Observations from the Field Concerning Water and Dialysate for Hemodialysis

This article describes survey observations and findings related to water and dialysate in hemodialysis facilities. Ensuring the quality of the water and dialysate is critically important for patient safety. Survey findings related to monitoring of the pH and conductivity, microbiology and disinfection, water system monitoring, water in the home dialysis setting, and quality assessment and performance improvement are reviewed. Implications for the nephrology registered nurse in each of the scenarios are discussed.

Forward-Looking Roadmaps for Long-Term Continuous Water Quality Monitoring: Bottlenecks, Innovations, and Prospects in a Critical Review

Long-term continuous monitoring (LTCM) of water quality can bring far-reaching influences on water ecosystems by providing spatiotemporal data sets of diverse parameters and enabling operation of water and wastewater treatment processes in an energy-saving and cost-effective manner. However, current water monitoring technologies are deficient for long-term accuracy in data collection and processing capability. Inadequate LTCM data impedes water quality assessment and hinders the stakeholders and decision makers from foreseeing emerging problems and executing efficient control methodologies. To tackle this challenge, this review provides a forward-looking roadmap highlighting vital innovations toward LTCM, and elaborates on the impacts of LTCM through a three-hierarchy perspective: data, parameters, and systems. First, we demonstrate the critical needs and challenges of LTCM in natural resource water, drinking water, and wastewater systems, and differentiate LTCM from existing short-term and discrete monitoring techniques. We then elucidate three steps to achieve LTCM in water systems, consisting of data acquisition (water sensors), data processing (machine learning algorithms), and data application (with modeling and process control as two examples). Finally, we explore future opportunities of LTCM in four key domains, water, energy, sensing, and data, and underscore strategies to transfer scientific discoveries to general end-users.

Magnetic Cellulose-Chitosan Nanocomposite for Simultaneous Removal of Emerging Contaminants: Adsorption Kinetics and Equilibrium Studies

The presence of pharmaceuticals in water systems threatens both terrestrial and aquatic life across the globe. Some of such contaminants are β-blockers and anticonvulsants, which have been constantly detected in different water systems. Various methodologies have been introduced for the removal of these emerging pollutants from different waters. Among them, adsorption using nanomaterials has proved to be an efficient and cost-effective process for the removal of pharmaceuticals from contaminated water. In this this study, a firsthand/time approach applying a recyclable magnetic cellulose-chitosan nanocomposite for effective simultaneous removal of two β-blockers (atenolol (ATN)) and propranolol (PRP) and an anticonvulsant (carbamazepine (CBZ)) is reported. A detailed characterization of the eco-friendly, biocompatible cellulose-chitosan nanocomposite with magnetic properties was performed at various rates of synthesis using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. A N_2c adsorption-desorption test showed that the prepared nanocomposite is mesoporous, with a BET area of 112 m² g^-1. The BET isotherms results showed that the magnetic cellulose-chitosan nanocomposite has a pore size of 24.1 nm. The adsorption equilibrium of PRP and CBZ fitted with the Langmuir isotherm was consistent with the highest coefficient of determination (R² = 0.9945) and (R² = 0.9942), respectively, while the Sips model provided a better fit for ATN, with a coefficient of determination R² = 0.9956. The adsorption rate was accompanied by a pseudo-second-order kinetics. Moreover, the swelling test showed that up to 100 percent swelling of the magnetic cellulose-chitosan nanocomposite was achieved.

Monitoring and controlling bacteria in pharmaceutical industries water system

AIM

This research aimed to monitor pharmaceutical water system by sampling water from all treatment stages, identify bacterial isolates from each phase and determine the most suitable methods to control them.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Water samples were collected and examined from pharmaceutical water system in a pharmaceutical factory in Giza, Egypt during 12 months, once per month (from December 2017 to November 2018) from 15 points covering all stages of the treatment process starting from wells, pre-treatment points; treatment points ending with purified points which are the main source of water used in all pharmaceutical process. In all, 216 water samples were collected and examined, 156 isolates were selected according to morphological characteristics. VITEK system 2 (BioMérieux) was used for identification of all isolates resulting in 24 different identified bacteria. Antibiotic assay test using disc diffusion methods were carried out using seven antibiotics from different groups. Several disinfectants were also examined for efficacy against the isolates to control micro-organisms in water treatment stage and manufacturing area. The effect of different preservatives (parabens, acids and alcohols) in various pharmaceutical formulas was also tested on bacterial isolates, 63% of formulas were effective against all bacterial isolates.

