Elimination of organic matter present in wastewaters from the cork industry by membrane filtration

BACKGROUND: The first stage of the cork industrial process generates great volumes of wastewater with moderate to high organic pollutant content that must be purified using different procedures, such as filtration by membranes. RESULTS: The tangential filtration of these wastewaters was studied using two different laboratory equipments. In the first one, three ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were tested, with molecular weight cut‐off (MWCO) 100 kDa and 30 kDa, and two operating modes were used: total recycling of permeate and retentate streams, and in continuous mode, without recycling both streams. In the total recycling UF experiments, the influence of the operating variables on the permeate flux was first established. The effectiveness of the different membranes was determined by evaluating the rejection coefficients for several parameters that measure the global pollutant content of the effluent. The values found for these rejection coefficients were in the following order: ellagic acid and color > absorbance at 254 nm > tannic content > COD (chemical oxygen demand). In the continuous mode experiments, the fouling mechanism for each membrane was established by fitting the experimental data to various filtration fouling models given in the literature. The operating mode in the second equipment was batch concentration, and additional experiments were carried out with an UF membrane (2 kDa), and with a NF membrane (with MWCO in the range 150–300 Da). CONCLUSIONS: The three operating modes tested provided different rejection levels of organic matter; among them, the most effective procedure tested was batch concentration mode using a NF membrane. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Purification of Ellagic Acid by UF Membranes

Ellagic acid (2, 3, 7, 8‐tetrahydroxy(1)benzopyrano(5, 4, 3‐cde)(1)benzopyran‐5, 10‐dione) was selected as a model pollutant which is present in the tannic fraction of cork processing wastewater. The ultrafiltration of aqueous ellagic acid solutions through three membranes was studied in tangential UF laboratory equipment. Two of the membranes were polyethersulfone (Biomax10K and Biomax5K, with MWCO of 10000 and 5000 Da, respectively), and the third made of regenerated cellulose (Ultracel5K, with MWCO of 5000 Da). The water hydraulic permeability was evaluated for each membrane. The evolution of the permeate flow rate with processing time was followed, and the influence of the main operating variables (feed flow rate, trans‐membrane pressure and nature of the membranes) on the permeate flux was also established. According to the hypothesis of the film theory, the intrinsic and apparent rejection coefficients, as well as the mass transfer coefficients, were also determined, and the values obtained were discussed as a function of the operating conditions used.     

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia and posthepatitis-C liver cirrhosis

Here we are presenting the case of a 70-years-old woman who has hepatic cirrhosis anti-HCV and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, without relevant epidemiologic ascendants or previous transfusions and HBV, HIV negatives. On admission to our hospital she showed signs of autoimmune hemolytic anaemia (AHA) which was confirmed by positive direct Coombs test and an improvement in blood test after corticoid treatment. Having discarded other possible causes such as drugs infectious diseases or essential mixed cryoglobulinemia (CME), we put forward the possible association between AHA and infection by HCV, where AHA was an extrahepatic immunological manifestation of HCV. This fact has never been brought to light in previous medical literature.     

Treatment of essential arterial hypertension with hypercholesterolemia. Effects of an alpha-adrenergic blocker and an inhibitor of the angiotensin converting enzyme

BACKGROUND: Hypertension and hypercholesterolemia are frequently associated with this leading to considerable cardiovascular risk. METHODS: An open parallel randomized study was performed in which the effects of doxazosin, an alpha-adrenergic blocker and enalapril, an inhibitor of the angiotensin converting enzyme were compared in 70 patients with essential high blood pressure and plasma cholesterol levels greater than 240 mg/dl. Following 2-4 weeks of placebo administration the patients were randomly treated with one of the two drugs. When required doses were increased and hydrochlorothiazide added until blood pressure lower than 160/95 mmHg was achieved. After this period the patients were observed for a minimum of 8 weeks. The mean length of the study was of 22 weeks. RESULTS: Both drugs significantly reduced blood pressure without modifying cardiac frequency. Doxazosin tended to favorably modify the lipid profile of the plasma while enalapril significantly reduced the levels of cholesterol, lipids and high density lipoproteins (HDL). Upon termination of the study the total HDL/cholesterol index increased 8.6% in those treated with doxazosin and decreased 5.5% in those receiving enalapril (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Although doxazosin and enalapril are potent antihypertensive drugs, the effects on plasma lipid obtained with doxazosin indicate that a reduction in cardiovascular risk was achieved with this drug in the patients included in this study.     

