Interaction effects of organic load and cycle time in an AsBr applied to a personal care industry wastewater treatment

A mechanically stirred anaerobic sequencing batch reactor (ASBR) containing granular biomass was applied to the treatment of a wastewater simulating the effluent from a personal care industry. The ASBR was operated with cycle lengths (t_C) of 8, 12 and 24 h and applied volumetric organic loads (AVOL) of 0.75, 0.50 and 0.25 gCOD/L.d, treating 2.0 L liquid medium per cycle. Stirring frequency was 150 rpm and the reactor was kept in an isothermal chamber at 30 °C. Increase in t_C resulted in efficiency increase at constant AVOL, reaching 77% at t_C of 24 h versus 69% at t_C of 8 h. However, efficiency decreased when AVOL decreased as a function of increasing t_C, due to the lack of substrate in the reaction medium. Moreover, replacing part of the wastewater by a chemically balanced synthetic one did not yield the expected effect and system efficiency dropped.     

Chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling: an advanced biomass combustion technology to avoid CO2 emissions

Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change - Bioenergy with carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (BECCS) technologies represent an interesting option to reach negative carbon...     

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis using FISH for carriers of Robertsonian translocations: the Portuguese experience

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is an alternative to prenatal diagnosis for couples at risk of transmitting genetic disorders to their offspring. We present a fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis of embryos obtained after seven PGD cycles in six couples with Robertsonian translocations and male factor infertility: 4 der(13;14), 1 der(14;21) and 1 der(15;21). Of 74 metaphase II (MII) injected oocytes, 61 (82.4%) fertilized normally and cleaved. Of these, 37/61 (60.7%) embryos were of high morphological quality with ≥6 blastomeres. After biopsy of 44 embryos at day 3 of development, seven degenerated, seven arrested in development and 30/44 (68.2%) evolved, of which 25/30 (83.3%) reached the morula/blastocyst stage. Analysis of biopsied blastomeres showed 23/44 (52.3%) of normal/balanced embryos, of which 15 (11 at the morula/blastocyst stage) were transferred in six cycles. One term pregnancy was achieved, which ended by cesarean section at 37 weeks of gestation, giving birth to two healthy newborn. Analysis of 49 embryos (excluding 12 inconclusive cases) showed a predominance of alternate segregation (38/49, 77.6%) over adjacent segregation (7/49, 14.3%), with one (2%) being a polyploid mosaic and three (6.1%) chaotic. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Safety I–II,resilience and antifragility engineering: a debate explained through an accident occurring on a mobile elevating work platform

Occupational health and safety (OHS) represents an important field of exploration for the research community: in spite of the growth of technological innovations, the increasing complexity of systems involves critical issues in terms of degradation of the safety levels. In such a situation, new safety management approaches are now mandatory in order to face the safety implications of the current technological evolutions. Along these lines, performing risk-based analysis alone seems not to be enough anymore. The evaluation of robustness, antifragility and resilience of a socio-technical system is now indispensable in order to face unforeseen events. This article will briefly introduce the topics of Safety I and Safety II, resilience engineering and antifragility engineering, explaining correlations, overlapping aspects and synergies. Secondly, the article will discuss the applications of those paradigms to a real accident, highlighting how they can challenge, stimulate and inspire research for improving OHS conditions.     

Density,size structure and aspergillosis prevalence in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gorgonia ventalina</Emphasis> at six localities in Puerto Rico

Gorgonia ventalina’s density, size structure and lesion prevalence was measured at six sites in Puerto Rico that exhibited variation in horizontal water transparency, sedimentation rates, suspended particle matter, scleractinian and macroalgal cover. G. ventalina density varied significantly among sites (between 0.84 and 0.007 colonies/m²), and was positively correlated with water transparency. Size structure did not vary much among sites, and reflects high mortality among the smaller size classes and high survivorship in large colonies. Prevalence of active fungi-induced lesions (type I) did not vary significantly among sites and was density-independent. However, prevalence of old lesions of unknown origin (type II) did vary among reefs and was negatively correlated with water transparency. Prevalence of types I or II lesions was independent of colony size. Our results suggest that (1) turbidity and sedimentation are important abiotic factors controlling the abundance of sea fans, (2) variation in settlement success and early survivorship of recruits has more impact on the sea fan populations than variation in the survivorship of large colonies and (3) prevalence of aspergillosis (type I) at the studied sites is similar to that reported for other Caribbean reefs and supports the epizootic nature of the disease and (4) lesions with exposed skeleton are more likely to be colonized by fouling organisms at impacted reefs. The combined effects of anthropogenic impacts and aspergillosis may cause local extinctions of sea fans, as is becoming evident in many reefs in Puerto Rico.     

Seasonal variations in condition,reproductive activity and biochemical composition of the flat oyster,Ostrea edulis,from San Cibran (Galicia,Spain)

The influence of environmental parameters (temperature, salinity and available food) on the condition, reproductive activity and biochemical composition of a native population of Ostrea edulis L. in San Cibran (Galicia, Spain) was studied between September 1988 and December 1989. Histological preparations of gonads showed that gametogenesis started when temperature was at its lowest in winter. The water temperature in San Cibran never fell low enough to interrupt it. Gametogenesis proceeded slowly and spawning took place in May–June, although the predicted time of ripening was early March. Salinity in San Cibran was relatively stable throughout the year; it did not seem to have any influence on gametogenesis. Available food appeared to be a very important factor in controlling gonad growth, once gametogenesis was initiated. The major concentration of suspended organic particulate matter was present in the spring at the time of rapid gonadal maturation. Only one spawning period was observed. Larvae were released when the food in the water was high. Seasonal changes in the main biochemical components of this oyster were determined for a standard individual. Lipids and carbohydrates presented a similar time-course whereas proteins were constant. When food was abundant, energy reserves were built up. Spawning produced a decrease in biochemical constituent levels, and recovery coincided with the phytoplankton bloom. The stored reserves, mainly lipids, were used to overcome a state of energy imbalance in late autumn associated with low food availability. Results show this oyster to be an opportunist organism which concentrates its reproductive effort during a short period of favourable conditions and which is directly dependent on nutritive availability in the environment.     

Physiological capacity and environmental tolerance in two sandhopper species with contrasting geographical ranges: Talitrus saltator and Talorchestia ugolinii

We investigated the physiological plasticity and environmental tolerance of two phylogenetically closely related, ecologically similar and co-occurring species of supralittoral amphipods differing drastically in the size of their geographical ranges. A series of physiological traits were characterised for the Corsican-endemic Talorchestia ugolinii Bella-Santini and Ruffo and the widespread Talitrus saltator Montagu. The effect of body mass, temperature and salinity on heart rate (used as proxy for metabolic activity and stress), the effect of temperature on oxygen consumption and the tolerance to salinity exposure were investigated in both species, together with the characterisation of haemolymph osmoregulation in T. ugolinii. Our results showed that there is a clear difference in the resting metabolic rates and physiological capacity, as well as environmental tolerance, between T. saltator and T. ugolinii, with T. saltator overall showing a broader physiological niche. Although T. ugolinii showed a relatively good ability to regulate its haemolymph osmotic concentration (similar to that previously described for T. saltator), it demonstrated a lower tolerance to exposure to hypo-osmotic stress. In addition, a consistent picture emerged between the ability to control the cardiac function and the capacity to actively respond to osmotic stress. The physiological findings are discussed in relation to the known ecology and geographical distribution of T. ugolinii.