Treatment of tannery effluent by adsorption onto fly ash released from thermal power stations: Characterisation, optimization, kinetics, and isotherms.

Fly ash is a significant pollutant in thermal power stations. Although this waste harms the environment and humans, it is badly removed and managed, and only a few studies are interested in this waste. For that, this study aims to valorise fly ash into potential adsorbents to treat tannery effluents for the first time. The physicochemical characterisation showed that fly ash has a pHpzc of 9.78, a very porous structure, a high specific surface area of 3127.2 m2/g with a total pore volume of 3.27 cm3/g, and a high silica and aluminium percentage. SEM showed that the fly ash studied has a small particle size ranging between 32 nm and 100 µm. Batch adsorption experiments were done, and the effects of adsorption parameters were investigated. The kinetics and isotherms models indicate that the equilibriums were achieved in 30 min, where the maximum uptake capacity was 2496, 223.7 and 106.8 mg/g for Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), chromium (VI) and sulfide ions, respectively. The kinetic data were well fitted to the pseudo-second-order model and showed that adsorption onto fly ash may be chemical and physical simultaneously. Freundlich's model gave a better fit for the experimental adsorption equilibrium data and displayed multilayer adsorption. The thermodynamic isotherm showed that the adsorption onto fly ash is thermodynamically spontaneous (ΔG° < 0) and endothermic (ΔH° > 0). In conclusion, fly ash, which is a free material, has a more robust adsorption capacity than other expensive materials. Thus, it can be a promising, eco-friendly, attractive adsorbent for industrial wastewater treatment.

Microbial community dynamics in the mesophilic and thermophilic phases of textile waste composting identified through next-generation sequencing.

Composting is a promising source of mesophilic and thermophilic microorganisms directly involved in the decay of organic matter. However, there is a paucity of information related to bacterial and fungal diversity in compost and their enzymatic activities during the composting process. In this work, bacterial and fungal diversity during the mesophilic and thermophilic phases of textile waste composting was investigated as a way to explain the physical-chemical results obtained during the composting process. This was accomplished using a next-generation sequencing approach that targets either the 16S rRNA or ITS genomic regions of bacteria and fungi, respectively. It was observed that Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria were the dominant bacterial phyla present at the mesophilic phase but not at the thermophilic one. Composting textile waste exhibits a sustained thermophilic profile (above 55 °C) that usually precludes fungal activity. Nonetheless, the presence of fungi at the thermophilic phase was observed. Rozellomycota, Basidiomycota, and Ascomycota were the most dominant phyla during both composting phases. Such thermophilic fungi with great ability to decay organic matter could be isolated as pure cultures and used for the bioaugmentation of textile waste composting to achieve an advanced maturity level of textile waste compost.

The long term effect of Olive Mill Wastewater (OMW) on organic matter humification in a semi-arid soil.

This study investigates the performance of soil and OMW microfloras in OMW organic matter humification in soil. In order to highlight the role of OMW and soil microfloras in the processes of OMW organic matter humification, either OMW or soil was sterilized with autoclaving. The study was carried out in microcosms of 1l containing 500 g of raw or sterilized soil, to which was added 200 ml of raw or sterilized OMW. After 24 months of incubation, the amount of phenolic compounds in the different microcosms was statistically indifferent compared to the control. However, TG-DTA and FTIR analysis of soil humic acids showed that recalcitrant OMW phenolic compounds remain in soil humus in the microcosm: sterilized OMW + raw soil, even after 24 months. Results show that humic acids detected in presence of OMW microflora are loaded with proteins and carbonated compounds and deprived of phenolic compounds and aliphatics with long chain, while humic acids detected in absence of OMW microflora are loaded with phenolic compounds.

Cervical Cancer Induction Enhancement Potential of Chlamydia Trachomatis: A Systematic Review.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) persistent infection is the necessary but not sufficient cause of cervical cancer. Other co-factors are required to induce cell transformation that will evolve to malignant cervical cancer. These co-factors include physical elements, other sexually transmitted infections, and immune response. Chlamydia trachomatis the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection is often asymptomatic but causes various syndromes such as cervicitis, endometritis, pelvic inflammatory disease, and infertility. It is established that this bacterium is involved in cell proliferation process and inhibit apoptosis. Furthermore, C. trachomatis may induce chronic inflammation, interfere with immune response by decreasing the number of antigen presenting cells, and reduce the cell-mediated immunity allowing the persistence of HPV. However, it is unclear whether this bacterium plays a particular role in cervical cancer induction. We therefore aimed at enlightening the actual knowledge about the relationship between C. trachomatis and cervical cancer or precursor lesions through a systematic literature review. We summarized and analyzed the epidemiological data on C. trachomatis and its co-infection with HPV and their association to cervical cancer.

