduction of synthesis related impacts. g-C3N4 properties that influence photocatalytic bacterial inactivation (i.e., band gap, intermediate defect states, dispersed surface area, absorbance in suspension, and charge separation) are compared across six samples modified using different synthesis temperature and carbon-doping. The effect of altering these material properties on the production of reactive oxygen species is investigated and linked to the ability to inactivate Escherichia coli bacteria. Results indicate that C-doping is an effective avenue to modulating g-C3N4 properties, and it induces variable levels of bacterial inactivation. C-doping is also successful in expanding g-C3N4 visible light range from 449 nm to 588 nm while maintaining a level of antibacterial activity. To evaluate the sustainability of g-C3N4, a LCA is completed for predominant synthesis routes, and their environmental impacts are benchmarked to a competitive photocatalyst alternative, titanium dioxide nanoparticles (nano-TiO2). Results reveal energy demand during synthesis as the major contributor to the environmental impacts, highlighting opportunities to reduce the impacts through several suggested synthesis process modifications. The sustainability claim of g-C3N4 is found to depend on the particular synthesis route and underlying assumptions of the comparison to nano-TiO2. Expanding the analysis of g-C3N4 to the use-stage shows benefits from activating g-C3N4 with visible wavelength light emitting diodes instead of ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths for nano-TiO2. Given g-C3N4 high embodied resource footprint, any mass of g-C3N4 used for disinfecting drinking water to viral load reduction standards results in greater impact than UV disinfection. Collectively, the research in this dissertation provides novel findings contributing to further development of g-C3N4 as a competitive sustainable antimicrobial, supporting rational design through synthesis modifications to control disinfection performance and reduce synthesis associated environmental impacts

Evaluation of Phi6 Persistence and Suitability as an Enveloped Virus Surrogate

Recent outbreaks involving enveloped viruses, such as Ebola virus, have raised questions regarding the persistence of enveloped viruses in the water environment. Efforts have been made to find enveloped virus surrogates due to challenges investigating viruses that require biosafety-level 3 or 4 handling. In this study, the enveloped bacteriophage Phi6 was evaluated as a surrogate for enveloped waterborne viruses. The persistence of Phi6 was tested in aqueous conditions chosen based on previously published viral persistence studies. Our results demonstrated that the predicted <i>T</i>₉₀ (time for 90% inactivation) of Phi6 under the 12 evaluated conditions varied from 24 min to 117 days depending on temperature, biological activity, and aqueous media composition. Phi6 persistence was then compared with persistence values from other enveloped viruses reported in the literature. The apparent suitability of Phi6 as an enveloped virus surrogate was dependent on the temperature and composition of the media tested. Of evaluated viruses, 33%, including all conditions considered, had <i>T</i>₉₀ values greater than the 95% confidence interval for Phi6. Ultimately, these results highlight the variability of enveloped virus persistence in the environment and the value of working with the virus of interest for environmental persistence studies

Disinfection of Ebola virus at 0 and 1 mg/L added chlorine.

<p>No virus was recovered from the 5 and 10 mg/L chlorine conditions at any time point. The limit of detection was 0.75 log TCID₅₀/mL. Error bars represent one standard deviation.</p

Composition of gamma irradiated wastewater.

<p>Values in brackets indicate 95% confidence interval.</p

Log viral removal versus estimated Ct.

<p>Viral removal for 5 and 10 mg L^-1 chlorine conditions shown at detection limit for demonstration purposes. Dashed line represents limit of detection. The limit of detection was 0.75 log TCID₅₀ mL^-1, resulting in a maximum observable log₁₀ TCID₅₀ removal of 4.18 TCID₅₀ mL^-1.</p

Ebola virus persistence in wastewater at neutral (6.9), acidic (4.3), and basic (11.2) pH.

<p>The limit of detection was 0.75 log TCID₅₀ mL^-1. Error bars represent one standard deviation.</p