Chemical removal and recovery of phosphorus from excess sludge in a sewage treatment plant.

We describe a process for the recovery of phosphorus from excess sludge in a sewage treatment plant that currently uses polyaluminium chloride for chemical phosphorus removal. Instead, we employed alkaline dissolution of excess sludge with calcium phosphate precipitation to recover phosphorus from sewage. The recovery ratio for phosphorus from sewage using the phosphorus recovery system is approximately 50%. In addition, the amount of excess sludge in the phosphorus recovery system is approximately half that of conventional chemical phosphorus removal. Alkaline dissolution of excess sludge resulted in dissolution of aluminium into the supernatant. Furthermore, since dissolved aluminium can be reused as a coagulant, the phosphorus recovery system could be used to economize coagulant consumption. Operation and maintenance costs of the phosphorus recovery system are 25.9 U.S. cents per 1 m3 of sewage compared to 32.0 U.S. cents per 1 m3 of sewage for conventional chemical phosphorus removal, representing a decrease of 20% in the operation and maintenance costs.

Effect of pituitary microsurgery on acromegaly complicated nephrotic syndrome with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis: report of a rare clinical case.

A case of nephrotic syndrome complicated by acromegaly is presented. The first renal biopsy specimen showed minor glomerular abnormalities with glomerular hypertrophy, corresponding with minimal change nephrotic syndrome. Corticosteroid therapy led to a partial remission, followed by frequent relapses after reduction of the drug. A diagnosis of atypical focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) was made based on the second renal biopsy results 6 months after the first. We combined steroid therapy with the administration of an anticoagulant, cytotoxic agents, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, and low-density lipoprotein adsorption. Except for the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, these medications were not effective in terms of allowing a reduction in the high dosage of steroid, which in turn threatened progressive osteoporosis and lumbar vertebrae fracture. Administering the steroid at a moderate dosage, treatment was focused on the complicating acromegaly from pituitary microadenoma. Subcutaneous injections of octreotide acetate, a somatostatin analogue, reduced proteinuria and increased urine volume. Subsequent transsphenoidal microsurgery of the adenoma resulted in the normalization of the elevated creatinine clearance and the further reduction in steroid dosage while maintaining a remission state. This is the first reported clinical case with acromegaly followed by FSGS, and it is suggested that hypersecretion of growth hormone participates in the development and progression of glomerular disease.

Long term result of LDL selective plasma adsorption therapy on familial hypercholesterolemia.

A newly developed low density lipoprotein (LDL) selective adsorption column from the separated plasma was applied to one patient of heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia for 20 months at intervals of two weeks. LDL selective adsorption column, Liposorber LA-40, contains 400 ml of swollen dextran sulfate cellulose beads. The long-term, 20 month results of treatment with LDL selective plasma adsorption therapy are reported. LDL selective plasma adsorption therapy by Liposorber is useful in decreasing LDL-cholesterol of familial hypercholesterolemia and is more specific and produces a smaller loss of useful components of the serum than the double filtration plasmapheresis treatment. This treatment is effective in improving clinical conditions of familial hypercholesterolemia. In spite of our lengthy treatment with this therapy, no blood transfusion and no replacement of fluids was done in 20 months.

Adsorption of lipoprotein containing apolipoprotein-B through plasma separation for treatment of familial hypercholesterolemia.

For the treatment of familial hypercholesterolemia, Liposorber LA-40 was clinically applied. The Liposorber is a commercially developed affinity adsorbent for plasma perfusion which selectivity adsorbs low density lipoproteins and very low density lipoproteins and is specially designed for plasmapheretic treatment of hypercholesterolemia. The Liposorber column, containing activated cellulose beads having an affinity for lipoprotein containing apolipoprotein-B, has an excellent adsorption capacity, excellent selectivity, minimum albumin loss. This new apheresis system was applied to 2 clinical cases. After seven months of trial perfusion every 2 weeks, patient condition was good, with a level of total cholesterol under 300 mg/dl. No replacement fluids were given during or after treatment. In this paper, clinical results of these patients were shown and the mechanism of adsorption of this specific adsorbent was discussed.

A genetic study on the length of tibia.

The length of tibia was studied in 1364 males and 1791 females over 10 years of age in an agricultural district of Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. (1) The length markedly increased from 10 to 17 years of age in males, and 10 to 15 in females, but it remained comparatively unchanged from 20 to 79 years in both sexes. The following regressions of tibial length covering 20 to 79 years were obtained: Y male = 0-0183x+34-7892, Y female = -0-0269x + 32-5329. The modified data proved to be a normal distribution on skewness and kurtosis test; they were analysed on a quantitative genetic basis. (2) No significant contribution of X-linked and Y-linked genes to tibial length was found in an analysis of parent-child combinations. (3) There was no indication of maternal effect, since the difference between father-child (r = 0-36 +/- 0-05) and mother-child (r = 0-42 +/- 0-04) correlations was not significant. (4) Correlation coefficients between sibs were significant, the values being 0-57 +/- 0-09 for brother-brother, 0-32 +/- 0-22 for sister-sister, and 0-27 +/- 0-13 for brother-sister. Correlation coeffiecients between parent and child were also significant, the values being 0-36 +/- 0-06 for father-son, 0-35 +/- 0-09 for father-daughter, 0-44 +/- 0-04 for mother-son, 0-35 +/- 0-07 for mother-daughter. The regression coefficients of child on midparent were calculated to be 0-77 +/- 0-12. Thus, the heritability for the length of tibia may be estimated to be 0-77 approximately 0-80. Contribution of dominance variance to total variance was very small (VD = 0-01), in contrast to a far greater additive genetic variance (VA = 0-80).