Solar heterogeneous photocatalytic degradation of phenol on TiO2/quartz and TiO2/calcite: a statistical and kinetic approach on comparative efficiencies towards a TiO2/glass system.

Phenol is a widely used synthetic organic compound, which according to global estimations, is discharged into the environment at a rate of 10 tons/year through industrial waste. Phenol is a recalcitrant pollutant, and human exposure to water containing phenolic substances can lead to health issues. It has been found both in drinking water and wastewater. Solar heterogeneous photocatalytic phenol degradation, measured through chemical oxygen demand, was performed on a thin film tilted plate reactor with TiO2 immobilized onto different support materials. A full factorial experimental design (4 × 3 × 3) was carried out to statistically evaluate if the independent variables' effects were significant. Four advanced oxidation processes (photolysis, photolysis + H2O2, heterogeneous photocatalysis, and heterogeneous photocatalysis + H2O2), three support materials (quartz, calcite, and glass), and three pH levels (3, 5.4, and 9) were evaluated. Reaction kinetics were fitted to the pseudo-first-order reaction rate and data was analyzed with an ANCOVA and means test, considering solar light intensity as a covariate. Photolysis/calcite at pH 5.4 and heterogeneous photocatalysis + H2O2/glass plate at pH 3 gave the best results, with a reaction rate constant kph = 3.047 × 10-3 min-1 and kphC = 4.498 × 10-3 min-1, respectively. The three independent variables and their interactions had a significant effect in the phenol degradation (p < 0.05).

Abdominal normothermic regional perfusion in controlled donation after circulatory determination of death liver transplantation: Outcomes and risk factors for graft loss.

Postmortem normothermic regional perfusion (NRP) is a rising preservation strategy in controlled donation after circulatory determination of death (cDCD). Herein, we present results for cDCD liver transplants performed in Spain 2012-2019, with outcomes evaluated through December 31, 2020. Results were analyzed retrospectively and according to recovery technique (abdominal NRP [A-NRP] or standard rapid recovery [SRR]). During the study period, 545 cDCD liver transplants were performed with A-NRP and 258 with SRR. Median donor age was 59 years (interquartile range 49-67 years). Adjusted risk estimates were improved with A-NRP for overall biliary complications (OR 0.300, 95% CI 0.197-0.459, p < .001), ischemic type biliary lesions (OR 0.112, 95% CI 0.042-0.299, p < .001), graft loss (HR 0.371, 95% CI 0.267-0.516, p < .001), and patient death (HR 0.540, 95% CI 0.373-0.781, p = .001). Cold ischemia time (HR 1.004, 95% CI 1.001-1.007, p = .021) and re-transplantation indication (HR 9.552, 95% CI 3.519-25.930, p < .001) were significant independent predictors for graft loss among cDCD livers with A-NRP. While use of A-NRP helps overcome traditional limitations in cDCD liver transplantation, opportunity for improvement remains for cases with prolonged cold ischemia and/or technically complex recipients, indicating a potential role for complimentary ex situ perfusion preservation techniques.

Photocatalysis for arsenic removal from water: considerations for solar photocatalytic reactors.

The following work provides a perspective on the potential application of solar heterogeneous photocatalysis, which is a nonselective advanced oxidation process considered as a sustainable technology, to assist in arsenic removal from water, which is a global threat to human health. Heterogeneous photocatalysis can oxidize trivalent arsenic to pentavalent arsenic, decreasing its toxicity and easing its removal with other technologies, such as chemical precipitation and adsorption. Several lab-scale arsenic photocatalytic oxidation and diverse solar heterogeneous photocatalytic operations carried out in different reactor designs are analyzed. It was found out that this technology has not been translated to operational pilot plant scale prototypes. General research on reactors is scarce, comprising a small percentage of the photocatalysis related scientific literature. It was possible to elucidate some operational parameters that a reactor must comply to operate efficiently. Reports on small-scale application shed light that in areas where other water purification technologies are economically and/or technically not suitable, and the solar energy is available, shed light on the fact that solar heterogeneous photocatalysis is highly promissory within a water purification process for removal of arsenic from water.

