Accelerated anaerobic release of K, Mg and P from surplus activated sludge for element recovery and struvite formation inhibition

Accelerated release of potassium (K), magnesium (Mg) and phosphorus (P) from surplus activated sludge (SAS) was investigated to develop a new system for the recovery of the elements. Anaerobic cultivation of SAS during 24 h released 78% of K and about 50% of Mg and P from SAS more effectively compared to aerobic cultivation (K: 40%, Mg: 15%, P: 15%). Furthermore, the addition of sodium acetate as an organic carbon source remarkably accelerated the release of K, Mg and P from SAS under anaerobic condition. However, no increase in the maximum release efficiencies was observed. The elements released from SAS could be transferred to separate liquid with the existing mechanical thickener and be recovered as MgKPO₄ by some additional process. Furthermore, the removal of the elements from SAS would inhibit the formation of struvite causing the blockage of sludge transport pipe after anaerobic digestion process of thickened sludge.

Abstract P2-01-20: The non-invasive treatment for sentinel lymph node metastasis by photodynamic therapy using a verteporfin solubilized phospholipid polymer aggregate

Introduction:

Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has become a standard procedure for axillary lymph node evaluation in clinically node-negative breast cancer patients. Recent trial suggested that patients with 1or 2 sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) involvement could be treated with SLNB alone.

Although SLNB is much less invasive procedure comparing with axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), it is still associated with complications such as lymph edema, numbness and pain.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) against cancer is a non-invasive optical therapeutic method in which the topical or systemic delivery of photosensitizing drugs is followed by its subsequent activation with broadband red light.

In this study, the usefulness of PDT for treating SLN metastasis was evaluated in murine model.

Materials and Methods:

Verteporfin, a hydrophobic photosensitizer (PS) forms a soluble conjugate in aqueous medium with a water-soluble and amphiphilic PMB polymer as a solubilizer. The PMB forms stable and well-dispersed molecular aggregate when its concentration is over 1.0 mg/mL based on the hydrophobic interactions among polymer chains. The verteporfin can form conjugate (PMB-vertepoffin) with hydrophobic domain in the PMB aggregate. The PMB-verteporfin was injected at dorsum manus of BALB/c nude mice. The concentrations of verteporfin in tissues were determined by measuring the fluorescence emitted at 700 nm (with excitation at 430 nm). To develop a murine SLN metastasis model, 5 x 105 human epidermoid carcinoma A431 cells with stable expression of GFP were injected to the forearm of BALB/c nude mice. Seven days after inoculation of cancer cells, 20 μL of PMB-verteporfin was injected at dorsum manus of BALB/c nude mice and 75 J of light energy was delivered using a 640 nm diode laser for a total treatment time of 1 min. Fifty-three mice were randomly assigned to the combination of PMB-verteporfin injection and light exposure (A), light exposure alone (B), PMB-verteporfin injection alone (C), and no treatment (D) groups. Ten days after PDT, brachial lymph nodes, which were considered as SLNs were harvested and evaluated by stereoscopic fluorescence microscope. And, DNA was extracted from harvested lymph node. Human Alu family sequence was detected by 7300 Real Time PCR system (Applied Biosystems, Carlsbad CA USA) to estimate metastatic volume.

Results:

The concentration of verteporfin in SLN was siginificantly higher than other organs including lung, liver, kidney and brachial skin.

The group A significantly reduced the SLN metastasis (13%) comparing with , group B (57%), group C (46%) and group D (52%).

The Ct value in a PCR of the combination of group A (Ct=29.17) significantly reduced the SLN metastasis comparing with group B (Ct=22.45, p=0.018), group C (Ct=25.58, p=0.018) and group D (Ct=25.54, p=0.005).

Conclusions:

These data suggested that PDT using PMB as a nanotransporter of verteporfin could be a minimally invasive treatment of SLN metastasis in breast cancer, and represent a potential alternative procedure to SLNB.

Citation Format: Shimada K, Matsuda S, Jinno H, Konno T, Ito A, Arai T, Ishihara K, Kitagawa Y. The non-invasive treatment for sentinel lymph node metastasis by photodynamic therapy using a verteporfin solubilized phospholipid polymer aggregate [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P2-01-20.

Improved Neural Processing Efficiency in a Chronic Aphasia Patient Following Melodic Intonation Therapy: A Neuropsychological and Functional MRI Study

Melodic intonation therapy (MIT) is a treatment program for the rehabilitation of aphasic patients with speech production disorders. We report a case of severe chronic non-fluent aphasia unresponsive to several years of conventional therapy that showed a marked improvement following intensive 9-day training on the Japanese version of MIT (MIT-J). The purpose of this study was to verify the efficacy of MIT-J by functional assessment and examine associated changes in neural processing by functional magnetic resonance imaging. MIT improved language output and auditory comprehension, and decreased the response time for picture naming. Following MIT-J, an area of the right hemisphere was less activated on correct naming trials than compared with before training but similarly activated on incorrect trials. These results suggest that the aphasic symptoms of our patient were improved by increased neural processing efficiency and a concomitant decrease in cognitive load.

