Anoxic-biocathode microbial desalination cell as a new approach for wastewater remediation and clean water production.

Bioelectrochemical systems are emerging as a promising and friendly alternative to convert the energy stored in wastewater directly into electricity by microorganisms and utilize it in situ to drive desalination. To better understand such processes, we propose the development of an anoxic biocathode microbial desalination Cell for the conversion of carbon- and nitrogen-rich wastewaters into bioenergy and to perform salt removal. Our results demonstrate a power output of 0.425 W m-3 with desalination, organic matter removal and nitrate conversion efficiencies of 43.69, 99.85 and 92.11% respectively. Microbiological analysis revealed Proteobacteria as the dominant phylum in the anode (88.45%) and biocathode (97.13%). While a relatively higher bacterial abundance was developed in the anode chamber, the biocathode showed a greater variety of microorganisms, with a predominance of Paracoccus (73.2%), which are related to the denitrification process. These findings are promising and provide new opportunities for the development and application of this technology in the field of wastewater treatment to produce cleaner water and conserve natural resources.

Prospects in bioelectrochemical technologies for wastewater treatment.

Bioelectrochemical technologies are emerging as innovative solutions for waste treatment, offering flexible platforms for both oxidation and reduction reaction processes. A great variety of applications have been developed by utilizing the energy produced in bioelectrochemical systems, such as direct electric power generation, chemical production or water desalination. This manuscript provides a literature review on the prospects in bioelectrochemical technologies for wastewater treatment, including organic, nutrients and metals removal, production of chemical compounds and desalination. The challenges and perspectives for scale-up were discussed. A technological strategy to improve the process monitoring and control based on big data platforms is also presented. To translate the viability of wastewater treatment based on bioelectrochemical technologies into commercial application, it is necessary to exploit interdisciplinary areas by combining the water/wastewater sector, energy and data analytics technologies.

Safety profile of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia for breakthrough pain in cancer patients: a case series study.

PURPOSE: The WHO analgesic ladder supports medication choice according to pain intensity. The use of the analgesic ladder in an inverse way, has the advantage of using the same principles of the original ladder to treat crisis of pain in cancer patients. The purpose of this study is to describe the use of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) technique in patients admitted to an oncological Hospital. METHODS: This is a case series study. Patients assigned to receive IV-PCA between March 2011 and May 2012 were selected for the study. Medical records were reviewed, patients stratified according to the Karnofsky Performance Score (KPS). The primary outcome was to verify if different IV-PCA opioid solutions could be equally effective providing pain relief. Secondary outcomes were the incidence of clinical side effects that can be associated to IV-PCA infusions. RESULTS: A total of 95 medical records were reviewed. Most patients used IV-PCA with morphine (42.1 %), fentanyl (42.1 %) or methadone (15.7 %) to treat exacerbation periods of cancer pain. IV-PCA used as supplementary therapy successfully improved pain control in 78.9 % of the patients, without any difference related to opioid solution. KPS <40 was related to higher rate of pain relief, without any difference in side effects in this group of patients. The most common side effects were sedation (10.5 %) followed by constipation (9.4 %) and nausea (4.2 %). Morphine presented a higher risk than fentanyl for sedation. Analgesia-related delirium or respiratory depression were not reported in this case series study. CONCLUSIONS: IV-PCA provided timely, safe and useful analgesia for patients with severe breakthrough pain and may be useful to help titration of opioids, weaning to oral analgesia and to decide for interventional procedures.