Integrated full-scale solar CPC/UV-LED-filtration system as a tertiary treatment in a conventional WWTP for agricultural reuse purposes.

Today, the emergence of increasingly restrictive treatment and reuse policies make the implementation of full-scale tertiary treatment, capable of improving the quality of water, a priority. Full-scale TiO2 photocatalysis systems are resulting in a promising option, since TiO2 is commercially available. However, questions such as how to work continuously during day/night irradiation cycle, or the removing of TiO2 in outlet flow are still unresolved. In this work, a full-scale system integrating a solar CPC/UV-LED step combined with commercial microfiltration membranes was installed in a conventional WWTP for agricultural reuse purposes. After optimization, 0.5 g/L of catalyst and combined SOLAR + UV-LED showing the highest pharmaceutical removal percentages, while a self-designed UV-LED included in the own reaction tank resulting in higher efficiencies compared with commercial lamps. Longer membrane surface area decreased fouling problems in the system. However, 60 min of irradiation time was necessary to reach the most restrictive water quality values according with (EU 2020/741). After optimization step, total costs were reduced by 45%. However, it was shown that a reduction in operating and maintenance costs, along with the development of more effective and economical commercial filtration membranes is a key factor; therefore, working on these aspects is essential in the treated water cost reduction.

Risk assessment for uptake and accumulation of pharmaceuticals by baby leaf lettuce irrigated with reclaimed water under commercial agricultural activities.

The use of reclaimed water to irrigate agricultural crops has increased in recent years as a consequence of water shortage constituting a potential risk for human health. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the impact on the soil-plant system and determining the accumulation of carbamazepine (CBZ), diclofenac (DCF), ketoprofen (KTP) and naproxen (NPX) in the edible part of lettuce under commonly used agricultural practices in commercial production. For this purpose, red oak baby lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) was irrigated with reclaimed water fortified with different concentrations of pharmaceuticals. The study was carried out in two different scenarios: soil and tray. The tray experiments were conducted with substrate and took place at three different seasons of the year. Lettuce tissue sampled from these experiments were analysed 3 times during the lettuce growing cycle (first, second and third harvest). The practices of first harvest regrowth were also evaluated. For all experiments, CBZ showed the highest accumulation in lettuce leaves of the pharmaceuticals tested, showing a correlation between irrigation exposure time and pharmaceutical uptake. Unexpectedly, DCF was the compound with the highest uptake levels after regrowth practices. Results suggested that pharmaceuticals uptake could be directly associated with the irrigation method and possible accumulation in soil and substrates, while concentration of pharmaceuticals in substrates were 10 times higher. Based on the concentration values detected in lettuce leaves, the risk assessment suggests that no compounds imply any risk to human health, except CBZ for those on vegetarian diets in the tray scenario. Although commercial agricultural practices are usually not considered with regards to risk reduction, in this experiment we demonstrated that climatic conditions are a key factor in pharmaceuticals uptake and different agricultural practices (soil cropping and drip irrigation) can limit the presence of pharmaceutical compounds in crops.

Suitability of different Escherichia coli enumeration techniques to assess the microbial quality of different irrigation water sources.

The use of fecal indicators such as Escherichia coli has been proposed as a potential tool to characterize microbial contamination of irrigation water. Recently, not only the type of microbial indicator but also the methodologies used for enumeration have been called into question. The goal of this study was to assess the microbial quality of different water sources for irrigation of zucchini plants by using E. coli as an indicator of fecal contamination and the occurrence of foodborne pathogens. Three water sources were evaluated including reclaimed secondary treated water (RW-2), reclaimed tertiary UV-C treated water (RW-3) and surface water (SW). The suitability of two E. coli quantification techniques (plate count and qPCR) was examined for irrigation water and fresh produce. E. coli levels using qPCR assay were significantly higher than that obtained by plate count in all samples of irrigation water and fresh produce. The microbial quality of water samples from RW-2 was well predicted by qPCR, as the presence of foodborne pathogens were positively correlated with high E. coli levels. However, differences in the water characteristics influenced the suitability of qPCR as a tool to predict potential contamination in irrigation water. No significant differences were obtained between the number of cells of E. coli from RW-2 and RW-3, probably due to the fact that qPCR assay cannot distinguish between viable and dead cells. These results indicated that the selection of the most suitable technique for enumeration of indicator microorganisms able to predict potential presence of fecal contamination might be influenced by the water characteristics.

Effects of reclaimed waters on spectral properties and leaf traits of citrus orchards.

