In-stream attenuation of dissolved and particulate forms of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus are a crucial ecosystem service, especially in watercourses downstream of chemical pollution point-sources (i.e. wastewater treatment plants). Most chemical-fate models assume that attenuation is directly proportional to the concentration of available dissolved organic carbon, and inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus compounds in watercourses, but there are multiple evidences of saturation and even inhibition of attenuation at higher concentrations. Our current comprehension of nutrient attenuation kinetics in streams remains a limiting factor for the development and calibration of predictive models of the chemical fate of these compounds in rivers, thus hindering the development and implementation of more effective regulatory strategies. Here, we assessed the in-stream attenuation of dissolved organic carbon, inorganic nitrogen (NH4+, NO2−, NO3−) and phosphorus (PO43-) compounds at increasing concentrations of these compounds, and analyzed the interaction between attenuation kinetics and biofilm structure and function. Specifically, the net balances of these compounds were assessed in artificial streams exposed to eight treatments following the gradient of WWTP contribution to the river flow (0, 14, 29, 43, 58, 72, 86, and 100% of WWTP effluent water). Results indicate that biological in-stream attenuation by a given biofilm of an effluent dominated watercourse might be saturated if exposed for short periods to high nutrient concentrations such as during combined sewer overflow events, but that communities can adapt if exposed long enough to high concentrations, therefore avoiding or at least minimizing saturation. More attention should be therefore given to the management of effluent-dominated watercourses, as reductions in the temporal variability of the discharged wastewater by WWTP might enhance attenuation and thus reduce water quality issues downstream.

Industrial processing of berries, so called red fruits, into juice and jam generally results in approximately 20-30% (w/w) of pomaces production. Organic valorization of these waste is problematic for different reasons. The organic matter load of these co-products gives them a pollutant character linked to the important releases of greenhouse gases during their biodegradation following the spreading. Composting is partially inhibited due to the presence of compounds with high antimicrobial capacity. These food by-products are rich in essential omega fatty acids and contain high amounts of dietary fiber and bioactive compounds such as tocols, phytosterols, ellagic acid and flavonoids. These components have recently attracted a lot of attention for their potential health-promoting effects. Under optimum conditions, high added-value components are recovered. The resulting aqueous emulsion is easily freeze dried and presents high antioxidant activity according to DPPH and ORAC assays. These press cake extract may be a promising ingredient for cosmetics, nutraceuticals and other applications. Nevertheless a part of the product still remain as a “pulp waste”. The objective of this work is to investigate different pathways for these specific sub-products valorization (pulp waste). Two valorisation processes were chosen: anaerobic digestion for biogas production and geopolymers synthesis for use in construction. Geopolymers are new materials of great interest because they are energy efficient and have low environmental impact. They result from the activation of an aluminosilicate source (such as metakaolin) by an alkaline solution. Biomethane potential tests were achieved at labscale using digested sludge as inoculum, under mesophilic conditions (37°C). The ratio between inoculum and solid waste was fixed in terms of volatile matter VM to 1⁄4 (inoculum) 3⁄4 (waste). Each tests were achieved in triplicate and compare to a negative control. Geopolymers synthesis was achieved according to the protocol described by Gharzouni et al. (2017).