Vitamin A deficiency and nocturnal vision in teenagers with cystic fibrosis

The aim of this study was to document plasma retinol status and nocturnal vision in ten eutrophic adolescents with cystic fibrosis (CF) receiving daily retinol supplementation. Plasma retinol, alpha and beta carotenes and retinol binding protein were measured in ten clinically stable CF patients (mean age: 14.3 years; Shwachman score: 80-100). Nocturnal vision evaluation was performed with a Beyne optometer. Plasma retinol (mean 0.42 +/- 0.16 mg/l), alpha carotene and beta carotene levels were below the lower limit of normal in all but one patient. Five out of ten patients with normal standard opthalmological examination presented a poor (n = 3 patients) or a pathological (n = 2) dark adaptation test. These two patients showed a dramatic increase in nocturnal vision after 1 year of adapted retinol supplementation. CONCLUSION: Low vitamin A levels occur frequently in clinically stable, eutrophic and retinol supplemented CF adolescents. Since vitamin A deficiency is associated with poor nocturnal vision and since this pattern can be reversed by adapted retinol supplementation, we recommend monitoring plasma vitamin A levels in CF patients and evaluation of dark adaptation in retinol deficient patients.     

Patient preference for self-collected cultures for group B streptococcus in pregnancy

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors which affect the level of fatigue among patients participating in clinical trials in which this symptom had been assessed with the EORTC QLQ-C30. Data were assembled from 2390 patients in ten clinical trials in which the QLQ-C30 had been used to assess baseline and on-study quality of life. The relationship between the level of fatigue reported by the patients on the fatigue scale of this questionnaire and patient and disease characteristics was assessed in univariate and multivariate cross-sectional analyses. In addition, changes in fatigue scores were compared in a longitudinal analysis among patients on two arms of an anti-emetic trial whose emesis control was markedly different. Baseline fatigue levels differed substantially among patients taking part in the different trials. Factors associated with greater fatigue severity on univariate analysis included: female gender, presence of metastatic disease, and poorer performance status. In addition, on multivariate analyses the oldest patients were found to have less fatigue, as were patients with breast cancer, while patients with ovarian and lung cancer experienced greater fatigue. Patients on the arm of the anti-emetic trial in which emesis was better controlled showed significantly less increase in fatigue after receiving chemotherapy. The fatigue scale of the QLQ-C30 appears to provide a useful approach to assessing this important symptom. The relationships found between fatigue and patient and disease characteristics need further exploration as does the degree to which the QLQ-C30 fully captures this dimension of quality of life.     

The carcinogenicity of environmental tobacco smoke

Male strain A/J mice were exposed for 6 h a day, 5 days a week to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) generated from Kentucky 1R4F reference cigarettes. Chamber concentrations were 87 mg/m3 of total suspended particulate matter (TSP), 246 p.p.m. of CO and 16 mg/m3 of nicotine. After 5 months, 33% of the ETS exposed and 11% of the control animals had one or several lung tumors; the difference was statistically not significant. A second group of animals exposed for 5 months to ETS was allowed to recover for another 4 months in filtered air. When they were killed, 85% of the ETS animals had lung tumors (average number per lung: 1.4 +/- 0.2), whereas in the control group 38% had lung tumors (average number of lung tumors in all animals 0.5 +/- 0.2). The differences in tumor incidence and multiplicity were statistically significant. More than 80% of all tumors were adenomas, the rest adenocarcinomas. When animals were pretreated with a carcinogen, lung tumor multiplicity was lower in the ETS exposed animals after 5 months compared with controls injected with a carcinogen and kept in air. However, after an additional 4 month recovery period in air, lung tumor multiplicities were the same in ETS plus carcinogen exposed mice as in carcinogen-treated air-exposed controls. Histopathologic and morphometric analysis of the lung tissue failed to reveal any differences between ETS exposed and control animals. However, immediately after ETS exposure, immunohistochemistry revealed increased staining for CYP1A1 in airway epithelia and lung parenchyma; following recovery in air, the staining disappeared again. Analysis of cell kinetics showed an initial burst of increased DNA synthesis in the epithelial cells of the airways and a smaller early positive response in the parenchyma. Feeding of butylated hydroxytoluene during ETS exposure did not modulate lung tumor development. It was concluded that ETS is a pulmonary carcinogen in strain A/J mice.     

Multiple antibiotic resistance in Stenotrophomonas maltophilia

A cryptic multidrug resistance (MDR) system in Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, the expression of which is selectable by tetracycline, is described. Tetracycline resistance was the consequence of active efflux of the antibiotic, and it was associated with resistance to quinolones and chloramphenicol, but not to aminoglycosides or beta-lactam antibiotics. MDR is linked to the expression of an outer membrane protein (OMP54) both in a model system and in multidrug-resistant clinical isolates.