A voltammetric electronic tongue as tool for water quality monitoring in wastewater treatment plants

The use of a voltammetric electronic tongue as tool for the prediction of concentration levels of certain water quality parameters from influent and effluent wastewater from a Submerged Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor pilot plant applied to domestic wastewater treatment is proposed here. The electronic tongue consists of a set of noble (Au, Pt, Rh, Ir, and Ag) and non-noble (Ni, Co and Cu) electrodes that were housed inside a stainless steel cylinder which was used as the body of the electronic tongue system. As a previous step an electrochemical study of the response of the ions sulphate, orthophosphate, acetate, bicarbonate and ammonium was carried out in water using the electrodes contained in the electronic tongue. The second part of the work was devoted to the application of the electronic tongue to the characterization of the influent and effluent waters from the wastewater treatment plant. Partial Least Squares analysis was used to obtain a correlation between the data from the tongue and the pollution parameters measured in the laboratory such as soluble chemical oxygen demand (CODs), soluble biological oxygen demand (BODs), ammonia (NH(4)-N), orthophosphate (PO(4)-P), Sulphate (SO(4)-S), acetic acid (HAC) and alkalinity (Alk). A total of 28 and 11 samples were used in the training and the validation steps, respectively, for both influent and effluent water samples. The electronic tongue showed relatively good predictive power for the determination of BOD, COD, NH(4)-N, PO(4)-P, SO(4)-S, and Alk.

Use of a novel double uterine deposition artificial insemination technique using low concentrations of sperm in pigs

Currently, the three most important non-surgical artificial insemination systems used in pigs are the conventional, the post-cervical (IUI), and the deep-intrauterine (DIUI) methods. In this study, a new system, termed double uterine deposition insemination (DUDI), which combines aspects of both IUI and DIUI, was evaluated. This method used a thinner, shorter and more flexible catheter than those normally used for DIUI and resulted in the deposition of semen post-cervically, approximately half-way along the uterine horn, thus potentially by-passing the threat of 'unilateral' insemination or pregnancy when using sperm of low concentration. The experiment was carried out over 8 weeks on a group of 166 sows, which were divided into seven groups, inseminated with semen of varying concentration, using the conventional system (control group) or by DUDI. There were no significant differences in fertility at day 35 post-insemination between the controls and the various DUDI sub-groups. Only sows inseminated with 500 million viable spermatozoa in a total of 30 mL of fluid using the DUDI system demonstrated decreased total litter sizes when compared to conventional insemination (P<0.001). While conventional insemination normally uses 2.5-3.5 billion sperm, the findings of this study suggest that DUDI can be used under 'field' conditions with sperm concentrations as low as 750 million spermatozoa in 50-30 mL without any detrimental effect on fertility or litter size. DUDI may provide a viable, robust alternative to IUI and DIUI, and has the potential to become incorporated into on-farm insemination systems.

[Study of prognostic factors in the hepatectomy for metastases of colorectal carcinoma--analysis of two scores]

BACKGROUND

Resection is the treatment of choice for colorectal cancer liver metastases.

OBJECTIVE

This is a retrospective, longitudinal, retrospective analysis of different prognostic factors for survival in a consecutive series of liver resection for metastatic colorectal carcinoma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Between October 1998 and November 2007, we performed 89 liver resections for colorectal metastases. A retrospective analysis from the liver resection database was performed and the variables analyzed were related to demography, primary tumor and surgical procedure. Survival analysis was performed according to the Fong and Basingstoke scores.

RESULTS

The mean age of patients was 60.5 years and 67.4% were men. The primary tumor was localized in the colon in 73% of cases. In 68.5% the metastases were metachronous. The right hemiliver was involved in 46 patients (52%). Major hepatectomy was performed in 36 (40.2%), minor in 55 (59.8%) and combined procedures in 14 (15.7%). Seventy-seven (86.5%) R0 resections were achieved. Morbidity was 32.6%, with no perioperative mortality. Average follow-up was 32.5 months (range 1 to 158 months), with a median of 25.5 months. Median overall survival was 69.7 months and mean disease-free survival 58.7 months. Multivariate analysis found statistical significance for blood product requirement and margin of resection. Thirty-four patients are alive at the end of this study (45.9%). The Basingstoke predictive index for postoperative variables showed significant differences that were not demonstrated by the Fong clinical score on prognostic factors.