Effects resulting from the use of reclaimed waters on mandarins and grapefruits are evaluated by measuring the spectral responses of their canopies and the anatomy and the chlorophyll content of their leaves against control trees irrigated with waters provided by an interbasin transfer. Spectral responses from the red (R) and near-infrared (NIR) wavelength bands, and its normalized ratio (NDVI), were acquired from a hyperspatial flight conducted after a low-moderate exposition to reclaimed waters. Chlorophyll and leaf and palisade/spongy ratio thicknesses were analyzed after a moderate-high exposition. Significant differences between controls and treatments were detected in mandarins in R and leaf chlorophyll, but not in grapefruits, likely because of their higher tolerance to saline waters. Reused waters did not affect either NIR-NDVI or anatomy traits. Hyperspatial sensing techniques are suitable for detecting chlorophyll dynamics, but NIR information and related vegetation indices may mask the detection of periods of saline stress in citrus orchards.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis alleviates detrimental effects of saline reclaimed water in lettuce plants.

The present study evaluated the effects of inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF; Glomus iranicum var. tenuihypharum sp. nova) on the physiological performance and production of lettuce plants grown under greenhouse conditions and supplied with reclaimed water (RW; urban-treated wastewater with high electrical conductivity; 4.19 dS m(-1)). Four treatments, fresh water, fresh water plus AMF inoculation, RW and RW plus AMF inoculation, were applied and their effects, over time, analyzed. Root mycorrhizal colonization, plant biomass, leaf-ion content, stomatal conductance and net photosynthesis were assessed. Overall, our results highlight the significance of the AMF in alleviation of salt stress and their beneficial effects on plant growth and productivity. Inoculated plants increased the ability to acquire N, Ca, and K from both non-saline and saline media. Moreover, mycorrhization significantly reduced Na plant uptake. Under RW conditions, inoculated plants also showed a better performance of physiological parameters such as net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance and water-use efficiency than non-mycorrhizal plants. Additionally, the high concentration of nutrients already dissolved in reclaimed water suggested that adjustments in the calculation of the fertigation should be conducted by farmers. Finally, this experiment has proved that mycorrhization could be a suitable way to induce salt stress resistance in iceberg lettuce crops as plants supplied with reclaimed water satisfied minimum legal commercial size thresholds. Moreover, the maximum values of Escherichia coli in the reclaimed water were close to but never exceeded the international thresholds established (Spanish Royal Decree 1620/2007; Italian Decree, 2003) and hence lettuces were apt for sale.

Performance of culture media for the isolation and identification of Staphylococcus aureus from bovine mastitis.

Rapid isolation and identification of pathogens is a major goal of diagnostic microbiology. In order to isolate and identify Staphylococcus aureus, a number of authors have used a variety of selective and/or differential culture media. However, to date, there are no reports comparing the efficacy of selective and differential culture media for S. aureus isolation from bovine mastitis cases using the 16S rRNA (rrs) gene sequence as a gold standard test. In the present study, we evaluated the efficacy of four selective and/or differential culture media for the isolation of S. aureus from milk samples collected from cows suffering from bovine mastitis. Four hundred and forty isolates were obtained using salt-mannitol agar (SMA, Bioxon), Staphylococcus-110 agar (S110, Bioxon), CHROMAgar Staph aureus (CSA, BD-BBL) and sheep's blood agar (SBA, BD-BBL). All bacterial isolates were identified by their typical colony morphology in the respective media, by secondary tests (for coagulase and ß-haemolysis) and by partial 16S rRNA (rrs) gene sequencing as a gold standard test. Sensitivity, positive predictive and negative predictive values were higher for SMA (86.96, 52.63 and 95.95%, respectively) compared with S110 (70.00, 23.73 and 90.91%, respectively), CSA (69.23, 28.13 and 95.74%, respectively) and SBA (68.75, 37.93 and 89.58%, respectively) while specificity values were similar for all media. Data indicated that the use of culture media for S. aureus isolation combined with determination of coagulase activity and haemolysis as secondary tests improved accuracy of the identification and was in accordance with rrs gene sequence-analysis compared with the use of the culture media alone.

Microbial fructosyltransferases and the role of fructans.

