Adsorption of different forms of phosphorus on modified corn bracts.

Excessive phosphorus discharged into the environment could result in the eutrophication, leading to water pollution. Hence, the efficient method for phosphorus removal is urgently in need. In this paper, an agricultural by-product, corn bract, modified by Zr was proposed to remove different forms of phosphorus. A comparison study about the adsorption performance of organic phosphorus (OP) and inorganic phosphorus (IP) was investigated. The results indicated that both the OP and IP reached the maximum adsorption amounts when the initial pH was 2. Compared with IP adsorption, the adsorbent showed higher adsorption rate but lower adsorption capacity for OP. The complexation and the electrostatic attraction were possibly the main adsorption mechanisms. PRACTITIONER POINTS: The agricultural waste, corn bract, was proposed to remove phosphorus. The adsorption performances of OP and IP were compared. The adsorbent showed higher adsorption rate but lower adsorption capacity for OP.

Resistencia antimicrobiana en aislados clínicos de Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Antimicrobial resistance in clinical patterns of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa es un microorganismo oportunista frecuentemente implicado en infecciones de origen nosocomial que presenta resistencia natural y adquirida a muchos de los antimicrobianos de uso clínico. Se llevo a cabo un estudio de resistencias a antimicrobianos de 3.029 aislamientos de P. aeruginosa de enfermos intra y extrahospitalarios en el periodo 2005-2010. La metodología utilizada fue, el método semiautomatizado WIDER I (Soria Melguizo), para la identificación de las especies y para el estudio de sensibilidades a antimicrobianos. Se consideraron los criterios de sensibilidad y resistencia recomendados por el grupo MENSURA. En nuestro hospital existe un mantenimiento relativo de la sensibilidad antimicrobiana de P. aeruginosa en el periodo 2005-2010, con un aumento de esta en amikacina, gentamicina y cefalosporinas. Existen diferencias de porcentajes de sensibilidades entre las cepas de origen intrahospitalario y extrahospitalario, salvo para fosfomicina y tobramicina. Destacamos la importancia de realizar estudios locales de la sensibilidad y resistencias de P. aeruginosa en cada zona, de forma periódica para poder valorar las diferentes pautas terapéuticas, no siendo posible extrapolar los datos de las diferentes regiones españolas(AU)

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic microorganism that is frequently the cause of nosocomial infections. Multiple mechanisms are involved in its natural and acquired resistance to many of the antimicrobial agents commonly used in clinical practice. We performed an antibiotic resistance study on P. aeruginosa isolated from intrahospitalary and extrahospitalary samples between 2005 and 2010 years. We included in the study a global amount of 3,029 P. aeruginosa isolates from clinical samples received at University Hospital Reina Sofia. Microbiology Service in Córdoba (Spain). Semiautomatic system WIDER I for strains identification and sensibility testing was employed. We considered susceptibility and resistance criteria recommended by MENSURA group. Results of the analysis showed that P. aeruginosa maintanied similar levels of antimicrobial susceptibility during the period 2005-2010, with increased susceptibility to amikacin, gentamicin and cefalosporins. There were also important differences in the degree of susceptibility between intrahospital and extrahospital strains during 2010 year, except for tobramicin and fosfomycin. The intrahospital difference in susceptibility was also evaluated, emphasizing the importance of periodically surveillance of susceptibility and resistance patterns of P. aeruginosa, in each setting in order to evaluate different therapeutic guidelines, because it is not always advisable to extrapolate data from different regions(AU)