CONCLUSION

Ciprofloxacin was the most effective antibiotic, mixture of 0·45% peracetic acid plus 2·2% of hydrogen peroxide (Minncare 1%) was maximally effective disinfectant, and Cronobacter sakazakii was the most resistant micro-organism against 22·7% of tested preservatives.

SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY

Controlling pharmaceutical manufacturing operation from pathogenic bacteria that affect the quality of drugs.

Environmental Surveillance of Legionellosis within an Italian University Hospital-Results of 15 Years of Analysis

Legionnaires' disease is normally acquired by inhalation of legionellae from a contaminated environmental source. Water systems of large and old buildings, such as hospitals, can be contaminated with legionellae and therefore represent a potential risk for the hospital population. In this study, we demonstrated the constant presence of Legionella in water samples from the water system of a large university hospital in Messina (Sicily, Italy) consisting of 11 separate pavilions during a period of 15 years (2004⁻2018). In total, 1346 hot water samples were collected between January 2004 and December 2018. During this period, to recover Legionella spp. from water samples, the standard procedures reported by the 2000 Italian Guidelines were adopted; from May 2015 to 2018 Italian Guidelines revised in 2015 (ISS, 2015) were used. Most water samples (72%) were positive to L. pneumophila serogroups 2⁻14, whereas L. pneumophila serogroup 1 accounted for 18% and non-Legionellapneumophila spp. Accounted for 15%. Most of the positive samples were found in the buildings where the following critical wards are situated: (Intensive Care Unit) ICU, Neurosurgery, Surgeries, Pneumology, and Neonatal Intensive Unit Care. This study highlights the importance of the continuous monitoring of hospital water samples to prevent the potential risk of nosocomial legionellosis.

Spatial structuring of a Legionella pneumophila population within the water system of a large occupational building

The diversity of Legionella pneumophila populations within single water systems is not well understood, particularly in those unassociated with cases of Legionnaires’ disease. Here, we performed genomic analysis of 235 L. pneumophila isolates obtained from 28 water samples in 13 locations within a large occupational building. Despite regular treatment, the water system of this building is thought to have been colonized by L. pneumophila for at least 30 years without evidence of association with Legionnaires’ disease cases. All isolates belonged to one of three sequence types (STs), ST27 (n=81), ST68 (n=122) and ST87 (n=32), all three of which have been recovered from Legionnaires’ disease patients previously. Pairwise single nucleotide polymorphism differences amongst isolates of the same ST were low, ranging from 0 to 19 in ST27, from 0 to 30 in ST68 and from 0 to 7 in ST87, and no homologous recombination was observed in any lineage. However, there was evidence of horizontal transfer of a plasmid, which was found in all ST87 isolates and only one ST68 isolate. A single ST was found in 10/13 sampled locations, and isolates of each ST were also more similar to those from the same location compared with those from different locations, demonstrating spatial structuring of the population within the water system. These findings provide the first insights into the diversity and genomic evolution of a L. pneumophila population within a complex water system not associated with disease.

Transcriptional Responses of Pseudomonas aeruginosa to Potable Water and Freshwater

Many Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections are derived from residential, recreational, or surface water sources; thus, these environments represent an important preinfection niche. To better understand P. aeruginosa biology in these environments, we quantified transcriptional changes by microarray after exposure to diluted LB, diluted R2B, potable tap water, and freshwater from a eutrophic pond. Quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) confirmed the conservation of these responses in other water sources, and competition experiments were used to test the importance of three implicated metabolic pathways. The global transcriptional responses in potable water and freshwater showed strong induction of genes involved in metabolism of the head groups and acyl tails of phospholipids, as well as nucleotide metabolism, with commensurate decreased transcript expression of genes encoding their synthetic pathways. These data suggest that phospholipids and nucleotides are part of the nutritional milieu of these two environments. A unique response in municipal-delivered potable water was to the metals in the piping system, particularly copper. To identify potential nutrient sources used by P. aeruginosa in these environments, we used competition assays between the wild-type and deletion mutant strains in three pathways induced under these conditions. For phospholipid head-group metabolism, ethanolamine utilization (eutB) was important for competition in potable water, while choline oxidation (betBA) was important for competition in freshwater. Nucleotide utilization, particularly pyrimidine metabolism (dht), showed a trend toward importance in freshwater but was not statistically significant. These findings provide new insights into the P. aeruginosa response to potable water and freshwater and led to the identification of potentially important nutrient sources in these environments.IMPORTANCE Much of our knowledge about Pseudomonas aeruginosa comes from the infection niche, and much less is known about its lifestyle in the environment. P. aeruginosa is an adaptable bacterium capable of growing in many environments but is particularly common in potable water systems and freshwater. We used the transcriptional responses of P. aeruginosa to these environments to identify important nutrient sources specific to either of these two environments. Additionally, these environments could provide experimental situations to understand gene function for the large number of transcripts with unknown functions induced under these conditions.

