Draft Genome Sequence of Lactobacillus jensenii UMB0836, Isolated from the Female Bladder.

Lactobacillus jensenii is a frequent member of both the vaginal and urinary microbiota. Here, we present the draft genome sequence for L. jensenii UMB0836, isolated from catheterized urine obtained from a pregnant female. The genome is 1,648,234 bp long, assembled in 40 contigs.

Evaluation of various cheese whey treatment scenarios in single-chamber microbial electrolysis cells for improved biohydrogen production.

In this study single-chamber microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) were applied to treat cheese whey (CW), an industrial by-product, and recover H2 gas. Firstly, this substrate was fed directly to the MEC to get the initial feedback about its H2 generation potential. The results indicated that the direct application of CW requires an adequate pH control to realize bioelectrohydrogenesis and avoid operational failure due to the loss of bioanode activity. In the second part of the study, the effluents of anaerobic (methanogenic) digester and hydrogenogenic (dark fermentative H2-producing) reactor utilizing the CW were tested in the MEC process (representing the concept of a two-stage technology). It turned out that the residue of the methanogenic reactor - with its relatively lower carbohydrate- and higher volatile fatty acid contents - was more suitable to produce hydrogen bioelectrochemically. The MEC operated with the dark fermentation effluent, containing a high portion of carbohydrates and low amount of organic acids, produced significant amount of undesired methane simultaneously with H2. Overall, the best MEC behavior was attained using the effluent of the methanogenic reactor and therefore, considering a two-stage system, methanogenesis is an advisable pretreatment step for the acidic CW to enhance the H2 formation in complementary microbial electrohydrogenesis.

H2 production in membraneless bioelectrochemical cells with optimized architecture: The effect of cathode surface area and electrode distance.

In this work we report on the hydrogen production capacity of single-chamber microbial electrohydrogenesis cell (MEC) with optimized design characteristics, in particular cathode surface area and anode-cathode spacing using acetate as substrate. The results showed that the maximal H2 production rates and best energetic performances could be obtained using the smallest, 71 cm2 stainless steel cathode and 4 cm electrode distances, employing a 60 cm2 bioanode. Cyclic voltammetric analysis was employed to investigate the dominant electron transfer mechanism of the architecturally optimized system.

Research on Emissions, Air quality, Climate, and Cooking Technologies in Northern Ghana (REACCTING): study rationale and protocol.

BACKGROUND: Cooking over open fires using solid fuels is both common practice throughout much of the world and widely recognized to contribute to human health, environmental, and social problems. The public health burden of household air pollution includes an estimated four million premature deaths each year. To be effective and generate useful insight into potential solutions, cookstove intervention studies must select cooking technologies that are appropriate for local socioeconomic conditions and cooking culture, and include interdisciplinary measurement strategies along a continuum of outcomes. METHODS/DESIGN: REACCTING (Research on Emissions, Air quality, Climate, and Cooking Technologies in Northern Ghana) is an ongoing interdisciplinary randomized cookstove intervention study in the Kassena-Nankana District of Northern Ghana. The study tests two types of biomass burning stoves that have the potential to meet local cooking needs and represent different "rungs" in the cookstove technology ladder: a locally-made low-tech rocket stove and the imported, highly efficient Philips gasifier stove. Intervention households were randomized into four different groups, three of which received different combinations of two improved stoves, while the fourth group serves as a control for the duration of the study. Diverse measurements assess different points along the causal chain linking the intervention to final outcomes of interest. We assess stove use and cooking behavior, cooking emissions, household air pollution and personal exposure, health burden, and local to regional air quality. Integrated analysis and modeling will tackle a range of interdisciplinary science questions, including examining ambient exposures among the regional population, assessing how those exposures might change with different technologies and behaviors, and estimating the comparative impact of local behavior and technological changes versus regional climate variability and change on local air quality and health outcomes. DISCUSSION: REACCTING is well-poised to generate useful data on the impact of a cookstove intervention on a wide range of outcomes. By comparing different technologies side by side and employing an interdisciplinary approach to study this issue from multiple perspectives, this study may help to inform future efforts to improve health and quality of life for populations currently relying on open fires for their cooking needs.

Predicción de meningoencefalitis purulenta mediante cuenta de colonias bacterianas en hemocultivo / Prediction of suppurative meningoencephalitis by bacterial colony counts in hemoculture

Se estudiaron 19 lactantes menores de nueve meses de edad con diagnóstico de septicemia. En todos ellos se tomó muestra de sangre para cuenta de colonias en hemocultivo, lográndose esto último en cinco casos. En tres de ellos, la cuenta de colonias en hemocultivo fue superior a 1000 por ml3 desarrollando los tres meningoencefalitis. Se hicieron consideraciones sobre un estudio preliminar realizado en el Hospital de Pediatría del Centro Médico Nacional del IMSS, lo que permitió ampliar la muestra estudiada. El estudio sugiere que la cuenta de colonias en hemocultivo es un parámetro que orienta sobre la posibilidad de que pacientes con septicemia y cuenta de colonias elevada desarrollen meningoencefalitis