VacA and CagA Status as Biomarker of Two Opposite End Outcomes of Helicobacter pylori Infection (Gastric Cancer and Duodenal Ulcer) in a Moroccan Population.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection induces inflammation of the gastric mucosa, which may progress to precancerous lesions leading to gastric cancer. Pathological determinism is associated to some virulence genes of the bacterium, notably the vacA and cagA genes. The present study aimed to determine the H. pylori genotypes distribution and their association with sex, age and gastric diseases in a Moroccan population. Gastric biopsy was taken from 1079 consenting patients. The specimens were processed by PCR to identify H. pylori and to determine the genotypic profile by PCR characterizing vacA s, vacA m and vacA i regions directly from biopsies H. pylori positives. VacA genotyping revealed the predominance of vacA m2 (53.2%), vacA s2 (52.9%) and vacA i2 (52%). The most virulent vacA alleles (s1, i1 and m1) are more predominant in men (47.3%, 41.9% and 46.1% respectively) than in women (38.3%, 33.3% and 37% respectively). However, the association between vacA genotypes and age did not reach a statistical significant value. Logistic regression analysis results show that vacA i1m1 and vacA i1m2 genotypes were strongly associated with the risk of GC, the Odds Ratio (95% confidence interval) was 29.73 [5.08-173.73] and 9.17 [2.06-40.82] respectively, while vacAs1/cagA+ seems to be a risk factor for DU since it is inversely associated with GC (OR was 0.13 [0.02-0.75]. The results of this study suggest that vacA i1 genotype independently to vacAm status may be of a clinical usefulness and will help to identify patients at a high risk of GC development.

Detection of Helicobacter pylori urease antigen in saliva in patients with different gastric H. pylori status.

BACKGROUND: Finding a simple, accurate, and noninvasive diagnosis method is a substantial challenge for the detection of Helicobacter pylori. The aim of the present study was to compare the presence of H. pylori urease antigen in saliva with the presence of this bacterium in gastric mucosa. METHODS: Saliva samples and gastric biopsies were taken from 153 consenting Moroccan patients. Saliva samples were analyzed using an immunochromatographic test for urease antigen H. pylori detection. Thereafter, the gastric biopsies were analyzed by histology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect this bacterium. RESULTS: From a total of 153 recruited Moroccan patients, H. pylori was detected in 28 (18.30%), 87 (57.24%), and 69 (45.10%) cases by saliva test, histology, and PCR, respectively. A significant association was observed between the presence of H. pylori antigen in saliva and age. However, no association was found with sex, H. pylori virulence factors, gastric disease outcome, and density of the bacterium on the gastric mucosa. Considering that only 90 patients presented concordant results on H. pylori diagnosis (positive or negative) by both histology and PCR, the immunochromatographic test showed very low sensitivity (29.79%) and high specificity (90.70%). Of these two tests, the positive and negative predictive values were 77.78% and 54.17%, respectively. The accuracy of the test for salivary detection of urease antigen H. pylori was 58.89%. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated a low detection rate of H. pylori antigens in saliva compared with the presence of this bacterium in gastric mucosa, suggesting that saliva cannot be used as a suitable sample for the diagnosis of H. pylori in our study population.

Distribution of Carcinogenic Human Papillomavirus Genotypes and Association to Cervical Lesions among Women in Fez (Morocco).

OBJECTIVES: To determine the distribution of cervical high-risk human papillomavirus genotypes and their association to cellular abnormalities in women from Fez and its neighborhood. METHODS: Women attending the Hassan II University Hospital for cervical pap smears were recruited after an informed consent. Interviews and two cervical samples were performed for each woman. Cervical samples were used for cytological analysis and HPV DNA detection. HPV was typed using a method based on multiplex PCR with fluorescently labeled specific primers followed by capillary electrophoresis. The study was approved by the ethics committee of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Fez. RESULTS: The HPV prevalence in the studied population was 43.1% and the most prevalent types were HPV 53 (23 cases); HPV 16 (20 cases); HPV 35 (18 cases); HPV 51 (10 cases) and HPV 56 (7 cases). From the 619 confirmed pap smears, 20% were abnormal. The cytological abnormalities were significantly associated to HPV infection, women age, number of pregnancies and parity (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: More attention should be given to HPV in Morocco because it represents an important public health concern. The distribution of carcinogenic HPV types in the studied population is different from the data in other regions but epidemiological studies in other Moroccan regions are required.