espanolObjetivo: conocer la prevalencia de trombofilia en trombosis gestacional y complicaciones vasulares gestacionales en nuestro entorno y el manejo de las mismas. Material y metodos: estudio prospectivo y observacional en el que se incluyeron cuatro cohortes: trombosis, profilaxis de trombosis, complicaciones vasulares gestacionales, profilaxis de complicaciones vasulares gestacionales. Se registraron 1.032 episodios, de los cuales se incluyeron 994 en el analisis final. Resultados: la distribucion de episodios fue: 5,5% trombosis, 30,2% profilaxis de trombosis, 35,7% complicaciones vasulares gestacionales y 24,9% profilaxis de complicaciones vasulares gestacionales. Las perdidas gestacionales fueron la complicacion mas frecuente. Se realizo estudio de trombofilia en 82,6% de complicaciones vasulares gestacionales y 70,2% de trombosis. Los resultados fueron positivos en el 47% de trombosis y en 21% de complicaciones vasulares gestacionales. Los defectos mas comunes en complicaciones vasulares gestacionales fueron la elevacion del factor VIII, la presencia de anticuerpos antifosfolipidos y la mutacion F12C46T en homocigosis. Se empleo tratamiento antitrombotico en el 85% de profilaxis de trombosis y en el 77% de profilaxis de complicaciones vasulares gestacionales. La tromboprofilaxis de complicaciones vasulares gestacionales no se relaciono con una mejora en el resultado de la gestacion. Conclusiones: se realizaron estudios de trombofilia a la mayoria de las pacientes, con resultados diferentes en trombosis y complicaciones vasulares gestacionales. Se empleo tromboprofilaxis en mas del 70% de las pacientes. La profilaxis farmacologica de complicaciones vasulares gestacionales no aporto beneficio significativo. Serian necesarios estudios futuros para confirmar nuestros resultados. EnglishObjective: The main objectives were to establish the prevalence of thrombophilia in pregnancy-related thrombosis and vascular placental complications and to evaluate the clinical management of these complications. Materials and methods: Multicenter, prospective and observational study. We analysed 4 patient cohorts: thrombosis, thrombosis prophylaxis, vascular placental complications, vascular placental complications prophylaxis. A total of 1032 episodes were registeredand 994 were included in the final analysis. Results: The distribution of the episodes was: 5.5% thrombosis, 30.2% thrombosis prophylaxis, 35.7% vascular placental complications and 24.9% vascular placental complications prophylaxis. Pregnancy loss was the most frequent complication registered. Thrombophilia studies were made in 82.6% patients in vascular placental complications cohort and in 70.2% of thrombosis patients. Positive results were obtained in 47% of patients in thrombosis group and in 21% of patients with vascular placental complications. In this group the most common defects found were high levels of FVIII, positive antiphospholipid antibodies and homocigosity for F12C46T polymorphism. Antithrombotic treatment was used in 85% of thrombosis prophylaxis episodes and in 77% of vascular placental complications prophylaxis episodes. Pharmacologic prophylaxis was not related with a better pregnancy outcome in vascular placental complications prophylaxis group. Conclusions: Thrombophilia studies were made to most patients in this registry. Results were different in patients with thrombosis and vascular placental complications. Most patients in vascular placental complications prophylaxis group with or without thrombophilia recieved LMWH +/- aspirin, but we did not find a benefit of these treatments. Further studies with more patients will be needed to confirm our findings.

Antibiotics-bacteria interactions depend on antibiotic concentration at the scale of bacteria. This study investigates how vancomycin penetrates into activated sludge flocs and can be sorbed on the bacteria and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). The 3D structure of flocs was imaged using EPS autofluorescence. The green fluorescent BODIPY® FL vancomycin was introduced in a microscopic chamber containing activated sludge and penetration of vancomycin into the flocs by diffusion was observed using time-lapse microscopy. The penetration depended on the floc structure, as long and large pores could go through the whole flocs making preferential path. The antibiotic concentration into the flocs was also found to depend on the sorption rate. BODIPY® FL vancomycin was found to bind preferentially into Gram+ bacteria than on EPS. The vancomycin adsorption constant on bacteria according to the linear adsorption model, Kdbacteria was estimated to be 5 times higher (SD 2.6) than the adsorption constant on EPS KdEPS. These results suggest that antibiotic removal by sorption into wastewater treatment plants could change according to the amount of bacteria in the sludge. Moreover, antibiotic concentration at the scale of bacteria could be significantly higher than the concentration in the bulk solution and this should be taken into account when studying antibiotic activity or biodegradation.