Polybacterial aetiology and outcomes in patients with community-acquired pneumonia

SETTING

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. While interactions among bacterial pathogens in the respiratory tract have been studied, the impact of polybacterial aetiology on mortality has not been fully elucidated.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the impact of polybacterial aetiology on mortality, prevalence, microbial patterns and clinical characteristics among CAP patients.

DESIGN

Retrospective data analysis.

RESULTS

Bacterial aetiology was established in 711 (46.0%) of 1544 enrolled hospitalised CAP patients. Of these, polybacterial aetiology was identified in 89 (12.5%): Streptococcus pneumoniae was the most frequently identified pathogen (n = 55, 61.8%). The most prevalent microbial combination was S. pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae (n = 19, 21.3%). Alcoholism and lack of previous antibiotic therapy were independent predictors of polybacterial aetiology. The proportion of patients with severe pneumonia was significantly higher in the polybacterial aetiology group than in the monobacterial group. Multivariate analysis showed that polybacterial aetiology was a predictor of 30-day mortality (OR 2.14, 95%CI 1.07-4.24, P = 0.030), independently of severe pneumonia status, pneumonia severity index, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and inappropriate empirical therapy.

CONCLUSION

Polybacterial CAP tends to advance in severity, and indicates adverse outcomes.

Exercise intervention increases expression of bone morphogenetic proteins and prevents the progression of cartilage-subchondral bone lesions in a post-traumatic rat knee model

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to determine whether treadmill walking (TW) prevents the progression of post-traumatic osteoarthritic changes in cartilage-subchondral bone unit, and whether the exercise timing changes the exercise efficacy in destabilized medial meniscus (DMM) rat knees.

DESIGN

Twelve-week-old male Wistar rats underwent DMM surgery on their right knees and sham surgery on their left knees and were assigned to either the sedentary (n = 10) or walking (n = 24) groups. The rats in the walking group were subjected to TW from day 2 through 4 weeks, from 4 through 8 weeks, or from day 2 through 8 weeks (n = 8 per group). Osteoarthritic changes of cartilage and subchondral bone were assessed with micro-computed tomography, histology, and immunohistochemistry 8 weeks after surgery.

RESULTS

TW prevented the progression of cartilage and subchondral bone lesions induced by the DMM, and increased bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)-2 and -6 expressions in superficial zone chondrocytes and bone-lining cells including osteoblasts. Furthermore, the TW-induced increase in BMPs varied with the exercise timing. Beginning TW 4 weeks after DMM surgery was the best option for increasing BMPs, coinciding with the most robust prevention of osteoarthritic changes.

CONCLUSIONS

TW increased the expression of BMPs and prevented the progression of cartilage-subchondral bone lesions in rat knees with a DMM. Selective exercise timing may be a key factor in the development of an exercise regimen for preventing the progression of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). Furthermore, exercise may have favorable effects even after the PTOA has been developed.

Measurement and comparison of individual external doses of high-school students living in Japan, France, Poland and Belarus-the 'D-shuttle' project

Twelve high schools in Japan (of which six are in Fukushima Prefecture), four in France, eight in Poland and two in Belarus cooperated in the measurement and comparison of individual external doses in 2014. In total 216 high-school students and teachers participated in the study. Each participant wore an electronic personal dosimeter 'D-shuttle' for two weeks, and kept a journal of his/her whereabouts and activities. The distributions of annual external doses estimated for each region overlap with each other, demonstrating that the personal external individual doses in locations where residence is currently allowed in Fukushima Prefecture and in Belarus are well within the range of estimated annual doses due to the terrestrial background radiation level of other regions/countries.

Decreased expression of Met during differentiation in rat lung

Organ-specific stem cells play key roles in maintaining the epithelial cell layers of lung. Bronchioalveolar stem cells (BASCs) are distal lung epithelial stem cells of adult mice. Alveolar type 2 (AT2) cells have important functions and serve as progenitor cells of alveolar type 1 (AT1) cells to repair the epithelium when they are injured. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) elicits mitogenic, morphogenic, and anti-apoptotic effects on lung epithelial cells through tyrosine phosphorylation of Met receptor, and thus is recognized as a pulmotrophic factor. To understand which cells HGF targets in lung, we identified the cells expressing Met by immunofluorescence assay. Met was strongly expressed in BASCs, which expressed an AT2 cell marker, pro-SP-C, and a club cell marker, CCSP. In alveoli, we found higher expression of Met in primary AT2 than in AT1 cells, which was confirmed using primary AT2 cells. We further examined the mitogenic activity of HGF in AT2-cell-derived alveolar-like cysts (ALCs) in 3D culture. Multicellular ALCs expressed Met, and HGF enhanced the ALC production. Taking these findings together, BASCs could also be an important target for HGF, and HGF-Met signaling could function more potent on cells that have greater multipotency in adult lung.

