A mass balance approach to the fate of viruses in a municipal wastewater treatment plant during summer and winter seasons.

In contrast to previous discussion on general virus removal efficiency and identifying surrogates for human pathogenic viruses, this study focuses on virus retention within each step of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Additionally, the influence of weather conditions on virus removal was addressed. To account for the virus retention, this study describes a mass balance of somatic coliphages (bacterial viruses) in a municipal WWTP, performed in the winter and summer seasons of 2011. In the winter season, the concentration of coliphages entering the WWTP was about 1 log lower than in summer. The mass balance in winter revealed a virus inactivation of 85.12 ± 13.97%. During the summer season, virus inactivation was significantly higher (95.25 ± 3.69%, p-value <0.05), most likely due to additional virus removal in the secondary clarifier by insolation. Thus, a total removal of coliphages of about 2.78 log units was obtained in summer compared to 1.95 log units in winter. Rainfall events did not statistically correlate with the concentrations of coliphages entering the WWTP in summer.

Isolated bladder exstrophy associated with a de novo 0.9 Mb microduplication on chromosome 19p13.12.

BACKGROUND: The exstrophy-epispadias complex (BEEC) is a urogenital birth defect of varying severity. The causes of the BEEC are likely to be heterogeneous, with individual environmental or genetic risk factors still being largely unknown. In this study, we aimed to identify de novo causative copy number variations (CNVs) that contribute to the BEEC. METHODS: Array-based molecular karyotyping was performed to screen 110 individuals with BEEC. Promising CNVs were tested for de novo occurrence by investigating parental DNAs. Genes located in regions of rearrangements were prioritized through expression analysis in mice to be sequenced in the complete cohort, to identify high-penetrance mutations involving small sequence changes. RESULTS: A de novo 0.9 Mb microduplication involving chromosomal region 19p13.12 was identified in a single patient. This region harbors 20 validated RefSeq genes, and in situ hybridization data showed specific expression of the Wiz gene in regions surrounding the cloaca and the rectum between GD 9.5 and 13.5. Sanger sequencing of the complete cohort did not reveal any pathogenic alterations affecting the coding region of WIZ. CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests chromosomal region 19p13.12 as possibly involved in the development of CBE, but further studies are needed to prove a causal relation. The spatiotemporal expression patterns determined for the genes encompassed suggest a role for Wiz in the development of the phenotype. Our mutation screening, however, could not confirm that WIZ mutations are a frequent cause of CBE, although rare mutations might be detectable in larger patient samples. 19p13.12, microduplication, bladder exstrophy-epispadias complex, array-based molecular karyotyping, in situ hybridization analysis, copy number variations, WIZ gene.