Microbial fructosyltransferases are polymerases that are involved in microbial fructan (levan, inulin and fructo-oligosaccharide) biosynthesis. Structurally, microbial fructosyltransferase proteins share the catalytic domain of glycoside hydrolases 68 family and are grouped in seven phylogenetically related clusters. Fructosyltransferase-encoding genes are organized in operons or in clusters associated with other genes related to carbohydrate metabolism or fructosyltransferase secretion. Fructosyltransferase gene expression is mainly regulated by two-component systems or phosphorelay mechanisms that respond to sucrose availability or other environmental signals. Microbial fructans are involved in conferring resistance to environmental stress such as water deprivation, nutrient assimilation, biofilm formation, and as virulence factors in colonization. As a result of the biological and industrial importance of fructans, fructosyltransferases have been the subject of extensive research, conducted to improve their enzymatic activity or to elucidate their biological role in nature.

Internalization of Staphylococcus aureus by bovine endothelial cells is associated with the activity state of NF-kappaB and modulated by the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-1beta.

Bacterial internalization is an important process in the pathogenesis of infectious diseases in which nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) plays a prominent role. We present pharmacological evidence indicating that in bovine endothelial cells (BEC) the internalization of Staphylococcus aureus, a pathogenic bacterium that causes mastitis in bovine cattle, was associated with the activation of NF-kappaB. The internalization of S. aureus increased when BEC were stimulated with alpha-tumour necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) or beta-interleukin 1 (IL-1beta) which are known activators of NF-kappaB. SN50 (an inhibitor peptide of NF-kappaB nuclear translocation) and BAY 11-7083 (a chemical that inhibits the IkappaBalpha phosphorylation) caused significant reduction in S. aureus intracellular number, indicating that its internalization was associated with the NF-kappaB activity. Furthermore, specific inhibition of c-Jun N-terminal kinase with SP600125 (SP) or p-38 with SB203580 (SB) did not cause any change in the S. aureus intracellular number compared with the untreated control. Finally, TNF-alpha treatment of BEC after the addition of both SP and SB, induced a significant increase in S. aureus internalization above the control value. These data indicate that NF-kappaB activity is associated with S. aureus internalization and suggest that this transcription factor may play a role in the pathophysiology of bovine mastitis caused by this bacterium.

Evaluation of sap flow and trunk diameter sensors for irrigation scheduling in early maturing peach trees.

Five-year-old early maturing peach trees (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch cv. Flordastar grafted on GF-677 peach rootstock) were subjected to three irrigation treatments from March 18 to November 10, 2006. Control plants (T0 treatment) which received irrigation in excess of their crop water requirements (1089.7 mm) were compared with plants watered according to sap flow (SF; T1 treatment) or maximum daily trunk shrinkage (MDS; T2 treatment) measurements, so as to maintain SF and MDS signal intensities (control SF/SF in T1 and MDS in T2/control MDS, respectively) close to unity. When SF or MDS signal intensity on at least two of three consecutive days was at or below unity, irrigation was reduced by 10%. When the MDS signal intensity on at least two of three consecutive days exceeded unity, irrigation was increased by 10%. During the experiment, estimated crop evapotranspiration was 704.9 mm, and the cumulative amounts of applied water in the T1 and T2 treatments were 463.2 and 654.5 mm, respectively. The MDS-signal-intensity-driven irrigation schedule was more suitable than the SF-signal-intensity-driven irrigation schedule because it was more sensitive and reliable in detecting changes in plant water status, preventing the development of detectable plant water stress. Moreover, it had no effect on fruit size. We conclude that peach tree irrigation scheduling can be based on MDS measurements alone. Changes in the irrigation protocol assayed were proposed to reduce MDS signal intensity deviations above unity, for example, by increasing the irrigation scheduling frequency or the amount of water applied, or both. Irrigation schedules based on maintaining MDS signal intensities close to unity could be applied when local crop factor values are unavailable.

Daily sap flow and maximum daily trunk shrinkage measurements for diagnosing water stress in early maturing peach trees during the post-harvest period.

We compared the sensitivity of two continuously recorded plant-based water stress indicators (sap flow, SF, and maximum daily trunk shrinkage, MDS) to detect changes in the water status of 4-year-old early maturing peach trees (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch cv. Flordastar grafted on GF-677 peach rootstock) during a cycle of deficit irrigation and recovery. The feasibility of obtaining SF and MDS reference equations for use in irrigation scheduling during the post-harvest period was also studied in trees irrigated in excess of crop water requirements. We found that MDS was a more sensitive and reliable detector of changes in plant water status than SF, making it a more precise tool for irrigation scheduling. Baseline relationships between SF or MDS and the climatic variables (air temperature, vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and crop reference evapotranspiration (ETo)) were established, despite some scatter in the data. Among the climatic variables, SF correlated more closely with ETo, whereas MDS correlated more closely with mean daily air temperature (T (m)). The fits of the regressions between MDS and ETo, midday air temperature and T (m) for individual periods were better than those obtained in the overall regressions, confirming that daily stem diameter variations must be considered not only in the context of plant water status but also in the context of plant carbon status.