Cadmium impact during anaerobic digestion (AD) of lactoserum was investigated by DGT (Diffusive Gradients in Thin films) considering not only total trace metallic element (TME) concentration, but also three operational fractions: particulate, inert soluble and available. During the lactoserum AD process, the effect of addition of different Cd concentrations (1; 5 and 10 mu g l(-1)) was investigated in Biomethane Potential (BMP). Volume of biogas produced, % genetic dissimilarity and different enzyMatic activities (TTC-dehydrogenase, beta-galactosidase and cofactor F420 content) were followed as biological markers during AD of lactoserum. This study demonstrated that inert soluble and DGT-available fractions of Cd impacted the biological tags at the beginning of AD while the Cd particulate fraction had the highest impact later in AD. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Freshwater ecosystems are threatened by multiple anthropogenic stressors, which might be differentiated into two types: those that reduce biological activity at all concentrations (toxic contaminants), and those that subsidize biological activity at low concentrations and reduce it at high concentrations (assimilable contaminants). When occurring in mixtures, these contaminants can have either antagonistic, neutral or synergistic effects; but little is known on their joint effects. We assessed the interaction effects of a mixture of assimilable and toxic contaminants on stream biofilms in a manipulative experiment using artificial streams, and following a factorial design with three nutrient levels (low, medium or high) and either presence or absence of a mixture of emerging contaminants (ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, diclofenac, methylparaben, and sulfamethoxazole). We measured biofilm biomass, basal fluorescence, gross primary production and community respiration. Our initial hypotheses were that biofilm biomass and activity would: increase with medium nutrient concentrations (subsidy effect), but decrease with high nutrient concentrations (stress effect) (i); decrease with emerging contaminants, with the minimum decrease at medium nutrient concentrations (antagonistic interaction between nutrients subsidy and stress by emerging contaminants) and the maximum decrease at high nutrient concentrations (synergistic interaction between nutrients and emerging contaminants stress) (ii). All the measured variables responded linearly to the available nutrients, with no toxic effect at high nutrient concentrations. Emerging contaminants only caused weak toxic effects in some of the measured variables, and only after 3–4 weeks of exposure. Therefore, only antagonistic interactions were observed between nutrients and emerging contaminants, as medium and high nutrient concentrations partly compensated the harmful effects of emerging contaminants during the first weeks of the experiment. Our results show that contaminants with a subsidy effect can alleviate the effects of toxic contaminants, and that long-term experiments are required to detect stress effects of emerging contaminants at environmentally relevant concentrations.

Le risque de dissemination de composes pharmaceutiques par la phase solide est evalue au travers de differents procedes de traitement de la boue (epaississement, stabilisation) sur le site pilote de Bellecombe (programme Sipibel). Des effluents urbains et hospitaliers ont ete traites separement et chaque lot de boue a chacune des etapes du traitement (des boues secondaires a la stabilisation par chaulage ou digestion anaerobie) a ete caracterise (composition biochimique et determination des groupements fonctionnels) afin de mesurer l’impact du procede sur le coefficient de partition solide/liquide Kd (L/gMS) mesure. Onze composes pharmaceutiques ont ete etudies : carbamazepine, ciprofloxacine, sulfamethoxazole, acide salicylique, ibuprofene, paracetamol, diclofenac, ketoprofene, econazole, atenolol et propranolol. La repartition solide/liquide des 11 composes pharmaceutiques etudies est fortement dependante du compose, mais aussi, pour un meme compose, du procede de traitement applique et donc des caracteristiques de la boue. Il apparait cependant que la mise en relation de certaines caracteristiques des phases solubles et particulaires des boues avec les caracteristiques chimiques des composes pourrait etre une piste envisageable pour predire le devenir de ces composes et notamment la valeur du Kd.

