Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): internamiento involuntario sí, tratamiento obligatorio no

We had the opportunity to know a judicial decision in relation to a nonagenarian COVID-19 patient, which is clarifying regarding the complex issue of involuntary admission and involuntary treatment of the elderly. The judge authorized the involuntary admission but denied the possibility of imposing medical treatment against the will of the patient.This situation invites us to review the different types of involuntary admission that our legal system provides and how involuntary medical treatment is regulated according to its purpose and the patient's ability to decide.In the field of public health, the determining element to be able to impose any sanitary measure against the will of the patient is the risk to the health of the population. In the case presented, the judge rejects the possibility of authorizing medical treatment for not contributing anything from the point of view of public health. However, it does authorize involuntary admission as it is essential to guarantee isolation.     

Multicategory individualized treatment regime using outcome weighted learning

Individualized treatment regimes (ITRs) aim to recommend treatments based on patient‐specific characteristics in order to maximize the expected clinical outcome. Outcome weighted learning approaches have been proposed for this optimization problem with primary focus on the binary treatment case. Many require assumptions of the outcome value or the randomization mechanism. In this paper, we propose a general framework for multicategory ITRs using generic surrogate risk. The proposed method accommodates the situations when the outcome takes negative value and/or when the propensity score is unknown. Theoretical results about Fisher consistency, excess risk, and risk consistency are established. In practice, we recommend using differentiable convex loss for computational optimization. We demonstrate the superiority of the proposed method under multinomial deviance risk to some existing methods by simulation and application on data from a clinical trial.     

Integrated anaerobic/aerobic biological treatment for intensive swine production

Manure processing could help farmers to effectively manage nitrogen (N) surplus load. Many pig farms have to treat wastewater. Piggery wastewater treatment is a complex challenge, due to the high COD and N concentrations and low C/N ratio. Anaerobic digestion (AD) could be a convenient pre-treatment, particularly from the energetic view point and farm income, but this causes further reduction of C/N ratio and makes denitrification difficult. N removal can only be obtained integrating anaerobic/aerobic treatment by taking into account the best use of electron donors. Experiences gained in Italy during development of integrated biological treatment approaches for swine manure, from bench to full scale, are reported in this paper. Solid/liquid separation as pre-treatment of raw manure is an efficient strategy to facilitate liquid fraction treatment without significantly lowering C/N ratio. In Italy, two full scale SBRs showed excellent efficiency and reliability. Current renewable energy policy and incentives makes economically attractive the application of AD to the separated solid fraction using high solid anaerobic digester (HSAD) technology. Economic evaluation showed that energy production can reduce costs up to 60%, making sustainable the overall treatment.     

Two proteins regulate the cell wall extensibility and the yield threshold in glycerinated hollow cylinders of cowpea hypocotyl

Glycerinated hollow cylinders of hypocotyl segments excised from the elongation region of cowpea seedlings were heated for 15s in 50% glycerol at 70, 80 or 90°C. Their in vitro yield threshold tension (y) and extensibility (φ) were determined by stress-strain experiments under the perfusion of solutions of pH 4·0 or 6·2. The decrement in y and the increment in φ with acidification were extinguished at 80 and 90°C, respectively. Moreover, such changes in φ and y with acidification were prevented by proteinase treatment for 6 and 10 h, respectively. These results suggest that these two cell wall mechanical properties are controlled, respectively, by two functional proteins activated by acid.     

The temporal and spatial distribution of nematodes in percolating filters

The spatial and temporal distribution of nematodes in two low rate percolating filter bed sewage treatment plants at Carnforth and Caton, Lancashire, were investigated. Nematodes were abundant reaching densities up to 900 cm⁻² of media surface. Numbers decreased down the bed and species composition displayed spatial differences with bed depth. Eight orders of nematode were represented, members of the sub-family Diplogasterinae and Rhabditinae were particularly common. A seasonal pattern of abundance was clearly apparent; two peaks occurred, one in May and a second during the winter months. Lowest numbers corresponded with periods of highest temperature. The demise of the nematodes in the spring was related to the sloughing of the surface film on the media.     

Synchronous culture of Magnetospirillum sp. AMB-1 by repeated cold treatment

Abstract We established a synchronous culture of Magnetospirillum sp. AMB-1 by repeated cold treatment at 5 °C. This is the first reported synchronous culture of a magnetic bacterium. Cold treatment did not affect magnetic particle synthesis or cell morphology. Iron uptake was observed both before and during cell division. The amount of iron uptake was almost equivalent to that of magnetite formation. The proportion of magnetosensitive cells did not change during cell division.     