Subcellular effects of drought stress in Rosmarinus officinalis.

The use of Rosmarinus officinalis, and other wild plant species, in the Mediterranean area is an interesting solution in order to avoid the desertification and rapid soil erosion, because of their good resistance to environmental conditions. Previous articles have described experiments designed to determine the impact of water stress at the plant level in this species, but more knowledge is required at the subcellular and ultrastructural levels. An anatomic and ultrastructural study of the leaves was conducted on Rosmarinus officinalis plants growing under different water treatments. In the leaves of water-stressed plants, the leaf water potential and turgor decreased, and leaf osmotic potential became more negative with respect to control plants. The anatomic investigations showed that both the mesophyll intercellular spaces and the epidermal cell size were reduced significantly under the more intense drought stress conditions. At the subcellular level, chloroplasts accumulated plastoglobuli and lipid bodies, and cuticle thickness was increased under water stress. In our experiment, the anatomic and ultrastructural modifications of Rosmarinus officinalis could be considered an additional adaptation to drought stress together with physiological and biochemical modifications as antioxidant accumulation.

Tissue-specific and developmental pattern of expression of the rice sps1 gene.

Sucrose-phosphate synthase (SPS) is one of the key regulatory enzymes in carbon assimilation and partitioning in plants. SPS plays a central role in the production of sucrose in photosynthetic cells and in the conversion of starch or fatty acids into sucrose in germinating seeds. To explore the mechanisms that regulate the tissue-specific and developmental distribution of SPS, the expression pattern of rice (Oryza sativa) sps1 (GenBank accession no. U33175) was examined by in situ reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and the expression directed by the sps1 promoter using the beta-glucuronidase reporter gene. It was found that the expression of the rice sps1 gene is limited to mesophyll cells in leaves, the scutellum of germinating seedlings, and pollen of immature inflorescences. During leaf development, the sps1 promoter directs a basipetal pattern of expression that coincides with the distribution of SPS activity during the leaf sink-to-source transition. It was also found that during the vegetative part of the growth cycle, SPS expression and enzymatic activity are highest in the youngest fully expanded leaf. Additionally, it was observed that the expression of the sps1 promoter is regulated by light and dependent on plastid development in photosynthetic tissues, whereas expression in scutellum is independent of both light and plastid development.

Response of antioxidant systems and leaf water relations to NaCl stress in pea plants.

A pea (Pisum sativum cv. Puget) cultivar was grown on a medium containing different NaCl concentrations (0-160 mol m-3 ) in order to study the effects of salt stress on leaf water relations and on the activity of antioxidant enzymes. NaCl stress caused a rapid decline in chlorophyll content. Both leaf water (ψl ) and osmotic potentials (ψs ) decreased progressively with the severity of the stress (from 90-160 mol m-3 NaCl) whereas leaf turgor pressure (ψp ) increased in treated plants. Pea leaves contained an iron-containing superoxide dismutase (Fe-SOD) isozyme in chloroplasts alongside a copper-zinc-containing (CuZn-SOD) form (CuZn-SOD II). The lowest NaCl concentration (70 mol m-3 ) had no effect on the activity of these antioxidant enzymes while higher concentrations (110-130 mol m-3 ) enhanced the activity of cytosolic CuZn-SOD I and chloroplastic CuZn-SOD II as well as that of mitochondrial and/or peroxisomal manganese-containing superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD). These inductions were matched by increases in the activity of ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR). The increased activities coincided with decreased stomatal conductance and were unaffected by the severity of stress except in the case of CuZn-SOD II which fell to control values under the highest stress conditions (140-160 mol m-3 NaCl), when a concomitant increase in chloroplastic Fe-SOD activity was observed. Glutathione reductase (GR) and dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR) activities were only induced under severe NaCl stress (130-160 mol m-3 ) and were accompanied by losses in the ascorbate and glutathione pools, lower ASC/DHA and GSH/GSSG ratios and increases in GSSG. Electron microscopy showed that the thylakoidal structure of the chloroplasts became disorganized and their starch content decreased in plants treated with 160 mol m-3 NaCl. Overall, the results suggest that salt stress is accompanied by oxidative stress, perhaps at the cell compartment level. The capacity of Puget cultivar to ensure cell turgor and to enhance the activity of enzymes involved in the defence against oxidative stress seems to be important in determining adaptation to moderate NaCl stress conditions. In plants exposed to severe NaCl stress (130-160 mol m-3 ) it seems that such resistance to oxidative stress is overcome, which might contribute to the deleterious effects of salt and significant growth reduction in these conditions.

