Surface Area-Enhanced Cerium and Sulfur-Modified Hierarchical Bismuth Oxide Nanosheets for Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction to Formate.

Electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (ECO2RR) is a promising approach to synthesize fuels and value-added chemical feedstocks while reducing atmospheric CO2 levels. Here, high surface area cerium and sulfur-doped hierarchical bismuth oxide nanosheets (Ce@S-Bi2O3) are develpoed by a solvothermal method. The resulting Ce@S-Bi2O3 electrocatalyst shows a maximum formate Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 92.5% and a current density of 42.09 mA cm-2 at -1.16 V versus RHE using a traditional H-cell system. Furthermore, using a three-chamber gas diffusion electrode (GDE) reactor, a maximum formate FE of 85% is achieved in a wide range of applied potentials (-0.86 to -1.36 V vs RHE) using Ce@S-Bi2O3. The density functional theory (DFT) results show that doping of Ce and S in Bi2O3 enhances formate production by weakening the OH* and H* species. Moreover, DFT calculations reveal that *OCHO is a dominant pathway on Ce@S-Bi2O3 that leads to efficient formate production. This study opens up new avenues for designing metal and element-doped electrocatalysts to improve the catalytic activity and selectivity for ECO2RR.

Evaluation of effectiveness and safety of the CorPath GRX robotic system in endovascular embolization procedures of cerebral aneurysms.

BACKGROUND: Robotic-assisted neurointervention was recently introduced, with implications that it could be used to treat neurovascular diseases. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the robotic-assisted platform CorPath GRX for treating cerebral aneurysms. METHODS: This prospective, international, multicenter study enrolled patients with brain aneurysms that required endovascular coiling and/or stent-assisted coiling. The primary effectiveness endpoint was defined as successful completion of the robotic-assisted endovascular procedure without any unplanned conversion to manual treatment with guidewire or microcatheter navigation, embolization coil(s) or intracranial stent(s) deployment, or an inability to navigate vessel anatomy. The primary safety endpoint included intraprocedural and periprocedural events. RESULTS: The study enrolled 117 patients (74.4% female) with mean age of 56.6 years from 10 international sites,. Headache was the most common presenting symptom in 40/117 (34.2%) subjects. Internal carotid artery was the most common location (34/122, 27.9%), and the mean aneurysm height and neck width were 5.7±2.6 mm and 3.5±1.4 mm, respectively. The overall procedure time was 117.3±47.3 min with 59.4±32.6 min robotic procedure time. Primary effectiveness was achieved in 110/117 (94%) subjects with seven subjects requiring conversion to manual for procedure completion. Only four primary safety events were recorded with two intraprocedural aneurysm ruptures and two strokes. A Raymond-Roy Classification Scale score of 1 was achieved in 71/110 (64.5%) subjects, and all subjects were discharged with a modified Rankin Scale score of ≤2. CONCLUSIONS: This first-of-its-kind robotic-assisted neurovascular trial demonstrates the effectiveness and safety of the CorPath GRX System for endovascular embolization of cerebral aneurysm procedures. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT04236856.

Does pre-enrichment of anodes with acetate to select for Geobacter spp. enhance performance of microbial fuel cells when switched to more complex substrates?