Co-occurrence, possible origin, and health-risk assessment of arsenic and fluoride in drinking water sources in Mexico: Geographical data visualization.

Arsenic and fluoride in drinking water present a significant challenge to public health worldwide. In this study, we analyze the results of one of the largest surveys of drinking water quality in Mexico: 14,058 samples from 3951 sites, collected between January and December 2017. We use these data to identify the distribution and possible origin of arsenic and fluoride in drinking water throughout the country, and to estimate the associated health burden. The highest concentrations appear in alluvial aquifers in arid northern Mexico, where high-silica volcanic rock likely releases both arsenic and fluoride to the groundwater. We find fluoride contamination to be significantly correlated with aridity (Pearson correlation = -0.45, p = 0.0105), and also find a significant difference in fluoride concentrations between arid and humid states (Welch's t-test, p = 0.004). We estimate population exposure by assigning to each town in Mexico the average concentration of any sampling sites within 5 km. Our results show that 56% of the Mexican population lives within 5 km of a sampling site, 3.05 million people are exposed to fluoride above the reference dosage of 0.06 mg/(kg ∗ day), 8.81 million people are exposed to arsenic above the limit of 10 µg/L, and an additional 13,070 lifetime cases of cancer are expected from this arsenic exposure alone. This burden of disease is concentrated in the arid states of north-central Mexico.

A Variety of Alu-Mediated Copy Number Variations Can Underlie IL-12Rß1 Deficiency.

PURPOSE: Inborn errors of IFN-γ immunity underlie Mendelian susceptibility to mycobacterial disease (MSMD). Autosomal recessive complete IL-12Rß1 deficiency is the most frequent genetic etiology of MSMD. Only two of the 84 known mutations are copy number variations (CNVs), identified in two of the 213 IL-12Rß1-deficient patients and two of the 164 kindreds reported. These two CNVs are large deletions found in the heterozygous or homozygous state. We searched for novel families with IL-12Rß1 deficiency due to CNVs. METHODS: We studied six MSMD patients from five unrelated kindreds displaying adverse reactions to BCG vaccination. Three of the patients also presented systemic salmonellosis, two had mucocutaneous candidiasis, and one had disseminated histoplasmosis. We searched for CNVs and other variations by IL12RB1-targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS). RESULTS: We identified six new IL-12Rß1-deficient patients with a complete loss of IL-12Rß1 expression on phytohemagglutinin-activated T cells and/or EBV-transformed B cells. The cells of these patients did not respond to IL-12 and IL-23. Five different CNVs encompassing IL12RB1 (four deletions and one duplication) were identified in these patients by NGS coverage analysis, either in the homozygous state (n = 1) or in trans (n = 4) with a single-nucleotide variation (n = 3) or a small indel (n = 1). Seven of the nine mutations are novel. Interestingly, four of the five CNVs were predicted to be driven by nearby Alu elements, as well as the two previously reported large deletions. The IL12RB1 locus is actually enriched in Alu elements (44.7%), when compared with the rest of the genome (10.5%). CONCLUSION: The IL12RB1 locus is Alu-enriched and therefore prone to rearrangements at various positions. CNVs should be considered in the genetic diagnosis of IL-12Rß1 deficiency.

Influence of reduction in the elution times on HPLC glycohaemoglobin results.

OBJECTIVES: To compare HPLC methods with short and long elution times for HbA1c measurement in blood. METHODS: Comparison between G7-Tosoh (1.2 min); Bio-Rad-Variant-II-Turbo (1.3 min) and Arkray-HA-8160 (2.9 min). RESULTS: Passing-Bablok regression equations were: Y=0.17+0.96X; Y=-0.39+1.01X; Y=-0.40+1.0X and the means of the differences using Bland-Altman Plot were 0.02; -0.34; 0.32 for HA-8160/G7-Tosoh, HA-8160/Variant-II-Turbo and G7-Tosoh/Variant-II-Turbo, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Faster elution methods had no problems on reproducibility of results obtained by slower elution methods.

