Sewage Sludge Management at District Level: Reduction and Nutrients Recovery via Hydrothermal Carbonization.

In this study, two scenarios of a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) are presented, which include the integration of the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) process into the sludge line as a post-treatment of the anaerobic digestion (AD) process. The objective of the simulation is to investigate the performances of AD + HTC treatment to reduce sludge production and improve nutrient and energy recovery. For this purpose, the scheme of an under-construction WWTP was considered, named Trento 3 (Trento, Italy) and with a treatment capacity of 300,000 PE. In the first scenario, the HTC process was fed with thickened sludge from the Trento 3 WWTP, while in the second scenario, dewatered sludge from other local WWTPs was also used as feedstock for the HTC process. Both scenarios allowed to obtain a considerable sludge reduction ranging from 70 to 75% with a notably increase in the biogas production up to 47%, due to the recycling of HTC liquor (HTCL) to the anaerobic digester. Considering nutrients recovery, all the phosphorus and nitrogen present in the HTCL could be used for struvite precipitation with an average yearly gain of 1 million euros. Moreover, the introduction of HTC in the Trento 3 WWTP could allow a reduction in the sludge management costs of up to 2 M€/year.

Development of new heparin-like compounds and other antithrombotic drugs and their interaction with vascular endothelial cells

The anticlotting and antithrombotic activities of heparin, heparan sulfate, low molecular weight heparins, heparin and heparin-like compounds from various sources used in clinical practice or under development are briefly reviewed. Heparin isolated from shrimp mimics the pharmacological activities of low molecular weight heparins. A heparan sulfate from Artemia franciscana and a dermatan sulfate from tuna fish show a potent heparin cofactor II activity. A heparan sulfate derived from bovine pancreas has a potent antithrombotic activity in an arterial and venous thrombosis model with a negligible activity upon the serine proteases of the coagulation cascade. It is suggested that the antithrombotic activity of heparin and other antithrombotic agents is due at least in part to their action on endothelial cells stimulating the synthesis of an antithrombotic heparan sulfate.

Development of new heparin-like compounds and other antithrombotic drugs and their interaction with vascular endothelial cells.

The anticlotting and antithrombotic activities of heparin, heparan sulfate, low molecular weight heparins, heparin and heparin-like compounds from various sources used in clinical practice or under development are briefly reviewed. Heparin isolated from shrimp mimics the pharmacological activities of low molecular weight heparins. A heparan sulfate from Artemia franciscana and a dermatan sulfate from tuna fish show a potent heparin cofactor II activity. A heparan sulfate derived from bovine pancreas has a potent antithrombotic activity in an arterial and venous thrombosis model with a negligible activity upon the serine proteases of the coagulation cascade. It is suggested that the antithrombotic activity of heparin and other antithrombotic agents is due at least in part to their action on endothelial cells stimulating the synthesis of an antithrombotic heparan sulfate.

Distribution of sulfated glycosaminoglycans in the animal kingdom: widespread occurrence of heparin-like compounds in invertebrates.

Sulfated glycosaminoglycans were isolated from 23 species of 13 phyla of invertebrates and characterized by their electrophoretic migration in three different buffer systems coupled with enzymatic degradation using bacterial heparinase, heparitinases and chondroitinase AC. Heparan sulfate is a ubiquitous compound present in all species analyzed whereas chondroitin sulfate was present in 20 species and heparin-like compounds in 12 species of the invertebrates. The heparin-like compounds were purified from the echinoderm Mellita quinquisperforata (sand dollar) and the crustacean Ucides cordatus (crab) with anticoagulant activities of 60 and 52 IU/mg, respectively. Degradation of these heparins with heparinase produced significant amounts of the trisulfated disaccharide typical of mammalian heparins. This was confirmed by 13C-NMR spectroscopy of the crab heparin. An updated phylogenetic tree of the distribution of sulfated glycosaminoglycans in the animal kingdom is also presented.