Rapid BOD assessment with a microbial array coupled to a neural machine learning system.

The domestic usage of water generates approximately 310 km3 of wastewater worldwide (2015, AQUASTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations). This sewage contains an important organic load due to the use of this water; this organic load is characterized using a standard method, namely, the biological oxygen demand measurement (BOD5). The BOD5 provides information about the biodegradable organic load (standard ISO 5815). However, this measurement protocol is very time-consuming (5 days) and may produce variability in approximately 20% of results mainly due to variation in the environmental inocula. To remedy these limitations, this work proposes an innovative concept relying on the implementation of a set of rigorously selected bacterial strains. This publication depicts the different steps used in this study, from bio-indicator selection to validation with real wastewater samples. The results obtained in the final step show a strong correlation between the developed approach and the reference method (ISO 5815) with a correlation rate of approximately 0.9. In addition, the optimization of the experimental conditions and the use of controlled strains (8 selected strains) allow significant reduction in the duration of the BOD5 analysis, with only 3 h required for the proposed method versus 5 days for the reference method. This technological breakthrough should simplify the monitoring of wastewater treatment plants and provide quicker, easier and more coherent control in terms of the treatment time.

Molecular detection of Zika virus in blood and RNA load determination during the French Polynesian outbreak.

Zika virus (ZIKV) viremia is reported as low and transient; however, these estimates rely on limited data. We report RNA loads in sera collected from symptomatic patients during the 2013-2014 French Polynesian ZIKV outbreak. We performed molecular detection of ZIKV RNA in sera from 747 patients presenting with suspected acute phase ZIKV infection. Among patients with confirmed infection, we analyzed the duration of viremia, assessed viral RNA loads and recorded the main clinical symptoms. A total of 210/747 (28.1%) sera tested positive using a ZIKV-specific RT-PCR. Viral RNA loads in symptomatic patients that ranged from 5 to 3.7 × 106 copies/mL (mean 9.9 × 104 copies/mL) were not related to a particular clinical presentation, and were significantly lower than those previously obtained from asymptomatic ZIKV infected blood donors. The rate of detection of ZIKV RNA in sera from suspected cases of acute phase ZIKV infection was low. ZIKV RNA loads were lower in symptomatic patients compared to asymptomatic blood donors and were lower than RNA loads usually reported in dengue infections. As there is no abrupt onset of symptoms in ZIKV infections, we suggest that infected patients sought for medical attention when viremia was already decreasing or had resolved.

An auto-controlled prospective comparison of two embryos culture media (G III series versus ISM) for IVF and ICSI treatments.

PURPOSE: To compare the effects of 2 different media on embryo morphology and development at days 2/3. METHOD: Six hundred seventy-six attempts from 512 couples were included in this prospective auto-controlled study. Sibling oocytes of all couples undergoing an IVF (n = 286) or ICSI (n = 390) attempt were randomly assigned to either GIII series (Vitrolife) or ISM (Medicult) media. Primary end points were fertilization and embryo morphology rates. RESULTS: Fertilization rates in GIII series and ISM (IVF: 59.9 vs 62.0% and ICSI: 65.7 vs 66.8%) respectively were not different. GIII series showed an increase, compared to ISM, of early cleavage rate, (IVF: 25.8 vs 16.2% (p = 0.005); ICSI: 40.8 vs 25.5% (p < 0.0001), and good embryo morphology rate at day 2 [IVF: 64.6 vs 57.3% (p = 0.01); ICSI: 74.2 vs 69.4 (p = 0.03)] and at day 3 [IVF: 57.5 vs 49.0% (p = 0.02); ICSI: 67.2 vs 61.6% (p = 0.01)]. CONCLUSIONS: Embryo morphology at days 2/3 was significantly enhanced when the embryos were cultured in GIII series.