CONCLUSIONS

The application of Basingstoke predictive index and Fong score with biomarkers may indicate the most appropriate therapeutic strategy in each patient with colorectal liver metastases.

Bilateral Internuclear Ophthalmoplegia in a Patient with Devic's Neuromyelitis Optica

An unusual presentation of Devic's neuromyelitis optica (NMO) disease associated with bilateral internuclear ophthalmoplegia (INO) is described. A 32-year-old pregnant patient was diagnosed with NMO. First symptoms were headache and sudden visual loss in her right eye (RE). Eighteen months ago, she reported other neurologic symptoms such as paresthesia. Based on her visual field, fundoscopy and Ishihara test, she was diagnosed with retrobulbar neuritis of the RE. After delivery, new neurologic symptoms resembling transverse myelitis appeared. She was treated with methylprednisolone and plasmapheresis, which improved her visual acuity; however, a sudden bilateral INO appeared, with adduction defect and nystagmus with abduction in both eyes. No improvement was obtained after treatment with azathioprine and rituximab. Paresis of the legs and the right arm persisted, but double vision and OIN gradually disappeared. At the end, the patient had a residual exophoria in the RE and nystagmus with abduction in the left eye. Prevalence of NMO is lower than one case per one million inhabitants, and it is not likely to affect the encephalic trunk; furthermore, bilateral INO in NMO is rare. Two major criteria and at least two of the three minor ones are required to confirm a NMO diagnosis, and our patient fulfilled these diagnosis criteria.

Effects of whole-body vibration on blood flow and neuromuscular activity in spinal cord injury

STUDY DESIGN

Crossover trial.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the effects of whole-body vibration (WBV) on muscular activity and blood flow velocity after different vibration treatments in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI).

SETTING

Research Center on Physical Disability (Spain).

METHODS

Eight individuals with SCI received six 3-min WBV treatments depending on a combination of frequency (10, 20 or 30 Hz) and protocol (constant, that is, three consecutive minutes of WBV, or fragmented, that is, three sets of 1 min of WBV with 1 min of rest between the sets). Femoral artery blood flow velocity was registered at minutes 1, 2 and 3 of WBV, and at minutes 1 and 2 after the end of the stimulus. Electromyography activity (EMG) of vastus lateralis (VL) and vastus medialis (VM) was registered at baseline and during WBV.

RESULTS

Peak blood velocity (PBV) increased after 1, 2 and 3 min of WBV. The 10 Hz frequency did not alter blood flow, whereas the 20 Hz frequency increased PBV after 2 and 3 min of WBV, and the 30 Hz frequency increased PBV after 1, 2 and 3 min of WBV and during the first minute after the end of the stimulus. No protocol effect was observed for blood parameters. EMG activity of VL and VM increased independently of the applied frequency or protocol.

CONCLUSION

WBV is an effective method to increase leg blood flow and to activate muscle mass in SCI patients, and could be considered to be incorporated in their rehabilitation programs.

Thermal acclimation of leaf dark respiration of beech seedlings experiencing summer drought in high and low light environments

Little is known about how environmental factors shape the short- and long-term responses of leaf respiration to temperature under field conditions despite the importance of respiration for plant and stand carbon balances. Impacts of water availability and canopy cover on leaf dark respiration (R) and temperature sensitivity were assessed in beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) seedlings in a sub-Mediterranean population. We studied seedlings established within canopy gaps (39% global site factor; GSF) that were subject to either no watering (unwatered plants; UW) or regular watering (2-10% higher volumetric topsoil water content as summer progressed; W plants) and seedlings established beneath the adjacent understorey (12% GSF). Leaf R rose exponentially with diurnal increases in temperature; the same temperature sensitivity (Q(10): 2.2) was found for understorey and gap plants, irrespective of watering treatment. Respiration estimated at 25 degrees C (R(25)) was lower in the understorey than the gaps and was significantly lower in the unwatered than in the watered gap plants by the end of summer (0.65 versus 0.80 micromol m(-2) s(-1)). R(25) declined with increasing summer temperature in all plants; however, respiration estimated at the prevailing ambient temperature did not change through the summer. There were parallel declines in R(25) and concentrations of starch and soluble sugars with increasing summer temperature for gap plants. We conclude that seasonal shifts in temperature-response curves of beech leaf R occur in both low- and high-light environments; since leaf R decreased with increasing plant water deficit, such shifts are likely to be greater whenever plants experience summer drought compared to scenarios where plants experience high rainfall in summer.