Background/objectiveSeveral risk scores (RSs) have been used to stratify risk of cardiac complications (CCs) in pregnant patients with heart disease. We aimed to compare and contrast the accuracy of several RSs for predicting CC in this population.MethodsProspective inclusion of all consecutive pregnant patients with heart disease, and follow-up until 6months postpartum. CCs were defined as primary if admission was required due to heart failure, arrhythmia or thromboembolic events, and secondary if the decline in NYHA class compared with baseline was >2 or urgent invasive cardiac procedures were needed. The discriminatory power of each RS was assessed by the area-under-the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC).Results179 patients, mean age: 32years, accounted for 13.4% of CC (primary 11.7%, secondary 1.7%); the main diagnosis was congenital heart disease (CHD) in 68% followed by valvulopathies in 16%, arrhythmia in 7% and myocardiopathies in 5%. 22% (n=40) were classified as mWHO=1, 59% (n=105) mWHO=2 including subgroup 2–3, 14% (n=26) mWHO=3 and 4%(n=7) mWHO=4; 1 patient was unclassifiable. mWHO showed a better AUC (0.763) than CARPREG (0.67). For the CHD population, ZAHARA RS showed an AUC of 0.74, and Khairy an AUC of 0.632.ConclusionsmWHO was better at predicting CC than CARPREG; mWHO was also better at predicting CC than the specific CHD RS in the CHD subgroup.PracticeThere are an increasing number of pregnant women with HD.ImplicationsImproved prediction of CC risk during pregnancy can provide better preconception assessment in women with HD.

Summary Current trends indicate that the duration of the period with no surface flow experienced by temporary waterways is increasing. Even though several studies have already characterised the effects of non‐flow periods on stream ecosystems, the consequences of their increasing duration remain poorly understood. Replicate artificial streams were used to characterise the effects of the duration of the non‐flow period on stream biofilm processes. We hypothesised that increased duration of the non‐flow period would differentially influence autotrophic and heterotrophic processes and promote heterotrophy (lower P : R ratios). We aimed to identify possible non‐linearities and thresholds in the disturbance–response relationships between the duration of the non‐flow period (six treatments) and stream biofilm processes (six ecological variables representing autotrophic or heterotrophic processes). The duration of the non‐flow period proved to be important for the balance between autotrophic and heterotrophic processes in stream biofilms, with the autotrophic processes being less resistant but more resilient. Autotrophic and heterotrophic processes also differed in terms of disturbance–response relationships, which were linear for most autotrophic ecological variables and sigmoid logistic for heterotrophic variable. Hence, non‐flow periods had an immediate effect on autotrophic processes, but the effect on heterotrophic processes was delayed and completed only after crossing the ecological threshold of complete desiccation. These differences involved a shift towards lower P : R ratios at longer durations of the non‐flow period. However, the high resilience of autotrophic processes, mainly related to the ability of diatoms to recover, limited the shift towards lower P : R ratios to the non‐flow period and to the first weeks after flow return. This study demonstrates the complex effects of flow intermittency on stream biofilm processes, and emphasises the relevance of the duration of the non‐flow period as a predictor of the effects on temporary waterways.

-A pilot-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) was installed and operated for 75 days at laboratory. It was fed an influent directly from the hospital drainage collection system. To study pharmaceutics compounds toxicity with micropollutant concentrations ranging from low ng /L to mg/L, toward activated sludge. Lab scale experiments were conducted and microscopic techniques as confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Samples were observed using confocal scanning laser microscopy to characterize the extracellular polymeric substances of sludge (EPS content). The study was focused on efficacy the membrane bioreactor in treatment the hospital effluent and the extra cellular polymeric substances (EPS) as indicator of bacteria sensitivity to toxic agents. Results suggested that after 20 days of exposure the pharmaceuticals compounds induced a significant increase of concentration soluble EPS in flocs, the pharmaceuticals compounds not inhibited COD removal and the nitrification during the experiments. These findings are in agreement with the microscopic studies, which showed a significant increase of concentration EPS. The presence of the pharmaceuticals compounds and its main metabolites stimulates mechanisms of protection and production of EPS with a slightly higher production of proteins. The removal of PPCPs by biological treatment processes including membrane bioreactor (MBR) was studied during the experience. The performance of MBR was demonstrated to be stable after 20 days of the experience. Although presence the fouling, the membrane look as technique very important for elimination the organics micrpolluents from the hospital wastewater. Keywords---Confocal laser scanning microscopy, membrane bioreactor (MBR), the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), the organic micropolluants.

Population-based studies performed with vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) morphometric technology are lacking in postmenopausal osteoporosis. In this study, we show a lower than expected prevalence of vertebral fractures, a high prevalence of minor vertebral deformities, and a clear association with clinical and densitometric parameters indicating the usefulness of this approach.