Search

In this study, real marine sediments polluted by petroleum compounds were treated by means of a bioslurry pilot scale reactor. The treatment performance was evaluated by measuring the removal of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH), coupled to further analyses required to understand the mechanisms involved in the biodegradation process. The maximum TPH-removal efficiency reached 86 % at the end of experiments. Moreover, high throughput 16S RNA gene sequencing was used to describe the microbiome composition in sediment prior to, and after, bioslurry treatment, in order to identify the taxa mostly entailed in the TPH removal process. The raw sediment was mostly colonized by members of Sulfurimonas genus; after bioslurry treatment, it was noticed a shift in the microbial community composition, with Proteobacteria phylum dominating the remediation environment (high increase in terms of growth for Hydrogenophaga and Sphingorhabdus genera) along with the Phaeodactylibacter genus (Bacteroidetes). Furthermore, the assessment of gaseous emissions from the system allowed to quantify the volatile hydrocarbon component and, consequently, to obtain a more accurate evaluation of TPH-removal pathway by the bioslurry system. Finally, phytotoxicity tests on sediment samples highlighted an increase of the treated sample quality status compared to the untreated one.

The study aims at evaluating the nitrous oxide (N2O) emission from membrane bioreactors (MBRs) for wastewater treatment. With this regards two-years of experimental activities were performed. More specifically, the study investigates the N2O emissions considering multiple influential factors: i. configurations (i.e., sequential batch- SB-MBR; pre-denitrification - DN-MBR; University Cape Town, UCT-MBR and UCT moving bed biofilm reactor, UCT-MB-MBR); ii. wastewater composition (municipal or industrial); iii. Plant operational conditions (i.e., sludge retention time, SRT, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, C/N, hydraulic retention time, HRT); iv. and membrane modules. Among the overall analysed configurations the highest N2O emission occurred from the aerated reactors. The treatment of industrial wastewater, contaminated with salt and hydrocarbons, provided the highest N2O emission factor (EF): 16% of the influent nitrogen for the DN-MBR plant. The lowest N2O EF (0.5% of the influent nitrogen) was obtained in the UCT-MB-MBR plant likely due to an improvement in biological performances exerted by the co-presence of both suspended and attached biomass. The C/N ratio has been identified as a key factor affecting the N2O production. Indeed, in the UCT-MBR and UCT-MB-MBR configurations the decrease of the C/N ratio (from 10 to 2) promoted the increase of N2O emissions in both gaseous and dissolved phases, mainly due to a decreased nitrification/denitrification.

The Prostate Cancer Specific Quality of Life Instrument (PROSQOLI) is a measure of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in advanced hormone-resistant prostate cancer. In this study, we aimed at performing a cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Italian version of the PROSQOLI.The original version of the PROSQOLI underwent several turnarounds of translations. A total of 472 patients treated with radical prostatectomy, radiotherapy or medical therapy were enrolled for the validation of the questionnaire. The PROSQOLI was administered together with the SF-12. Reliability indexes were calculated by using Cronbach alpha. To evaluate the validity of the construct, relationships between PROSQOLI and SF12 were assessed. The ANOVA test was used to evaluate the differences between groups of patients who had received different treatments.The reliability coefficient was 0.91. Item-to-total correlation indices were in most cases0.70. The correlation between the scores of the PROSQOLI and those of the SF-12 questionnaire was high (r=0.8139, p0.0001). The ANOVA test showed significant differences between groups (p0.01) based on age, recurrence risk and treatment.The adaptation process showed that the PROSQOLI Italian version has high reliability and presents both convergent and discriminant validity. This version of the tool can be used to assess HRQoL in Italian men who underwent radical treatment for advanced prostate cancer.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: to prospectively test the Preoperative Aspects and Dimensions Used for an Anatomical (PADUA) classification in a cohort of patients submitted to open nephron sparing surgery (NSS) and to correlate the PADUA score to ischemia time. METHODS: from December 2009 and September 2010, 112 consecutive patients were treated with open NSS with the technique of hilar arterial clamping. Tumor were reclassified according to the PADUA classification. Complication were graded according to the modified Clavien system. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses tested the predictive value of PADUA score on overall complication rate and on the ischemic time. RESULTS: Sixty-one patients underwent extraperitoneal NSS through a flank incision, while 51 patients underwent transperitoneal approach. Mean patients age was 61.8 °A 13.3 years. The median tumor diameter was 3.4–1.5 cm. The median PADUA score was 8 (range 6–13). Mean ischemia time was 20–10 min. Overall complication rate was 18.7% (n 21). On univariable analysis, the PADUA score correlated with complication rate (p 0.027) and with increased ischemia time, considered as a continuous variable as well as categorical one (°U 25 min vs 25 min) (p 0.001 and p 0.03, respectively). On multivariable analysis PADUA score achieved the independent predictor status of complication rate, after adjusting for body mass index and surgical approach. Patients with PADUA score 8–9 had a 4-fold risk of complication, while patients with PADUA score 10 had a 15-fold risk compared to those with scores of 6–7 (p 0.013). Moreover. patients with PADUA score 10 had a 6-fold risk of ischemic time 25 minutes (p 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: our study confirms that PADUA score can reliably predict risk complication and ischemic time in patients treated with NSS, independently from the extra or transperitoneal approach. PADUA classification can help the selection of patients who may benefit from additional techniques such as hypothermic procedure.