Human papillomavirus infection and fertility alteration: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: HPV is the most prevalent sexually transmitted infection and its effect in cancer induction is well documented. HPV infections are mostly asymptomatic, but it is unclear whether HPV infections can result in alterations of reproductive health. OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship between human papillomavirus infections and reproductive health in both men and women. METHODS: A systematic literature review was performed in PubMed and ScienceDirect data bases from January 1994 through August 2014. RESULTS: HPV infections are shown to be significantly associated to many adverse effects in the reproductive function. These adverse effects were reported in different levels from cells production to pregnancy and may be related to the infecting genotype. CONCLUSIONS: It appears from this study that HPV detection and genotyping could be of great value in infertility diagnosis at least in idiopathic infertility cases. Like for the risk of carcinogenesis, another classification of HPV regarding the risk of fertility alteration may be considered after deep investigations.

Relationship between cultivation mode of white rot fungi and their efficiency for olive oil mill wastewaters treatment

Four white rot fungi (WRF) strains, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Trametes versicolor, Coriolopsis polyzona and Pycnoporus coccineus, were tested for efficiency of treatment of Olive Oil mill wastewaters (OOMW) in relation with their cultivation mode, i.e. under the form of free mycelium, mycelium immobilized in alginate beads and solid state cultivation on Petri dishes. Study of biodegradation of phenolic compounds, chemical oxygen demand (COD) decrease and decolourisation of OOMW have shown that Coriolopsis polyzona and Pycnoporus coccineus degradation performances were apparently only slightly affected by the cell cultivation procedures experienced here. In contrast, Phanerochaete chrysosporium and Trametes versicolor showed respectively marked preferences for solid state and alginate immobilisation procedures. Both mono and polyphenolics were reduced to different extent during incubation depending on the strain, as shown by gel filtration analysis. Final pH obtained after fungal treatment of the OOMW based medium (initial pH of 5.0) was measured in order to evaluate the possibility of releasing friendly the treated wastewater in the environment. Laboratory studies as reported here may be useful for orienting the choice of a strain for treating pollution by OOMW in a particular real situation.

Hair mercury levels in relation to fish consumption in a community of the Moroccan Mediterranean coast.

Coastal populations with high seafood consumption in the Mediterranean have a significant exposure to dietary methylmercury, and areas where environmental mercury pollution is an issue due to industrial activities are of special concern. The study was undertaken with the aim of assessing methylmercury exposure through fish consumption in a community of north Morocco and characterizing the relevant health risk. Concentrations of total mercury were determined in human hair, a biomarker of methylmercury exposure, and in locally consumed fish by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Based on consumption frequencies reported by the 108 subjects included in the study the weekly intake of methylmercury was estimated and biomarker data were evaluated in relation to the estimated intake and the sociodemographic characteristics of the population. Multiple regression analysis was employed for the interpretation of hair mercury data in relation to fish consumption frequency, gender and the age of individuals. Mercury concentrations in hair ranged from 0.22 to 9.56 microg g(-1) (geometric mean = 1.79 microg g(-1)) and were closely related to fish intake. Fisherman and their families consumed fish three to five times per week and were the most exposed population subgroup. A high proportion of women of child-bearing age (50%) had relatively high levels of mercury in their hair (3.08-7.88 microg g(-1)).

Vitamin E deficiency ataxia with (744 del A) mutation on alpha-TTP gene: genetic and clinical peculiarities in Moroccan patients.

Ataxia with vitamin E deficiency (AVED) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized clinically by neurological symptoms with often striking resemblance to those of Friedreich's ataxia (FA). Molecular analysis is needed for an early differential diagnosis, in order to initiate therapeutic vitamin E supplementation before damage develops. We studied 16 patients from seven Moroccan families presenting an autosomal recessive Friedreich-like ataxia with vitamin E deficiency. Our patients were homozygous for 744 del A mutation of alpha-TTP gene. Compilation of clinical records revealed a great phenotypic variability and some features indicating a new possible role of vitamin E in hypothalamo-hypophysial system regulation and cardiomyopathy prevention. Early vitamin E supplementation may provide considerable improvement of neurological signs and other associated abnormalities. Clinical heterogeneity is for involvement of other non-genetic defect and indicated another role of vitamin E, which should be better studied.