Acetoclastic methanogenic activity measurement by a titration bioassay.

A titration bioassay, designed to accurately determine the activity of acetoclastic methanogens, is described that also allows evaluation of inhibition due to potential toxicants on the active biomass. The instrument is made of a pH-stat connected to an anaerobic batch reactor. Acetate is blended and mixed with anaerobic sludge in the reactor where a 1:1 N2 and CO2 mixture is sparged at the beginning of each test. As the acetoclastic methanogens consume acetate, the pH increase, and the titration unit adds acetic acid and keeps the pH constant. The rate of titrant addition is directly proportional to the methanogenic activity. A very useful feature of the system is its potential to operate for long periods (days) at constant pH and substrate (acetate) concentration. The theoretical background and principle of operation are described as well as some of the practical problems encountered with the use of the instrument. Estimation of kinetic constants for an anaerobic culture according to the Michaelis-Menten model is presented. Examples of inhibition by inorganics (NaCl) and chlorinated solvents (chloroform) are also given.     

Treatment of Schistosoma mansoni infection with rhesus monkey stromata: two unsuccessful attempts

Independent series of experiments have failed to confirm the reported schistosomicidal effect of injections of rhesus monkey stromata and other erythrocyte preparations in infected mice (Cox &; Oliver-Gonzalez, 1970). It is suggested that the most likely explanation of the original findings is accidental contamination of the erythrocyte preparations with bacteria known to kill adult schistosomes in vivo.     

Selenium Impacts on Fish: An Insidious Time Bomb

A selenium time bomb situation is developing in the United States and elsewhere that may result in substantial impacts on fish populations. The selenium time bomb has three components: (1) high food-chain bioaccumulation, (2) steep toxic response curve for fish, and (3) insidious mode of toxicity. If the threshold for selenium toxicity is exceeded, the time bomb explodes and a cascade of events is set into motion that will result in major ecosystem disruption. Several human-related factors are emerging that are capable of igniting the fuse of the time bomb by increasing waterborne concentrations of selenium and providing conditions favorable for bioaccumulation. Some of these factors are (1) mobilization of selenium due to open-pit phosphate mining, (2) use of constructed wetlands to treat selenium-laden wastewater from oil refineries and agricultural irrigation, (3) landfill disposal of seleniferous fly ash from coal-fired power plants, and (4) mobilization of selenium from animal feedlot wastes. Collectively, these threats may be sufficient to cause widespread, unanticipated toxic effects in fish populations. Only environmentally sound risk assessments followed by prudent management actions can defuse the selenium time bomb — once it explodes, it is too late to avoid significant impacts.     

Demographic response of brown treesnakes to extended population suppression

From a management perspective, reptiles are relatively novel invasive taxa. Few methods for reptile control have been developed and very little is known about their effectiveness for reducing reptile populations, particularly when the goal is eradication. Many reptiles, and especially snakes, are cryptic, secretive, and undergo extended periods of inactivity, traits that decrease detection probabilities and create challenges in estimating population size or evaluating management effects. The brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) is a notorious invasive species that continues to cause major ecological and economic harm following their introduction to the island of Guam after World War II. They have been the subject of intensive research on the effectiveness of various techniques to control snakes, including the first ever aerial system for the distribution of toxic acetaminophen baits for reptile control. We provide a cohort-based life table for a cryptic and invasive reptile undergoing extended population control using toxic baits from March 2017–2020. We also evaluated the effects of single (toxic bait) versus multi-tool (toxic bait and live trapping) management efforts on population trajectories, and estimated which population vital rates are most important for influencing population growth or decline in a treated landscape. Treatment of the population with acetaminophen-laced baits resulted in an immediate reduction followed by a gradual population decline that suggested that eradication was the probable outcome given sufficient treatment time but that the period of treatment was decades in magnitude. Inclusion of live trapping reduced the predicted time required to achieve eradication by more than half. Preventing the transition of 1,000-mm snout-vent length (SVL) females to larger sizes was predicted to have the greatest effect on population reduction based on integral projection modeling. Our results suggest that toxic baits are capable of eradicating brown treesnakes in an enclosure, although inclusion of trapping reduced overall treatment time required. Tools that effectively target females >1,000 mm SVL may have the greatest effect on reducing overall treatment timelines.