Valorisation of cellulosic rejections from wastewater treatment plants through sugar production.

The widespread use of wipes and other sanitary products made of nonwoven fibres has led to an enormous problem in wastewater treatment systems that has been underestimated for some time. To date, there are no practical alternatives for recycling and valorisation. In this study, cellulosic rejections recovered from a wastewater treatment plant in Barcelona (Spain) were characterised and treated using hydrothermal and enzymatic methods to obtain free sugars. Steam explosion and autoclave pre-treatments were performed at different temperatures (120, 130, or 150 °C) and residence times (10-40 min) under neutral, acidic or basic conditions. The solids obtained after the pre-treatment, as well as the untreated material, were subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis using commercial enzymes. The untreated substrate reached the highest sugar production: 29 g glucose and xylose per 100 g of the cellulosic rejections, equivalent to 86% of the sugars contained in the initial material. These sugars can subsequently be transformed into biofuels or bioproducts within a biorefinery approach.

No confundir las estimaciones con la realidad / Not confusing estimates with reality

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[Passive smoking and other risk factors associated to the lower respiratory illnesses in sucking infants]. / Tabaquismo pasivo y otros factores de riesgo en las afecciones respiratorias de vías bajas en los lactantes.

OBJECTIVES: We try to evaluate the frequency of lower respiratory illnesses (LRIs), during the first year of life and it's relation to other risk factors, overall passive smoking and modes of feeding. DESIGN: This is a retrospective study in our city. SETTING: Primary Health Care. PATIENTS AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS: The study population is 240 children during the first year of life, born in 1993 and we have collected clinical information about risk factors and LRIs number. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A 37% have suffered from at least one episode of LRIs, during the first year of life. The parental smoking appears in 46.6%. The incidence of LRIs was strongly associated with passive smoking (OR = 1.86), exclusive breast-feeding and at least for 5 months (OR = 2.1) and older brothers (OR = 3.12). The number of episodes of LRIs was statistically significative higher in males (males 0.82 +/- 1.67 episodes; females 0.48 +/- 0.67 episodes) (p = 0.0489). CONCLUSIONS: In our report, the risk factors more strongly related with LRIs in suckling infants are passive smoking, older brothers, male sex and less than 5 months of breast feeding.

[Ambulatory monitoring of arterial pressure in a group of children with reflux nephropathy of different degrees]. / Monitorización ambulatoria de la presión arterial en un grupo de niños con nefropatía por reflujo de diferente grado.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to search for risk factors for the evolution reflux nephropathy by comparing the results of the ambulatory blood pressures in a group of children with reflux nephropathy of different degrees. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Out-patient blood pressure monitoring was performed in 31 children (15 males and 15 females) affected to different degrees by reflux nephropathy. This was done during a 24-hour period on a normal schoolday by using a Spacelabs 90207 oscilometric monitor. An appropriately sized armband was chosen for each case with the readings being programmed for every 20 minutes between 8:00 a.m. and 23:00 p.m. and every 30 minutes for the remaining readings. The mean blood pressure, blood pressure load and hyperbaric index over the 24 hour period (on all the readings obtained), activity period (0800 to 2200 hours) and the resting period (midnight to 6:00 a.m.) were calculated. The circadian variability (difference and ratio between the mean values of active and resting periods and the nocturnal fall in blood pressure as a percentage of the daytime mean value) was also determined. The children were classified into subgroups according to their degree of reflux nephropathy: Group 1) Degrees A and B of unilateral reflux nephropathy. Group 2) Degrees C and D of unilateral reflux nephropathy and Group 3) Bilateral nephropathy. Those monitorings with a percentage of erroneous readings over 30% were excluded. RESULTS: Two children were excluded because of a high percentage of erroneous readings. We could not find any significant difference among the three groups in casual blood pressure. We observed significant differences between the group formed by children with unilateral reflux nephropathy and children with bilateral reflux nephropathy in the blood pressure during the resting period. No significant differences were found among the three groups in the tensional load, hyperbaric index or the variables that determine the nightly descent in blood pressure. CONCLUSIONS: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring allow the detection of risk factors for the evolution of reflux nephropathy; i.e., higher risk of blood pressure elevation, especially during the resting period and mainly for bilateral reflux nephropathy.