First detection in Europe of the metallo-β-lactamase IMP-15 in clinical strains of Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

AbstractIn a prospective study (2009–2011) in healthcare institutions from the Canary Islands (Spain), 6 out of 298 carbapenem non-susceptible Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates produced a metallo-β-lactamase: four IMP-15, two VIM-2 (including one IMP-15-positive isolate) and one VIM-1. Multilocus sequence typing identified the single VIM-1-producing isolate as clone ST111 and two IMP-15-producing isolates as ST606, but, strikingly, bacterial re-identification revealed that the other three isolates (producing IMP-15 and/or VIM-2) were actually Pseudomonas putida. Further retrospective analysis revealed a very high prevalence (close to 50%) of carbapenem resistance in this environmental species. Hence, we report the simultaneous emergence in hospitals on the Canary Islands of P. putida and P. aeruginosa strains producing IMP-15, a metallo-β-lactamase not previously detected in Europe, and suggest an underestimated role of P. putida as a nosocomial reservoir of worrying transferable resistance determinants

Testing of Gas-Liquid Centrifugal Separation and Compression Technology at Demanding Operating Conditions

LectureThis paper describes experimental testing of a Rotating Centrifugal Separator (RCS) integrated within the casing of a centrifugal compressor. This unique combination of rotary gasliquid separation and centrifugal compression technologies represents a new class of turbomachinery and leads to increased system compactness by eliminating the need for large external gravity based separation/scrubbing vessels often used on traditional compressor trains. The OEM’s closed-loop, multiphase flow test facility was used for measuring aero/thermodynamic and liquid separation performance of the system. The test loop utilized inert gas as the vapor phase component and a commercially available, stabilized liquid hydrocarbon based solvent as the liquid phase component. The phase of the test program discussed in the paper extends the separation performance data previously obtained for the RCS stage to more challenging separation conditions. The paper also discusses the application of this technology in two production type machines, and illustrates the intimate relationship that can exist between the processing side and the rotating equipment side of the oil and gas business

The Dynamics of Nestedness Predicts the Evolution of Industrial Ecosystems

In economic systems, the mix of products that countries make or export has been shown to be a strong leading indicator of economic growth. Hence, methods to characterize and predict the structure of the network connecting countries to the products that they export are relevant for understanding the dynamics of economic development. Here we study the presence and absence of industries at the global and national levels and show that these networks are significantly nested. This means that the less filled rows and columns of these networks' adjacency matrices tend to be subsets of the fuller rows and columns. Moreover, we show that nestedness remains relatively stable as the matrices become more filled over time and that this occurs because of a bias for industries that deviate from the networks' nestedness to disappear, and a bias for the missing industries that reduce nestedness to appear. This makes the appearance and disappearance of individual industries in each location predictable. We interpret the high level of nestedness observed in these networks in the context of the neutral model of development introduced by Hidalgo and Hausmann (2009). We show that, for the observed fills, the model can reproduce the high level of nestedness observed in these networks only when we assume a high level of heterogeneity in the distribution of capabilities available in countries and required by products. In the context of the neutral model, this implies that the high level of nestedness observed in these economic networks emerges as a combination of both, the complementarity of inputs and heterogeneity in the number of capabilities available in countries and required by products. The stability of nestedness in industrial ecosystems, and the predictability implied by it, demonstrates the importance of the study of network properties in the evolution of economic networks.Comment: 26 page

Pd and Pd-Cu supported on different carbon materials and immobilized as flow-through catalytic membranes for the chemical reduction of NO3, NO2-and BrO3- in drinking water treatment