Many factors affect the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Considerable attention has been given to the impact of cell configuration and materials on MFC performance. Much less work has been done on the impact of the anode microbiota, particularly in the context of using complex substrates as fuel. One strategy to improve MFC performance on complex substrates such as wastewater, is to pre-enrich the anode with known, efficient electrogens, such as Geobacter spp. The implication of this strategy is that the electrogens are the limiting factor in MFCs fed complex substrates and the organisms feeding the electrogens through hydrolysis and fermentation are not limiting. We conducted a systematic test of this strategy and the assumptions associated with it. Microbial fuel cells were enriched using three different substrates (acetate, synthetic wastewater and real domestic wastewater) and three different inocula (Activated Sludge, Tyne River sediment, effluent from an MFC). Reactors were either enriched on complex substrates from the start or were initially fed acetate to enrich for Geobacter spp. before switching to synthetic or real wastewater. Pre-enrichment on acetate increased the relative abundance of Geobacter spp. in MFCs that were switched to complex substrates compared to MFCs that had been fed the complex substrates from the beginning of the experiment (wastewater-fed MFCs - 21.9 ± 1.7% Geobacter spp.; acetate-enriched MFCs, fed wastewater - 34.9 ± 6.7% Geobacter spp.; Synthetic wastewater fed MFCs - 42.5 ± 3.7% Geobacter spp.; acetate-enriched synthetic wastewater-fed MFCs - 47.3 ± 3.9% Geobacter spp.). However, acetate pre-enrichment did not translate into significant improvements in cell voltage, maximum current density, maximum power density or substrate removal efficiency. Nevertheless, coulombic efficiency (CE) was higher in MFCs pre-enriched on acetate when complex substrates were fed following acetate enrichment (wastewater-fed MFCs - CE = 22.0 ± 6.2%; acetate-enriched MFCs, fed wastewater - CE =58.5 ± 3.5%; Synthetic wastewater fed MFCs - CE = 22.0 ± 3.2%; acetate-enriched synthetic wastewater-fed MFCs - 28.7 ± 4.2%.) The relative abundance of Geobacter ssp. and CE represents the average of the nine replicate reactors inoculated with three different inocula for each substrate. Efforts to improve the performance of anodic microbial communities in MFCs utilizing complex organic substrates should therefore focus on enhancing the activity of organisms driving hydrolysis and fermentation rather the terminal-oxidizing electrogens.

Pulsed Electrolysis with a Nickel Molecular Catalyst Improves Selectivity for Carbon Dioxide Reduction.

Pulsed electrolysis can significantly improve carbon dioxide reduction on metal electrodes, but the effect of short (millisecond to seconds) voltage steps on molecular electrocatalysts is largely unstudied. In this work, we investigate the effect pulse electrolysis has on the selectivity and stability of the homogeneous electrocatalyst [Ni(cyclam)]2+ at a carbon electrode. By tuning the potential and pulse duration, we achieve a significant improvement in CO Faradaic efficiencies (85%) after 3 h, double that of the system under potentiostatic conditions. The improved activity is due to in situ catalyst regeneration from an intermediate that occurs as part of the catalyst's degradation pathway. This study demonstrates the wider opportunity to apply pulsed electrolysis to molecular electrocatalysts to control activity and improve selectivity.

Successful treatment of pulmonary mucormycosis (Lichtheimia spp.) in a post-partum patient with COVID-19 ARDS requiring extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation using salvage therapy.

Case Summary: A 31-year-old female presented to a regional hospital at 27 weeks pregnant and was found to have COVID-19 ARDS. She underwent intubation and caesarian section for worsening hypoxia and non-reassuring fetal heart tones. Hypoxemia was refractory to proning requiring ECMO and transfer to a tertiary care center. Admission chest radiography showed a new right lower lobe cavitating lesion with computed tomography scan revealing a large multi-loculated cavity in the right lung and extensive bilateral ground-glass opacities. The patient was started on amphotericin and posaconazole, with final respiratory cultures growing Lichtheimia spp. Source control was discussed via possible open thoracostomy, but medical management alone was continued. Total ECMO support was 3 weeks. At the time of discharge to acute rehab, 1 month of amphotericin and posaconazole had been completed, with continuation of posaconazole. At last update, she had been discharged from rehab and was back home with her infant. Conclusion: Pulmonary mucormycosis, even in the non-ECLS population, carries a high mortality. Treatment in pulmonary disease with surgery improves mortality but is not always feasible. Salvage therapy with extended course antifungal medications may be an option for those not amendable.

Employing conductive carrier for establishing spontaneous microbial galvanic cell and accelerating denitrification.

