Synchronous COD removal and nitrogen recovery from high concentrated pharmaceutical wastewater by an integrated chemo-biocatalytic reactor systems

Present report, an investigation of highly concentrated and low bio-degradable pharmaceutical wastewater (HCPWW) treatment; simultaneously ammoniacal nitrogen recovery for struvite fertilizer. The use of multiple solvents and many formulation processes in HCPWW, resulting highly refractory chemicals. Here, in this study focused on evaluation of chemo-biocatalysts for the removal of refractory organics, nitrogen recovery from HCPWW. The initial organics, and nitrogen content in HCPWW was 20,753 ± 4606 mg/L; BOD, 6550 ± 1500 mg/L and NH₄⁺-N, 1057.9 ± 185.8 mg/L. Initially, the biodegradability (BOD₅: COD ratio from 0.32 to 0.45) of HCPWW, which was improved by heterogeneous Fenton oxidation (HFO) processes, and porous carbon (PCC, 30 g/L), along with FeSO₄.7H₂O, 200 mg/L and H₂O₂ (30% v/v), 0.4 ml/L were used as a catalyst in a weakly acidic medium. For the biocatalytic processes, the microbial culture cultivated from sewage and incorporated into a Fluidized Immobilized Carbon Catalytic Oxidation reactor (FICCO), and dominant species are Pseudomonas Putida sp., Pseudomonas Kilionesis sp., and Pseudomonas Japonica sp., which is identified by using 16 S rDNA sequencing analysis. The COD and BOD₅ removal efficiency of 65-93% and 70-82%, and follow the pseudo-second-order kinetic model with the rate constants of 1.0 × 10^-4 L COD^-1 h^-1, 1.5 × 10^-3 L COD^-1 h^-1 and 3.0 × 10^-3 L COD^-1 h^-1 in the HFO-FICCO-CAACO catalytic processes. The optimized hydraulic retention time (HRT) of FICCO reactor was 24 h, and 1 h for the Chemo-Autotrophic Activated Carbon Oxidation (CAACO) reactor for maximum organics removal. MAP (Magnesium Ammonium Phosphate precipitation) process showed 90% of NH₄⁺-N elimination and recovered it as a struvite fertilizer at an optimum molar ratio of 1:1.3:1.3 (NH₄⁺-N: Na₂HPO₄.2H₂O: MgO). FT-IR, UV-visible, and UV-fluorescence data confirm the effective elimination of organics. Hence, this integrated treatment system is appropriate for the management of pharmaceutical wastewater especially elimination of complex organic molecules and the recovery of nitrogen in the wastewater.

Response evaluation of locoregional therapies in combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma versus hepatocellular carcinoma: a propensity score matched study

AIM

To evaluate the response of locoregional therapy (LRT) on combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma (cHCC-CC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (IHC) and compare their outcomes with propensity matched hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

From January 2011 to July 2020, 13 patients with cHCC-CC (11 men, two women, median age 56 years) and 15 IHC patients (10 men, five women, median age 60 years) were compared with 101 HCC patients (79 men, 22 women, median age 60 years) after LRT. All tumours were proven histologically. Among the 13 cHCC-CC patients, 11 received transarterial chemoembolisation (TACE), one received microwave ablation (MWA) and one received TACE with radiofrequency ablation (RFA). Of 15 IHC patients, eight received TACE, five received RFA, and one received MWA, and one received TACE with RFA. Propensity score matching (PSM) was done with conditional logistic regression adjusted for age, type of LRT, tumour specific features and Child-Pugh score.

RESULTS

After LRT, on univariate analysis an objective response was seen in 30% of cHCC-CC and 53% of IHC patients. PSM analysis demonstrated shorter progression-free survival (PFS; cHCC-CC versus HCC: 1.5 versus 7.5 months; IHC versus HCC: 6 versus 14 months, p<0.05), overall survival (OS; cHCC-CC versus HCC: 12 versus 28 months; IHC versus HCC: 18 versus 34 months, p<0.005), and poor objective response (cHCC-CC versus HCC: 25% versus 91%; IHC versus HCC: 58% versus 88%, p<0.05) in cHCC-CC and IHC patients versus HCC patients. Hypovascular tumour, macrovascular invasion, and infiltrative appearance were independent prognostic factors for OS in IHC patients.

CONCLUSION

cHCC-CC and IHC are aggressive tumours with a poor objective response, greater distant progression of the disease and shorter PFS and OS post LRT as compared to HCC.

Nutrient removal from synthetic and secondary treated sewage and tannery wastewater through phycoremediation

In this study, potential microalgae species (Chlorella vulgaris, Scenedesmus dimorphus, Chlorococcum sp. and Chlamydomonas sp.) have been studied for nutrient removal from synthetic and industrial wastewater. Batch experiments were carried out to investigate the removal performance among four chosen species at different nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations. NH₄-N and PO₄-P were varied from 13.2 to 52.8 mg/L and 6.6 to 26.4 mg/L, respectively, by keeping N:P ratio as 2:1. In synthetic wastewater, maximum NH₄-N and PO₄-P removal efficiencies of 88.6% and 91.2% were obtained with C. vulgaris when compared to the other microalgae studied. Further studies were carried out using C. vulgaris in batch experiments to investigate the nutrient removal performance in secondary treated sewage, soak liquor and composite tannery effluent. Experimental results indicated that NH₄-N, NO₃-N, PO₄-P and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiencies were found to be 68.6%, 74%, 71.5% and 90.2%, respectively, in secondary treated sewage. Maximum removal efficiencies of NH₄-N, NO₃-N, PO₄-P and COD in composite tannery wastewater were found to be 55%, 85.6%, 60.5% and 43.4%, respectively. In soak liquor, maximum removal efficiencies of NH₄-N, NO₃-N, PO₄-P and COD were found to 66.7%, 62.6%, 63.6% and 93.8%, respectively.

