Anaerobic degradation of papermill sludge in a two-phase digester containing rumen microorganisms and colonized polyurethane foam

Summary The use of reticulated polyurethane foam as a support material for the immobilization of methanogenic associations and its application to the anaerobic treatment of fine particulate solid wastes was investigated. The colonization of polyurethane support particles in a continuous upflow reactor fed on a mixture of acetate, propionate and butyrate, was both rapid and dense. The combination of rumen microorganisms and colonized support particles in a two-phase digester resulted in an efficient anaerobic decomposition of papermill sludge.     

Airway cellularity, lipid laden macrophages and microbiology of gastric juice and airways in children with reflux oesophagitis

Background and methods

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is a recently discovered respiratory virus associated with bronchiolitis, pneumonia, croup and exacerbations of asthma. Since respiratory viruses are frequently detected in patients with acute exacerbations of COPD (AE-COPD) it was our aim to investigate the frequency of hMPV detection in a prospective cohort of hospitalized patients with AE-COPD compared to patients with stable COPD and to smokers without by means of quantitative real-time RT-PCR.

Results

We analysed nasal lavage and induced sputum of 130 patients with AE-COPD, 65 patients with stable COPD and 34 smokers without COPD. HMPV was detected in 3/130 (2.3%) AE-COPD patients with a mean of 6.5 × 10⁵ viral copies/ml in nasal lavage and 1.88 × 10⁵ viral copies/ml in induced sputum. It was not found in patients with stable COPD or smokers without COPD.

Conclusion

HMPV is only found in a very small number of patients with AE-COPD. However it should be considered as a further possible viral trigger of AE-COPD because asymptomatic carriage is unlikely.     

The responses of the pupil of Gekko gekko to external light stimulus

1. The responses of the pupil of a nocturnal gecko (Gekko gekko) to external light stimulus were studied. 2. The responses of the pupil are determined by light entering the pupil and not by light acting directly on the iris. 3. The responses of the pupil are very uniform in sensitivity including spectral sensitivity for light coming in different directions to the eye. 4. The possible change in area of the pupil is more than 300-fold and probably represents an effort to shield the pure rod retina from saturating light intensities. 5. The pupil continues to contract sharply for changes in external light intensity which give retinal illuminations corresponding to 10⁶ quanta/sec. striking a retinal rod. 6. There is a large degree of spatial summation of the response; circular external light fields subtending 5 and 140° giving the same illumination at the pupil give approximately the same pupil response. 7. The spectral sensitivity curve agrees with the absorption curve of an extracted pigment from a closely related gecko described by Crescitelli in the followig paper. It is similar to the human scotopic curve but its maximum is displaced about 20 to 30 mµ towards the red end of the spectrum. The fall in sensitivity towards the red end of the spectrum is described by the equation See PDF for Equation