Subchondral plate porosity colocalizes with the point of mechanical load during ambulation in a rat knee model of post-traumatic osteoarthritis

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the association between spatiotemporal cartilage-subchondral bone plate alterations and mechanical load during ambulation in an experimental rat model of destabilized medial meniscus (DMM).

DESIGN

Twelve-week-old Wistar rats (n = 38) underwent DMM surgery on the right knee and sham surgery on the left knee. At 2 and 4 weeks after surgery, subchondral bone changes were evaluated via micro-computed tomography with various knee flexion angles to simulate weight-bearing during rat ambulation under a 3-dimensional motion capture apparatus. Additionally, the biomechanical properties, histology, and ultrastructure of the medial tibia and femoral condyle were evaluated.

RESULTS

Focal subchondral bone plate perforations were confirmed in the medial tibia within 2 weeks after surgery and were aggravated rapidly 2 weeks later. This subchondral plate porosity colocalized with articular cartilage lesions as confirmed by histology and scanning electron microscopy, and coincided with the likely point of contact between the posterior femoral condyle and tibial plateau during ambulation. Biomechanical properties were confirmed at the medial tibia, at which stiffness was reduced to approximately half that of the sham-operated knee at 4 weeks after surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

Cartilage-subchondral bone plate alterations localized in the region of the point of mechanical load during ambulation in DMM-operated knees, at which the mechanical integrity of cartilage was impaired. These results indicate that DMM-induced increases in mechanical load play an important role in the pathogenesis of early post-traumatic osteoarthritis (OA), and it might accelerate the development of the disease via cartilage-subchondral bone plate crosstalk through increased subchondral plate perforations.

Talaporfin sodium binding and photocytotoxicity of photosensitization reaction on myocardial cell under various albumin concentrations and temperature

To understand the efficiency change of the extracellular photosensitization reaction by the external factor in myocardium interstitial space, we studied the efficiency change of the extracellular photosensitization reaction caused by talaporfin sodium binding with serum proteins under various serum proteins concentrations and temperature conditions. Talaporfin sodium Q band absorbance was measured with various albumin concentrations and the cell survival rate was measured by WST assay in the same conditions. The talaporfin sodium binding ratio with albumin, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein were measured by talaporfin sodium absorbance measurement after the ultrafiltration. The albumin concentration affects the photocytotoxicity strongly when the albumin concentration was over 2.1 mg/ml in the case of the extracellular photosensitization reaction. It would be useful to measure the peak wavelength in Q band absorbance was suggested to know the albumin concentration and the photocytotoxicity efficiency to realize the safety treatment. The binding ratios with high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein were decreased with the solution temperature rise from 17°C to 37 °C and the photocytotoxicity was increased with temperature rise from 17°C to 37°C involving this binding ratio change. It would be important to maintain the target organ temperature during the photosensitization reaction to keep the photosensitization reaction efficiency.

An automated method for detecting architectural distortions on mammograms using direction analysis of linear structures

Architectural distortion is one of the most important findings when evaluating mammograms for breast cancer. Abnormal breast architecture is characterized by the presence of spicules, which are distorted mammary structures that are not accompanied by an increased density or mass. We have been developing an automated method for detecting spiculated architectural distortions by analyzing linear structures extracted by normal curvature. However, some structures that are possibly related to distorted areas are not extracted using this method. The purpose of this study was to develop a new automated method for direction analysis of linear structures to improve detection performance in mammography. The direction of linear structures in each region of interest (ROI) was first determined using a direction filter and a background filter that can define one of eight directions (0°, 22.5°, 45°, 67.5°, 90°, 112.5°, 135°, and 157.5°). The concentration and isotropic indexes were calculated using the determined direction of the linear structures in order to extract the candidate areas. Discriminant analysis was performed to eliminate false positives results. Our database consisted of 168 abnormal images containing 174 distorted areas and 580 normal images. The sensitivity of the new method was 81%. There were 2.6 and 4.2 false positives per image using the new and previous methods, respectively. These findings show that our new method is effective for detecting spiculated architectural distortions.