Low maintenance anammox enrichment and nitrogen removal with an anaerobic baffled reactor.

The stringent growth requirements of anammox bacteria may be a challenge for employing the anammox process for nutrient removal at household or decentralized scales, where low maintenance systems are more successful. Enrichment of anammox bacteria was achieved by 100 d using a lab-scale (32 L) anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR). Even though strict anaerobic conditions were not imposed, NH4-N and NO2-N removals of >90% were maintained after ∼100 d, with greatest removals observed in the first two chambers of the four-chamber ABR. Batch anammox activity tests and results of qPCR analyses confirmed the presence of anammox bacteria in all four ABR chambers. Changes in fluorescent peaks and indices supported that intracellular compounds from reactor biomass evolved along the ABR. The presence of denitrifiers, confirmed by qPCR, and lower NO2/NH4 ratios than predicted by stoichiometry indicated that nitrification-denitrification processes also may have contributed to the high N removal in the anammox ABR.

Confidencialidad de datos en un hospital-escuela dedicado a la investigación / Data Confidentiality in a Hospital-School Dedicated to Research / Confidencialidade de dados em um hospital-escola dedicado à pesquisa

Resumen: La información clínica que deriva de la atención médica es almacenada en los expedientes clínicos que se encuentran en archivos físicos o electrónicos en las distintas instituciones hospitalarias que se dedican a la enseñanza. Esta valiosa información constituye una herramienta fundamental en la investigación clínica, por lo tanto, debe de ser considerada confidencial desde que el paciente la remite hasta después de finalizar su tratamiento. Cuando los miembros de un hospital-escuela realizan actividades de investigación, utilizan la información contenida en los expedientes clínicos. La confidencialidad de estos registros es protegida por la ley, por esta razón es necesario fundamentar y desarrollar un método que ayude a los investigadores a conocer estos datos clínicos sin violar su privacidad y confidencialidad. Es necesario cuestionarnos si un aviso de privacidad que indique a los pacientes que la información derivada de sus padecimientos puede utilizarse posteriormente para fines de investigación será suficiente para resolver los conflictos relacionados con la obtención de datos. Un aviso de privacidad es un documento legal que se utiliza para la protección de datos de las personas, aplicarlo en las instituciones hospitalarias dedicadas a la enseñanza y a la investigación facilitará el uso de la información derivada de las consultas y mantendrá la confianza de que los datos utilizados en la investigación respetarán, la confidencialidad y la privacidad, a través del anonimato.

Summary: Clinical information derived from medical care is registered in clinical records in physical or electronic files in different hospital institutions dedicated to teaching. This valuable information is a fundamental tool for clinical research; therefore, it should be considered confidential from the moment the patient transfers it, until after the end of their treatment. When members of a hospital-school carry out research activities, they use information contained in clinical records. Confidentiality of these records is protected by law, for this reason, it is necessary to underpin and develop a method to help researchers to learn this clinical data without violating privacy and confidentiality. It is necessary to question ourselves whether a privacy notice indicating patients that the information derived from their conditions may subsequently be used for research purposes will be enough to resolve disputes related to data collection; in this regard, a privacy notice is a legal document used for the protection of people's data; using it in teaching and research hospital institutions will facilitate the use of information derived from consultations and maintain confidence that the data used in research will respect, first and foremost, confidentiality and privacy, through anonymity.

Resumo: As informações clínicas derivadas dos cuidados médicos são armazenadas nos prontuários médicos encontrados em arquivos físicos ou eletrônicos de diversos hospitais que se dedicam ao ensino. Essas informações valiosas são uma ferramenta fundamental na pesquisa clínica, portanto, devem ser consideradas conidenciais desde o momento em que o paciente as envia até o final do tratamento. Quando os membros de um hospital-escola realizam atividades de pesquisa, eles usam as informações contidas nos registros médicos. A conidencialidade desses registros é protegida por lei, por isso é necessário fundamentar e desenvolver um método que ajude os pesquisadores a conhecer esses dados clínicos sem violar sua privacidade e confidencialidade. É necessário questionar se um aviso de privacidade que informe aos pacientes que as informações derivadas de suas condições podem ser usadas posteriormente para fins de pesquisa será suficiente para resolver disputas relacionadas à coleta de dados. Um aviso de privacidade é um documento legal usado para a proteção de dados de indivíduos. Aplicá-lo em hospitais envolvidos em ensino e pesquisa facilitará o uso de informações derivadas das consultas e manterá a coniança de que os dados usados na pesquisa respeitarão, em primeiro lugar, a conidencialidade e a privacidade, por meio do anonimato.

Effects of Tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) protease inhibitor and semipure lectin fractions on cancer cells.

Some natural and synthetic protease inhibitors (PI), such as the Bowman-Birk PI from soybean, have anticancer effects. We previously purified and characterized a Bowman-Birk-type PI from Tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) seeds (TBPI). A semipure protein fraction containing this inhibitor, when tested its in vitro effect on transformed cells, showed a differential cytotoxic effect, as well as an increase in cell attachment to culture dishes. In this article we report that lectins were responsible for the cytotoxic effect previously observed, exhibiting a differential, antiproliferative effect on nontransformed cells and on different lineages of cancer cells. Although the purified TBPI lacked cytotoxicity, it was found to be responsible for the increase in cell adhesion, decreasing culture dishes' extracellular matrix degradation, leading to a decrease of the in vitro cell invasion capacity. This effect coincided with the suppression of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 activity. These results indicate that Tepary bean seeds contain at least 2 different groups of bioactive proteins with distinct effects on cancer cells.