[Microbiological profiling of isolates from the neonatal unit of a third-level hospital in Bogotá, Colombia]. / Perfil microbiológico de aislamientos en unidades neonatales en un hospital de tercer nivel de Bogotá, Colombia.

OBJECTIVES: Investigating the prevalence and sensitivity of germs isolated from newborn in a referral hospital in Bogotá. Suggesting an empirical antibiotic treatment for neonatal infection. METHODS: Cultures taken between February and December 2002 were analysed. Blood cultures were processed using BacT/ALERT (Durham, NC), urine cultures by UROCULT (Bio-Bacter) and catheter tips in thioglycollate. BBL CRYSTAL identification system (BD, Sparks, MD) was used for identifying germs. Antibiotic sensitivity was determined by disk diffusion. RESULTS: There were 1,097 positive aerobic and facultative aerobic germ cultures; 64.3% were Gram-positive, 30.6% Gram-negative and 4.9% were yeasts. Gram-positive germs consisted of coagulase-negative staphylococci (64.2%), enterococcus (13.8%) and coagulase-positive staphylococci (13.3%). The most frequent Gram-negatives were Klebsiella (45.2%), Eschericha coli (30.9%) and Serratia (10.1%). Staphylococcus epidermidis accounted for 64% of the coagulase-negative staphylococci. S. epidermidis susceptibility to vancomycin was 100%. Coagulase-negative staphylococci susceptibility to rifampin and amikacin was 59% and 67.4% (respectively). Coagulase-negative staphylococci resistance to beta-lactams was 86.4% (95% CI: 82.3-89.9). Coagulase-positive staphylococci sensitivity to vancomycin was 100%. Gram-negative susceptibility to imipenem was 98.1% (95% CI: 89.9-99.9), 78.1% to gentamicin (95% CI: 64.9-88.2) and 46.6% to amikacin (95% CI: 28.3-65.7). CONCLUSIONS: There was high coagulase-negative staphylococci prevalence in neonatal infection (particularly S. epidermidis). All S. epidermidis and coagulase-positive staphylococci were sensitive to vancomycin. There was increasing coagulase-negative staphylococci and Gram-negative resistance to oxacillin and amikacin, respectively.

Detection of low-frequency antigen-specific IL-10-producing CD4(+) T cells via ELISPOT in PBMC: cognate vs. nonspecific production of the cytokine.

Single-cell resolution cytokine ELISPOT assays are increasingly used to gain insights into clonal sizes of type 1 and type 2 effector T cell populations in vivo. However, ELISPOT assays permitting monitoring of regulatory IL-10-producing T cells have so far not been established. Unlike IFN-gamma, IL-2, IL-4, and IL-5 assays performed on PBMC in which the recall antigen-induced cytokine spots are T cell-derived, we show here that in such assays IL-10 is primarily monocyte-derived. T cell-derived IL-10 spots were 80 x 10(3) microm(2) in size, seven times larger than spots produced by monocytes, and B cells produced even smaller spots. Based on spot size gating and the use of B cells as APC, we have established test conditions that permit measurement of cognate IL-10 production by low-frequency antigen-specific T cells. IL-10-producing PPD-specific CD4(+) T cells were detected in frequencies comparable to IFN-gamma-secreting CD4(+) T cells in tuberculosis patients, but not in uninfected healthy control individuals. In contrast, IL-10-secreting CD4(+) T cells specific for a panel of recall antigens could not be detected in frequencies >1/100,000 in healthy individuals whose CD4(+) cells responded to these antigens with type 1 or type 2 cytokine production in the 1:100,000-1:1000 frequency range. Therefore, the induction of IL-10-producing T cells seems to be under tighter control than that of Th1/Th2 cells, apparently confined to states of chronic immune stimulation. Access to low-frequency immune monitoring of IL-10-producing T cells will provide new insights into the role of regulatory T cells in health and disease.