It is well-known that metal corrosion is accelerated by formation of galvanic cell. In this study, we reported the acceleration of denitrification by using conductive carrier through formation of microbial galvanic cell (MGC). Electrically conductive graphite plate (GP) was used as biofilm carrier and compared with the non-conductive polypropylene (PP) plate carrier. Cyclic voltametric analyses showed that biofilms with bidirectional electron transfer functions of bioelectrochemical denitrification (BEDN) and acetate oxidation could be enriched spontaneously onto the GP carrier, hinting the establishment of MGC. Further analysis using differential pulse voltammetry revealed that the redox mediator related to extracellular electron transfer was detected in both media of the GP and PP carrier. Microbial community analysis showed that the biofilms in both GP and PP carrier had identical microbial composition but varied in abundance. The genus of Comamonas, Pseudomonas, Paracoccus and Thauera were the dominance of electroactive denitrifiers responsible for BEDN in both the GP and PP carrier. The GP carrier had a 75.9% higher abundant enrichment of electroactive denitrifiers than the PP carrier. Denitrification performance analyses showed that the GP carrier had a denitrification rate constant (kDN) of 1.25 and 2.66 h-1 at 15 °C and 30 °C, respectively, which was nearly 76.1% and 92.7% higher than the non-conductive PP carrier with corresponding values of about 0.71 and 1.38 h-1. Further, the result of conductive carrier accelerating denitrification was confirmed in scaled-up denitrification bioreactors with volume of 104 L using brush-like biofilm carriers. The acceleration of denitrification was attributed to the spontaneously established MGC, which promoted the direct and mediated electron transfer of the electroactive denitrifiers grown onto the conductive carriers and speeded up the BEDN. The result of this study demonstrated that the BEDN could be integrated to traditional biological denitrification system to accelerate denitrification in the form of MGC by simply employment of conductive carrier.

Zero-Gap Bipolar Membrane Electrolyzer for Carbon Dioxide Reduction Using Acid-Tolerant Molecular Electrocatalysts.

The scaling-up of electrochemical CO2 reduction requires circumventing the CO2 loss as carbonates under alkaline conditions. Zero-gap cell configurations with a reverse-bias bipolar membrane (BPM) represent a possible solution, but the catalyst layer in direct contact with the acidic environment of a BPM usually leads to H2 evolution dominating. Here we show that using acid-tolerant Ni molecular electrocatalysts selective (>60%) CO2 reduction can be achieved in a zero-gap BPM device using a pure water and CO2 feed. At a higher current density (100 mA cm-2), CO selectivity decreases, but was still >30%, due to reversible product inhibition. This study demonstrates the importance of developing acid-tolerant catalysts for use in large-scale CO2 reduction devices.

Enhancing hydrogen production through anode fed-batch mode and controlled cell voltage in a microbial electrolysis cell fully catalysed by microorganisms.

A microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) fully catalysed by microorganisms is an attractive technology because it incorporates the state-of-the-art concept of converting organic waste to hydrogen with less external energy input than conventional electrolysers. In this work, the impact of the anode feed mode on the production of hydrogen by the biocathode was studied. In the first part, three feed modes and MEC performance in terms of hydrogen production were evaluated. The results showed the highest hydrogen production under the continuous mode (14.6 ± 0.4), followed by the fed-batch (12.7 ± 0.4) and batch (0 L m-2 cathode day-1) modes. On one hand, the continuous mode only increased by 15% even though the hydraulic retention time (HRT) (2.78 h) was lower than the fed-batch mode (HRT 5 h). A total replacement (fed-batch) rather than a constant mix of existing anolyte and fresh medium (continuous) was preferable. On the other hand, no hydrogen was produced in batch mode due to the extensive HRT (24 h) and bioanode starvation. In the second part, the fed-batch mode was further evaluated using a chronoamperometry method under a range of applied cell voltages of 0.3-1.6 V. Based on the potential evolution at the electrodes, three main regions were identified depending on the applied cell voltages: the cathode activation (<0.8 V), transition (0.8-1.1 V), and anode limitation (>1.1 V) regions. The maximum hydrogen production recorded was 12.1 ± 2.1 L m-2 cathode day-1 at 1.0 V applied voltage when the oxidation and reduction reactions at the anode and cathode were optimal (2.38 ± 0.61 A m-2). Microbial community analysis of the biocathode revealed that Alpha-, and Deltaproteobacteria were dominant in the samples with >70% abundance. At the genus level, Desulfovibrio sp. was the most abundant in the samples, showing that these microbes may be responsible for hydrogen evolution.

Feasibility of robot-assisted neuroendovascular procedures.