Powdered catalysts are commonly used in lab-scale tests for the catalytic reduction of oxoanions in drinking water, but their powder nature limits their application at full scale. In this work, Pd and Pd-Cu catalysts (5% wt.) supported on carbon materials with different structural properties, in powder form, were used to prepare catalytic membranes that were tested in a reactor with flow-through configuration (FTCMR) to study their performance in the reduction of NO3-, NO2- and BrO3-. Pd catalytic membranes showed high activity in the reduction of NO2-, being the selectivity to NH4+ lower than 2% at 80% NO2- conversion in all cases. In BrO3- reduction, they exhibited a wide range of conversions being the catalyst supported on materials with high conductivity the most active ones, which may be ascribed to the charge distribution at the metal-carbon interface. NO3- reduction using Pd-Cu catalytic membranes showed that catalysts supported on materials with small nanoparticle size and low electrical conductivity exhibited higher selectivity to NH4+. FTCMR led to a good control of H2 transfer and availability in the active sites, facilitating the tuning of H2 availability conditions to preserve the activity, while maintaining/diminishing selectivity to NH4+. In simultaneous oxoanions reduction tests, NO3- reduction was inhibited by Br species, probably by affection of the Pd-Cu redox cycle. This fact could be crucial to the future development of drinking water treatment processes, as conditions the order of the disinfection and NO3- reduction stepsThe authors greatly appreciate the support from Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigacion ´ (AEI, RTI2018–098431-BI00). Adrian ´ Marí thanks the Spanish AEI for a research grant (PRE-2019-088601). This work was also financially supported by: LA/P/0045/2020 (ALiCE), UIDB/50020/2020 and UIDP/50020/2020 (LSRE-LCM) and funded by national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC), and project NORTE01–0145-FEDER-000069 (Healthy Waters) co-funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through North Portugal Regional Operational Program (NORTE2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreemen

Biomass-Derived Microporous Carbon Materials with an Open Structure of Cross-Linked Sub-microfibers with Enhanced Adsorption Characteristics

This document is the accepted manuscript version of a published work that appeared in final form in Energy and Fuels, © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.6b02112Moringa oleifera seed shells exhibit a unique structure of cross-linked sub-microfibers (0.5-1.5 μm diameter) with a well-connected macroporous network. Controlled pyrolysis (500-800 °C) and cyclic activation of the precursor provided a porous carbon material with a structure that minimizes mass-transfer constraints. Under both slow (10 °C/min-1) and flash pyrolysis, the structure was preserved, while a significant microporosity was developed. By flash pyrolysis (700-800 °C), a material with enhanced characteristics for potential application as a molecular sieve (SDA = 450-470 m2 g-1, and SBET = 5 m2 g-1) was obtained. Cyclic activation of carbonized shells, consisting of an oxygen chemisorption stage (180 °C) followed by a desorption stage in an inert atmosphere (450-900 °C), resulted in a controlled development of microporosity upon successive activation cycles. After 10 activation cycles, respective SDA and SBET values of 1172 and 761 m2 g-1 were obtained. Higher development of the surface area and a wider distribution of micropores was observed when the desorption stage was carried out at 900 °C. The development of the surface area was achieved at low burnoff (22-33%), thus preserving the structure of the material. Thanks to its unique structure, the material obtained exhibited enhanced characteristics for gas sorption as a result of diminished mass-transfer limitations, assessed through the kinetics of carbon dioxide adsorption runs at ambient conditionsThe authors greatly appreciate financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (CTQ2012-32821

Subsea Compression Applications - Panel Session

TutorialThe use of Subsea gas compression technology for subsea re-injection and/or gas transport boosting represents a new and exciting application for rotating equipment, which will allow new gas/condensate field production opportunities, enhanced recovery of existing gas/condensate fields and cost effective production from marginal gas fields. This panel session includes short presentations on the benefits of subsea compression, an overview of currently ongoing projects, and recent advances and technologies that are available and/or under development for subsea gas compression. The panel session includes presentations from Shell Global Solutions, Aker Solutions, MAN DIESEL & TURBO, GE OIL & GAS and DRESSER-RAND. The respective presentation titles are: Subsea Processing - Multiphase Boosting and Compression – Shell Global Solutions; Subsea Compression; Present Status and Experience – Aker Solutions; HOFIMTM Type Compressors for Subsea Applications; MAN Diesel & Turbo; GE Oil & Gas Experience in Subsea Gas Compression Technology Development – GE Oil & Gas; DATUM I Compressor for Subsea Applications: Update on Qualification Efforts- Dresser-Rand