Studies on removal of phenol sulfonic acid-syntan in aqueous medium using ozonation

The removal of phenol sulfonic acid-syntan (PSAS) in terms of chemical oxygen demand (COD) was studied at different pH, ozone and initial PSAS concentrations and the optimum condition was found to be pH 7, ozone concentration of 5.2 × 10^-3mmol/L and initial PSAS concentration of 500 mg/L. The increase in BOD₅/COD ratio confirmed the bio-treatability of ozonated PSAS effluent. The excitation-emission matrix intensity and Fourier transmission infra-red spectroscopy confirmed the generation of intermediate by-product during degradation of PSAS. The ozonation of PSAS was found to obey fast regime pseudo-first-order reaction with a rate constant of 3.7 × 10^-9 mol^-1 s^-1. The mean oxidation state of carbon value between +2 and +3 confirmed that the ozonation of PSAS resulted in partial mineralization.

Biological decolourisation of pulp mill effluent using white rot fungus Trametes versicolor

The conventional biological treatment methods employed in the pulp and paper industries are not effective in reducing the colour and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The white-rot fungi are reported to have the ability to biodegrade the lignin and its derivatives. This paper is focused on the biological treatment of pulp mill effluent from a bagasse-based pulp and paper industry using fungal treatment. Experiments were conducted using the white rot fungus, Trametes versicolor in shake flasks operated in batch mode with different carbon sources. The decolourisation efficiencies of 82.5% and 80.3% were obtained in the presence of 15 g/L and 5 g/L of glucose and sucrose concentrations respectively with a considerable COD reduction. The possibility of reusing the grown fungus was examined for repeated treatment studies.

Statistical optimization for decolorization of textile dyes using Trametes versicolor

The conventional treatment of dark coloured textile wastewater using chemical coagulation generates large volume of sludge, which requires further treatment and disposal. In the present investigation, a systematic optimization study of the important variables influencing the decolorization of Reactive Orange-16 (RO-16) and Reactive Red-35 (RR-35) dyes by the white-rot fungus (Trametes versicolor) was carried out. A full factorial central composite design was employed for experimental design and optimization of results. The effect of concentrations of dye, glucose and ammonium chloride on decolorization was studied and optimized using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). Maximum decolorization of 94.5% and 90.7% for RO-16 and RR-35 was obtained at optimum concentrations of dye, glucose and ammonium chloride i.e., 0.66, 17.50 and 2.69 g/L for RO-16 and 0.68, 16.67 and 2.13 g/L for RR-35, respectively.

Metastatic malignant melanoma of maxillary gingiva. A case report

Malignant melanoma of the oral cavity can be primary or secondary due to metastasis from distant site. Incidence of oral cavity by metastasis of melanoma is 1.85%. Most common oral sites involved are tongue, buccal mucosa and parotid gland. Oral lesions occur as a part of disseminated disease during the advanced stages and has poor prognosis. An unusual case of metastatic malignant melanoma of the maxillary gingiva is reported.

Maxillary metastasis of osteosarcoma

Osteosarcoma, either primary or metastatic, rarely involves the jaws. Though only a few cases of mandibular metastasis of osteosarcoma have been reported, only one case of et al maxillary involvement (Singh, 1978) has been reported. A case of 21 year old boy with metastasis of osteosarcoma to the right maxilla from primary osteosarcoma of the left femur is presented. The patient complained of pain and swelling in the left maxillary region which was earlier diagnosed as maxillary sinusitis on the basis of Water's sinus radiograph in a medical hospital. Further radiographic examination with the panoramic and intraoral periapical radiographs done by us and later by fine needle aspiration cytology led us to diagnose a secondary deposits of osteosarcoma.

Stroke: morale, family functioning, health status, and functional capacity

Twenty-two stroke patients and their spouses were studied. All patients were living at home and had had a stroke at least one year previously. Of the 22 patients 14 were men and eight were women. Couples were assessed on the variables of morale, family functioning, health status, and patient functional capacity. For all variables, patient-spouse and husband-wife differences were tested. Couples from a previously studied random community sample were matched to the stroke couples on age and socioeconomic status (SES). Identical morale, family functioning, and health status data collected on these couples were compared to the stroke data. The results included the following: Stroke patients and their spouses were healthy on all variables. Members of the couple did not differ on most variables whether compared as husband-wife or patient-spouse. Wives from the two samples did not differ on any variable. Husbands from the stroke sample differed from the matched husbands on only one health variable--the number of doctor visits made in the past six months.