Ecological Engineering of Bioaugmentatlon from Side-stream Nitrification

Wastewater treatment relies on careful integration of environmental engineering with microbial ecology. This would seem to be particularly the case when attempting to enhance survivability of organisms introduced from outside the main-stream reactor, i.e. bioaugmentation. Molecular biology tools were utilised in this study to assist in understanding the mechanisms of successful bioaugmentation. Molecular fingerprinting showed that side-stream reactor configuration strongly influenced ammonia-oxidising bacteria (AOB) community structure. In both lab-scale and full-scale systems, AOB communities in the side-stream and main-stream were very similar. The experimental systems revealed that a PFR side-stream produced greater diversity of AOB than a CSTR side-stream in a PFR main-stream system, whereas the full-scale side-stream resulted in essentially an AOB monoculture. Phylogenetic analysis revealed less diversity than molecular fingerprinting perhaps due to biases in the cloning/transformation procedure

Identification of Naegleria Fowleri in Warm Ground Water Aquifers

The free-living amoeba Naegleria fowleri was identified as the etiological agent of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis that caused the deaths of two children in Peoria, Arizona, in autumn of 2002. It was suspected that the source of N. fowleri was the domestic water supply, which originates from ground water sources. In this study, ground water from the greater Phoenix Metropolitan area was tested for the presence of N. fowleri using a nested polymerase chain reaction approach. Phylogenetic analyses of 16S rRNA sequences of bacterial populations in the ground water were performed to examine the potential link between the presence of N. fowleri and bacterial groups inhabiting water wells. the results showed the presence of N. fowleri in five out of six wells sampled and in 26.6% of all ground water samples tested. Phylogenetic analyses showed that ß- and γ-proteobacteria were the dominant bacterial populations present in the ground water. Bacterial community analyses revealed a very diverse community structure in ground water samples testing positive for N. fowleri

Sustainable Development & the Year of the Nurse & Midwife -- 2020

The year 2020 marks the 200th anniversary of Florence Nightingale\u27s birth and the 100th of her death. The World Health Organization is marking the year by highlighting the contributions of nurses and midwives to healthcare systems around the world, designating it as the year of the nurse and midwife. In support of that endeavor, we have assembled a collection of global voices of nurses, midwives, and their interdisciplinary partners for an editorial series highlighting nurses and midwives contribution to achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The sustainable development goals are the next evolution of the Millennium Development Goals with one key difference: The sustainable development goals are for all countries, not just low- and middle-income ones. A collection of 17 global goals, the sustainable development goals are the first time humanity has come together to agree on key areas for promoting a better quality of life for all people, regardless of where they live, work, and play