OBJECTIVE: Geographic factors prevent equitable access to urgent advanced neuroendovascular treatments. Robotic technologies may enable remote endovascular procedures in the future. The authors performed a translational, benchtop-to-clinical study to evaluate the in vitro and clinical feasibility of the CorPath GRX Robotic System for robot-assisted endovascular neurointerventional procedures. METHODS: A series of bench studies was conducted using patient-specific 3D-printed models to test the system's compatibility with standard neurointerventional devices, including microcatheters, microwires, coils, intrasaccular devices, and stents. Optimal baseline setups for various procedures were determined. The models were further used to rehearse clinical cases. Subsequent to these investigations, a prospective series of 6 patients was treated using robotic assistance for complex, wide-necked intracranial saccular aneurysms between November 2019 and February 2020. The technical success, incidence of periprocedural complications, and need for conversion to manual procedures were evaluated. RESULTS: The ideal robotic setup for treatment of both anterior and posterior circulation aneurysms was determined to consist of an 80-cm guide catheter with a 115-cm-long intermediate catheter, a microcatheter between 150 and 170 cm in length, and a microwire with a minimum length of 300 cm. All coils, intrasaccular devices, and stents tested were compatible with the system and could be advanced or retracted safely and placed accurately. All 6 clinical procedures were technically successful, with all intracranial steps being performed robotically with no conversions to manual intervention or failures of the robotic system. There were no procedure-related complications or adverse clinical outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the feasibility of robot-assisted neurointerventional procedures. The authors' results represent an important step toward enabling remote neuroendovascular care and geographic equalization of advanced endovascular treatments through so-called telestroke intervention.

Enhanced bio-production from CO2 by microbial electrosynthesis (MES) with continuous operational mode.

Technologies able to convert CO2 to various feedstocks for fuels and chemicals are emerging due to the urge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and de-fossilizing chemical production. Microbial electrosynthesis (MES) has been shown a promising technique to synthesize organic products particularly acetate using microorganisms and electrons. However, the efficiency of the system is low. In this study, we demonstrated the simple yet efficient strategy in enhancing the efficiency of MES by applying continuous feeding regime. Compared to the fed-batch system, continuous operational mode provided better control of pH and constant medium refreshment, resulting in higher acetate production rate and more diverse bio-products, when the cathodic potential of -1.0 V Ag/AgCl and dissolved CO2 were provided. It was observed that hydraulic retention time (HRT) had a direct effect on the pattern of production, acetate production rate and coulombic efficiency. At HRT of 3 days, pH was around 5.2 and acetate was the dominant product with the highest production rate of 651.8 ± 214.2 ppm per day and a significant coulombic efficiency of 90%. However at the HRT of 7 days, pH was lower at around 4.5, and lower but stable acetate production rate of 280 ppm per day and a maximum coulombic efficiency of 80% was obtained. In addition, more diverse and longer chain products, such as butyrate, isovalerate and caproate, were detected with low concentrations only at the HRT of 7 days. Although microbial community analysis showed the change in the planktonic cells communities after switching the fed-batch mode to continuous feeding regime, Acetobacterium still remained as the responsible bacteria for CO2 reduction to acetate, dominating the cathodic biofilm.

Relapse risk factors for patients with comorbid affective disorders and substance abuse disorders from an intensive treatment unit.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of substance use disorders (SUD), particularly involving opiates and benzodiazepines, has increased to the detriment of public health and the economy. Here, we evaluate relapse factors among the high-risk demographic of patients with SUD and comorbid affective disorders. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of 76 patients discharged after detoxification and simultaneous psychiatric care for concomitant affective disorders and SUDs. Relapse was assessed by two independent evaluators via postdischarge chart review, which included state-wide healthcare utilization, by patient, through healthcare information exchange systems. A Cox Hazards analysis was performed to characterize relapse risk factors. RESULTS: Benzodiazepine use, admission through the emergency department (ED) rather than direct admission, frequent ED use in the preceding year, and history of prior attendance at multiple detoxification programs were risk factors for shortened time-to-relapse. Polysubstance use and intravenous drug use prolonged time to relapse. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: Notable findings include the significant relapse risk associated with benzodiazepine abuse and frequent prior ED utilization. These risk factors could reflect a number of underlying mediators for relapse, including anxiety, disease burden, and malingering. Additionally, this study recapitulates the observation in other patient populations that the majority of health resource utilization is attributed to a small population of patients. SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE: This study is the first to identify relapse predictors among dual-diagnosis affective disorder and SUD patients in survival analysis, and replicates the alarming and largely unknown effect that benzodiazepines have on increasing relapse risk.