The authors underline the diagnostic accuracy of transurethral bladder ultrasonography in the estimation of local infiltration of bladder tumors. The study was conducted on 21 patients who underwent either endoscopic resection or cystectomy. The clinical staging obtained by transurethral echography was compared with the pathological one. The results obtained by either method were comparable in all cases.

The authors refer on the pathogenesis, diagnosis and therapy of bladder diverticula, with particular reference to the endoscopic compression technique performed in 35 patients. The authors stress the usefulness of bladder ultrasonography in the follow-up of operated patients. Results are comparable to those obtained cystography.

The authors consider the concentration of antibacterial drugs in the seminal fluid as a reliable experimental model for the study of pharmacokinetics in chronic prostatitis (c.p.). The study was conducted on 32 subjects, 20 of whom were affected by c.p. and 12 were normal controls. All subjects were treated with aztreonam at a dosage of 1 g.i.m. The assay was performed 1 hour after the injection, on seminal fluid, urine and serum samples. No difference was observed between normal subjects and patients with c.p. with regard to serum and urinary levels of the drug. There was a trend towards a higher concentration of the drug in the seminal fluid of patients with c.p. when compared to normal subjects, with mean values of 1.8 and 0.9 mcg/ml respectively. This difference was not statistically significant. Furthermore, the drug concentration of the drug in semen was below the sensitivity limits of the assay in 43% of normal subjects and in 10% of patients with c.p. In the latter group of patients the mean values of aztreonam concentration exceeded the minimal inhibitory concentrations for most aetiological agents causing c.p. In conclusion, it is suggested that aztreonam is likely to be effective in acute prostatitis, caused by Gram negative strains and may be indicated in selected cases for the treatment of c.p.

The term 'chronic prostatitis syndrome' (C.P.S) encompasses chronic bacterial prostatitis, chlamydia or ureaplasma-associated disease, chronic 'abacterial' prostatitis, and patients with prostatosis or prostatosis or prostalgia. Interesting observations emerged from the evaluation of the clinical material indicating that the patients with abacterial prostatitis and those with prostatosis or prostaglia group have frequent sperm abnormalities and ultrasonographic changes suggesting a more complex pathogenesis than mere congestion and neurosis. Treatment in 144 evaluable patients treated with a long-acting sulphur-trimethoprim combination was almost uniformly well tolerated; Chlamydia was eradicated in all 10 treated patients and 77.4% of patients with bacterial C.P.S. were rendered free of bacteria. Sperm abnormalities were almost invariably resistant to the treatment. Only 44.4% of patients showed a partial improvement, limited to one or more parameters. Results did not differ significantly in the various subgroup. An overall evaluation of results showed that disappearance of every presenting symptom and sign was obtained in 24.3% and a significant improvement in another 25% of patients, including those in the prostatosis-prostalgia group. These results suggest that antibacterial treatment may be followed by favourable clinical results even in patients in whom no bacteria or other aetiological agents could be isolated.