Highly Stable and Regenerative Metal-Organic Framework Designed by Multiwalled Divider Installation Strategy for Detection of Co(II) Ions and Organic Aromatics in Water

MOF-based sensors capable of effectively and stably detecting toxic species in water have attracted huge attention in terms of improving environmental monitoring levels and water quality. Combining the flexibility of structure and modifying of pore surface, a multiwalled divider installation (MWDI) strategy is proposed and used for property enhancement. We herein report three metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) 1-3 based on a C₃ symmetry organic phosphonic ligand with topology increased from 3,6-connected to 3,8-connected. Among them, MOFs 1 and 2 with remaining binding sites and large pores display lower luminescence response to Co²⁺ than does the applying standard. Guided by the MWDI strategy, 3 with high rigid framework and triple molecular installer divided rhombic pore was achieved under top-down topological analysis as anticipated, which endows high sensitivity and rapid response to Co²⁺, contributed by the synergy from free activated sites and appropriate pore and molecular dividing effect. Particularly, the high stability of 3 in boiling solvent and acid/base solutions has been evidenced and explained by structural robustness and kinetic inertness. Moreover, 3 shows excellent detection ability toward trinitrophenol (TNP) over other aromatic analytes in water, attributing to the predomination of energy transfers. Of note is that the used framework can be in situ regenerated into a fresh one. That provides a promising strategy to prepare effective and economic luminescent sensors in a predictable way for property modification.

Stable Zr(IV)-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks with Predesigned Functionalized Ligands for Highly Selective Detection of Fe(III) Ions in Water

Metal-organic frameworks are a class of attractive materials for fluorescent sensing. Improvement of hydrolytic stability, sensitivity, and selectivity of function is the key to advance application of fluorescent MOFs in aqueous media. In this work, two stable MOFs, [Zr₆O₄(OH)₈(H₂O)₄(L¹)₂] (BUT-14) and [Zr₆O₄(OH)₈(H₂O)₄(L²)₂] (BUT-15), were designed and synthesized for the detection of metal ions in water. Two new ligands utilized for construction of the MOFs, namely, 5',5‴-bis(4-carboxyphenyl)-[1,1':3',1″:4″,1‴:3‴,1''''-quinquephenyl]-4,4''''-dicarboxylate (L¹) and 4,4',4″,4‴-(4,4'-(1,4-phenylene)bis(pyridine-6,4,2-triyl))tetrabenzoate (L²), are structurally similar with the only difference being that the latter is functionalized by pyridine N atoms. The two MOFs are isostructural with a sqc-a topological framework structure, and highly porous with the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas of 3595 and 3590 m² g^-1, respectively. Interestingly, they show intense fluorescence in water, which can be solely quenched by trace amounts of Fe³⁺ ions. The detection limits toward the Fe³⁺ ions were calculated to be 212 and 16 ppb, respectively. The efficient fluorescent quenching effect is attributed to the photoinduced electron transfer between Fe³⁺ ions and the ligands in these MOFs. Moreover, the introduced pyridine N donors in the ligand of BUT-15 additionally donate their lone-pair electrons to the Fe³⁺ ions, leading to significantly enhanced detection ability. It is also demonstrated that BUT-15 exhibits an uncompromised performance for the detection of Fe³⁺ ions in a simulated biological system.

The accumulation and subcellular distribution of arsenic and antimony in four fern plants

In the present study, Pteris cretica 'Albo-Lineata' (PC), Pteris fauriei (PF), Humata tyermanii Moore (HT), and Pteris ensiformis Burm (PE), were selected to explore additional plant materials for the phytoremediation of As and Sb co-contamination. To some extent, the addition of As and Sb enhanced the growth of HT, PE, and PF. Conversely, the addition of As and Sb negatively affected the growth of PC and was accompanied with the accumulation of high levels of As and Sb in the roots. The highest concentration of Sb was recorded as 6405 mg kg(-1) in the roots of PC, and that for As was 337 mg kg(-1) in the rhizome of PF. To some degree, As and Sb stimulated the uptake of each other in these ferns. Arsenic was mainly stored in the cytoplasmic supernatant (CS) fraction, followed by the cell wall (CW) fraction. In contrast, Sb was mainly found in the CW fraction and, to a lesser extent, in the CS fraction, suggesting that the cell wall and cytosol play different roles in As and Sb accumulation by fern plants. This study demonstrated that these fern plants show a good application potential in the phytoremediation of As and Sb co-contaminated environments.