No re-calibration required? Stability of a bioelectrochemical sensor for biodegradable organic matter over 800 days.

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) operated as biosensors could potentially enable truly low-cost, real-time monitoring of organic loading in wastewaters. The current generated by MFCs has been correlated with conventional measures of organic load such as Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), but much remains to be established in terms of the reliability and applicability of such sensors. In this study, batch-mode and multi-stage, flow-mode MFCs were operated for over 800 days and regularly re-calibrated with synthetic wastewater containing glucose and glutamic acid (GGA). BOD5 calibration curves were obtained by normalising the current measured as a percentage of maximum current. There was little drift between recalibrations and non-linear Hill models of the combined dataset had R2 of 88-95%, exhibiting a stable response over time and across devices. Nonetheless, factors which do affect calibration were also assessed. Increasing external resistance (from 43.5 to 5100 Ω) above the internal resistance determined by polarisation curve decreased the calibration upper limit from 240 to 30 mg/l O2 BOD5. Furthermore, more fermentable carbon sources increased the detection range, as tested with samples of real wastewater and synthetic media containing GGA, glucose-only and glutamic acid-only. Biofilm acclimatisation therefore did not account for differences between aerobic oxygen demand determinations and anaerobic MFC responses; these are likely attributable to competitive processes such as fermentation. This further highlights the potential for MFCs as real-time sensors for organic load monitoring and process control in addition to BOD-compliant measurement systems.

Zinc removal and recovery from industrial wastewater with a microbial fuel cell: Experimental investigation and theoretical prediction.

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) that simultaneously remove organic contaminants and recovering metals provide a potential route for industry to adopt clean technologies. In this work, two goals were set: to study the feasibility of zinc removal from industrial effluents using MFCs and to understand the removal process by using reaction rate models. The removal of Zn2+ in MFC was over 96% for synthetic and industrial samples with initial Zn2+ concentrations less than 2.0 mM after 22 h of operation. However, only 83 and 42% of the zinc recovered from synthetic and industrial samples, respectively, was attached on the cathode surface of the MFCs. The results marked the domination of electroprecipitation rather than the electrodeposition process in the industrial samples. Energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis showed that the recovered compound contained not only Zn but also O, evidence that Zn(OH)2 could be formed. The removal of Zn2+ in the MFC followed a mechanism where oxygen was reduced to hydroxide before reacting with Zn2+. Nernst equations and rate law expressions were derived to understand the mechanism and used to estimate the Zn2+ concentration and removal efficiency. The zero-, first- and second-order rate equations successfully fitted the data, predicted the final Zn2+ removal efficiency, and suggested that possible mechanistic reactions occurred in the electrolysis cell (direct reduction), MFC (O2 reduction), and control (chemisorption) modes. The half-life, t1/2, of the Zn2+ removal reaction using synthetic and industrial samples was estimated to be 7.0 and 2.7 h, respectively. The t1/2 values of the controls (without the power input from the MFC bioanode) were much slower and were recorded as 21.5 and 7.3 h for synthetic and industrial samples, respectively. The study suggests that MFCs can act as a sustainable and environmentally friendly technology for heavy metal removal without electrical energy input or the addition of chemicals.