Characterization of a rice sucrose-phosphate synthase-encoding gene.

A rice genomic clone (sps1) coding for sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) was isolated and sequenced. Rice sps1 contains 13 exons and 12 introns, an unusually long 366-bp leader region with a highly organized primary structure and a promoter region with no obvious homology with eukaryotic promoter consensus sequences. Southern blot analysis showed that SPS is encoded by a single-copy gene in the rice genome. Comparison of the rice, maize, potato and spinach SPS deduced amino acid (aa) sequences showed that these enzymes have a well conserved region comprising their first 700 aa, and a variable C-terminal region. Analysis of rice sps1 expression showed that mRNA levels change during leaf development. SPS activity and mRNA were undetectable in roots.

Localized right upper lobe edema.

One of the lesser known atypical forms of radiographic presentation of pulmonary edema is the isolated or predominant affection of the upper right lobe in patients with mitral valve insufficiency. As a possible cause of this distribution, it has been established that the regurgitation jet during the ventricular systole may be directed selectively toward the orifice of the right upper lobe vein, locally accentuating the forces responsible for edema formation. There are few cases with these characteristics in the literature reviewed. We present an additional three cases, concluding that localized pulmonary edema secondary to mitral insufficiency should be suspected in the presence of any type of airspace consolidation in the right upper lobe, with or without associated affection of the middle lobe, in patients with a history of mitral valve insufficiency, especially when there are radiologic signs of left heart failure.

Magnetic resonance imaging of neurocysticercosis.

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is involvement of the central nervous system (CNS) by the porcine tapeworm, common in developing countries with poor sanitation. The disease has been noted increasingly in nonendemic areas because of travel and immigration from affected regions. The magnetic resonance (MR) appearance can be characteristic, with single or multiple cysts and varying degrees of wall enhancement and surrounding edema, depending on the stage of the life cycle of the larva and its associated cyst.

Intracranial tuberculosis in AIDS: CT and MRI findings.

CT and MRI findings in 35 patients with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and proven intracranial tuberculosis (TB) are presented. Over 90% of the patients were intravenous drug abusers and in two-thirds TB was the first manifestation of AIDS. CT was normal in one quarter, the most frequent findings being hydrocephalus (51%) and meningeal enhancement (41%), commonly seen together (31.5%). Meningeal enhancement was seen in 48% of the CT studies with intravenous contrast medium and in 3 cases studied with MRI and i.v. gadolinium DTPA, in 2 of which CT was negative. Parenchymal involvement was found in 37% of cases; MRI was more sensitive than CT for its detection. One quarter of the patients had ischaemic lesions, mainly in the basal ganglia. We confirm the usefulness of CT and the superiority of MRI in the diagnosis of intracranial TB and in differential diagnosis from other conditions likely to be found in these patients.

Focal hepatic lesions: comparative MR imaging at 0.5 and 1.5 T.

Twenty-nine patients with known or suspected malignancy were studied with identical T1-weighted (spin echo [SE] and inversion recovery [IR]) and T2-weighted SE magnetic resonance (MR) imaging at 0.5 and 1.5 T to evaluate the relative sensitivities of these sequences for detecting focal hepatic lesions. At 0.5 T, 98 lesions were detected with the IR sequence, 86 with the T1-weighted SE sequence, and 96 with the T2-weighted sequence. At 1.5 T, 93 lesions were detected with the IR sequence, 70 with the T1-weighted SE sequence, and 99 with the T2-weighted sequence. Although the lack of pathologic correlation precluded establishment of true sensitivity and specificity rates, data showed that magnetic field strength resulted in no significant difference for detecting focal hepatic lesions. No single sequence was shown to be significantly superior, although the T1-weighted SE sequence at 1.5 T was significantly inferior to the other sequences for detecting focal hepatic lesions. T1-weighted SE imaging at 0.5 T was significantly inferior to T1-weighted IR and T2-weighted imaging at both magnetic field strengths for detecting focal lesions in the left lobe of the liver. The authors conclude that T1-weighted IR and T2-weighted sequences alone will result in optimal MR imaging for the detection of focal hepatic lesions at 0.5 and 1.5 T.