Biological treatment of industrial wastes in a photobioreactor

An algal-bacterial consortium was tested for the treatment from a coke factory. A Chlorella vulgaris strain and a phenol-degrading Alcaligenes sp. were first isolated from the wastewater treatment plant to serve as inocula in the subsequent biodegradation tests. Batch tests were then conducted with samples from the real wastewater or using a synthetic wastewater containing 325 mg phenol/l and 500 mg NH4+/l as target pollutants. Direct biological treatment of the real wastewater was not possible due to the toxicity of organic compounds. Activated carbon adsorption and UV(A-B)-irradiation were efficient in detoxifying the effluent for subsequent biological treatment as inoculation of pretreated samples with the algal-bacterial consortium was followed by complete phenol removal and NH4+ removal of 45%. Complete phenol removal and 33% NH4+ removal were achieved during the fed-batch treatment of artificial wastewater at 6 d hydraulic retention time (HRT). Under continuous feeding at 3.6 d HRT, phenol and NH4+ removal dropped to 58 and 18%, respectively. However, complete phenol removal and 29% NH4+ removal were achieved when 8 g NaHCO3/l was added to the artificial wastewater to enhance algal growth. This study confirms the potential of solar-based industrial wastewater treatment based on solar-based UV pretreatment followed by algal-bacterial biodegradation.

Effect of bilirubin on the spectrophotometric and radionuclide assay for serum angiotensin-converting enzyme

The effect of bilirubin on serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity was studied with spectrophotometric and radionuclide assays. In the spectrophotometric assay addition of bilirubin to normal serum from dog, mouse, and human produced a dose-related inhibition of ACE activity. A 50% decrease in human ACE activity was produced by the addition of approximately 250 mg/L in vitro. Serum from icteric patients with elevated bilirubin was also associated with a reduction in ACE activity in the spectrophotometric assay. A 50% decrease in ACE activity in these samples was associated with a serum bilirubin of approximately 220 mg/L. In the radionuclide assay, however, addition of bilirubin to normal human serum failed to reduce measured ACE activity. The use of a radionuclide assay for serum ACE in clinical samples offers the advantage of less interference from serum bilirubin.