Interactive flow behaviour and heat transfer enhancement in a microchannel with cross flow synthetic jet

This paper examines the effectiveness in combining a pulsating fluid jet for thermal enhancement in microchannel heat sinks. The proposed arrangement utilises an oscillating diaphragm to induce a high-frequency periodic fluid jet with zero net mass output at the jet orifice hence, termed "synthetic jet". The pulsed jet interacts with the fluid flow through microchannel passages altering their flow characteristics. The present study develops a 2-dimensional finite volume numerical simulation based on unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations for examining the microchannel-synthetic jet flow interaction. For a range of parametric conditions, the behaviour of this periodic flow with its special features is identified and the associated convective heat transfer rates are predicted. The results indicate that the pulsating jet leads to outstanding thermal performance in microchannel flow increasing its heat dissipation rate by about 4.3 times compared to a microchannel without jet interaction within the tested parametric range. The degree of thermal enhancement is seen to grow continuously to reach a steady value in the absence of fluid compressibility. The proposed strategy has an intrinsic ability for outstanding thermal characteristics without causing pressure drop increases in microchannel fluid passages, which is identified as a unique feature of the technique.The study also examines and presents the effects of fluid compressibility on the heat removal capacity of this arrangement. The technique is envisaged to have application potential in miniature electronic devices where localised cooling is desired over a base heat dissipation load

Ecogeographical rules and the macroecology of food webs

AimHow do factors such as space, time, climate and other ecological drivers influence food web structure and dynamics? Collections of well‐studied food webs and replicate food webs from the same system that span biogeographical and ecological gradients now enable detailed, quantitative investigation of such questions and help integrate food web ecology and macroecology. Here, we integrate macroecology and food web ecology by focusing on how ecogeographical rules [the latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG), Bergmann’s rule, the island rule and Rapoport’s rule] are associated with the architecture of food webs.LocationGlobal.Time periodCurrent.Major taxa studiedAll taxa.MethodsWe discuss the implications of each ecogeographical rule for food webs, present predictions for how food web structure will vary with each rule, assess empirical support where available, and discuss how food webs may influence ecogeographical rules. Finally, we recommend systems and approaches for further advancing this research agenda.ResultsWe derived testable predictions for some ecogeographical rules (e.g. LDG, Rapoport’s rule), while for others (e.g., Bergmann’s and island rules) it is less clear how we would expect food webs to change over macroecological scales. Based on the LDG, we found weak support for both positive and negative relationships between food chain length and latitude and for increased generality and linkage density at higher latitudes. Based on Rapoport’s rule, we found support for the prediction that species turnover in food webs is inversely related to latitude.Main conclusionsThe macroecology of food webs goes beyond traditional approaches to biodiversity at macroecological scales by focusing on trophic interactions among species. The collection of food web data for different types of ecosystems across biogeographical gradients is key to advance this research agenda. Further, considering food web interactions as a selection pressure that drives or disrupts ecogeographical rules has the potential to address both mechanisms of and deviations from these macroecological relationships. For these reasons, further integration of macroecology and food webs will help ecologists better understand the assembly, maintenance and change of ecosystems across space and time.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151318/1/geb12925_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151318/2/geb12925.pd

Efficacy of Neoadjuvant Carboplatin plus Docetaxel in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Combined Analysis of Two Cohorts

Recent studies demonstrate that addition of neoadjuvant (NA) carboplatin (Cb) to anthracycline/taxane chemotherapy improves pathological complete response (pCR) in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Effectiveness of anthracycline-free, platinum combinations in TNBC is not well known. Here we report efficacy of NA carboplatin + docetaxel (CbD) in TNBC