Treatment of tomato paste wastewater by electrochemical and membrane processes: process optimization and cost calculation

This study investigated the treatment of wastewater from tomato paste (TP) production using electrocoagulation (EC) and electrooxidation (EO). The effectiveness of water recovery from the pretreated water was then investigated using the membrane process. For this purpose, the effects of independent control variables, including electrode type (aluminum, iron, graphite, and stainless steel), current density (25-75 A/m2), and electrolysis time (15-120 min) on chemical oxygen demand (COD) and color removal were investigated. The results showed that 81.0% of COD and 100% of the color removal were achieved by EC at a current density of 75 A/m2, a pH of 6.84 and a reaction time of 120 min aluminum electrodes. In comparison, EO with graphite electrodes achieved 55.6% of COD and 100% of the color removal under similar conditions. The operating cost was calculated to be in the range of $0.56-30.62/m3. Overall, the results indicate that EO with graphite electrodes is a promising pretreatment process for the removal of various organics. In the membrane process, NP030, NP010, and NF90 membranes were used at a volume of 250 mL and 5 bar. A significant COD removal rate of 94% was achieved with the membrane. The combination of EC and the membrane process demonstrated the feasibility of water recovery from TP wastewater.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings after knee, foot, and ankle traumas

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to investigate the demographic and clinical characteristics of knee and ankle traumas that could not be detected in the first post-traumatic evaluation and diagnosed within 15 days after the follow-up examination and to discuss the results we obtained with current data.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients admitted to the emergency department trauma department between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2018, were retrospectively analyzed. Applications due to traffic accidents and all traumas except knee and ankle trauma were excluded from the study. Medical records were used to reveal the demographic characteristics of the cases, clinical findings, mechanisms of injury, additional injuries, and interventions in the emergency room.

RESULTS

The mean age of 2,039 patients included in the study due to knee, foot, and ankle trauma was 35.69±12.01, and the median value was 36 (age range 11-71). The patients were divided into 2 groups knee trauma and ankle trauma and statistical evaluations were made. Of the patients evaluated for knee trauma (n=1,157), 463 (40%) were female and 694 (60%) were male. Of the patients evaluated for ankle trauma (n=882), 397 (45%) were female and 485 (55%) were male.

CONCLUSIONS

It is evident that knee, foot, and ankle traumas after simple falls and sports injuries are frequently encountered by emergency physicians. It is known that post-traumatic ligament injury, bone contusion, intraarticular fluid/hematoma formation, and fractures that cannot be detected by radiographs can be overlooked in emergency departments where patient density is high.

Association between herbivore stress and glutathione S-transferase expression in Pinus brutia Ten

Plants have developed mechanisms to defend themselves against many factors including biotic stress such as herbivores and pathogens. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) is a glutathione-dependent detoxifying enzyme and plays critical roles in stress tolerance and detoxification metabolism in plants. Pinus brutia Ten. is a prominent native forest tree species in Turkey, due to both its economic and ecological assets. One of the problems faced by P. brutia afforestation sites is the attacks by pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni Tams.). In this study, we investigated the changes in activity and mRNA expression of GST in pine samples taken from both resistant and susceptible clones against T. wilkinsoni over a nine month period in a clonal seed orchard. It was found that the average cytosolic GST activities of trees in March and July were significantly higher than the values obtained in November. November was considered to be the control since trees were not under stress yet. In addition, RT-PCR results clearly showed that levels of GST transcripts in March and July samples were significantly higher as compared to the level seen in November. These findings strongly suggest that GST activity from P. brutia would be a valuable marker for exposure to herbivory stress.