Perspectives on illness-related stigma and electronically sharing psychiatric health information by people with multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Electronic medical records (EMRs) facilitate more integrated and comprehensive care. Despite this, EMRs are used less frequently in psychiatry compared to other medical disciplines, in part due to concerns regarding stigma surrounding mental health. This paper explores the willingness to share medical information among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), who experience higher rates of psychiatric comorbidities compared to the general population, and the role that stigma plays in patient preferences. METHODS: MS patients were surveyed about their co-occurring psychiatric and non-psychiatric diagnoses, willingness to share their health information electronically among their treating doctors, and levels of self and societal stigma associated with their diagnoses. RESULTS: Participants were slightly more willing to share their non-psychiatric medical information vs. psychiatric information. Despite the presence of stigma decreasing patient willingness to share medical records, those with psychiatric co-occurring disorders, compared to those without, endorsed significantly greater willingness to electronically share their health records. The majority of diagnoses for which participants experienced the greatest difference in self vs. societal stigmas were psychiatric ones, including substance use, eating and mood disorders. Societal stigma strongly correlated with decreased non-psychiatric medication sharing, while self stigma was strongly correlated with decreased psychiatric medications sharing. LIMITATIONS: Standardized scales were not used to assess patient stigma and there is a potential lack of generalizability of results beyond patients with MS. CONCLUSIONS: These insights into patient preferences toward sharing their medical information should inform decisions to implement EMRs, particularly for patient populations experiencing higher than average levels of psychiatric comorbidities.

Evidence and magnitude of the effects of meteorological changes on SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

IMPORTANCE: Intensity and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, and planning required to balance concerns of saving lives and avoiding economic collapse, could depend significantly on whether SARS-CoV-2 transmission is sensitive to seasonal changes. OBJECTIVE: Hypothesis is that increasing temperature results in reduced SARS CoV-2 transmission and may help slow the increase of cases over time. SETTING: Fifty representative Northern Hemisphere countries meeting specific criteria had sufficient COVID-19 case and meteorological data for analysis. METHODS: Regression was used to find the relationship between the log of number of COVID-19 cases and temperature over time in 50 representative countries. To summarize the day-day variability, and reduce dimensionality, we selected a robust measure, Coefficient of Time (CT), for each location. The resulting regression coefficients were then used in a multivariable regression against meteorological, country-level and demographic covariates. RESULTS: Median minimum daily temperature showed the strongest correlation with the reciprocal of CT (which can be considered as a rate associated with doubling time) for confirmed cases (adjusted R2 = 0.610, p = 1.45E-06). A similar correlation was found using median daily dewpoint, which was highly colinear with temperature, and therefore was not used in the analysis. The correlation between minimum median temperature and the rate of increase of the log of confirmed cases was 47% and 45% greater than for cases of death and recovered cases of COVID-19, respectively. This suggests the primary influence of temperature is on SARS-CoV-2 transmission more than COVID-19 morbidity. Based on the correlation between temperature and the rate of increase in COVID-19, it can be estimated that, between the range of 30 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, a one degree increase is associated with a 1% decrease-and a one degree decrease could be associated with a 3.7% increase-in the rate of increase of the log of daily confirmed cases. This model of the effect of decreasing temperatures can only be verified over time as the pandemic proceeds through colder months. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that boreal summer months are associated with slower rates of COVID-19 transmission, consistent with the behavior of a seasonal respiratory virus. Knowledge of COVID-19 seasonality could prove useful in local planning for phased reductions social interventions and help to prepare for the timing of possible pandemic resurgence during cooler months.

Integrated air cathode microbial fuel cell-aerobic bioreactor set-up for enhanced bioelectrodegradation of azo dye Acid Blue 29.

In this study, an azo dye (Acid Blue 29 or AB29) was efficiently degraded with acetate as co-substrate into less contaminated biodegraded products using an integrated single chamber microbial fuel cell (SMFC)-aerobic bioreactor set-up. The decolorization efficiencies were varied from 91 ± 2% to 94 ± 1.9% and more than 85% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal was achieved for all dye concentrations after different operating time. The highest coulombic efficiency (CE) and cell potential were 3.18 ± 0.45% and 287.2 mV, respectively, for SMFC treating 100 mg L-1 of AB29. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) revealed that the anode resistance was 0.3 Ω representing an entirely grown biofilm on the anode surface resulted in higher electron transfer rate. Gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (GC-MS) investigation demonstrated that initially biodegradation of AB29 started with the cleavage of the azo bond (-N=N-), resulted the biotransformation into aromatic amines. In successive aerobic treatment stage, these amines were biodegraded into lower molecular weight compounds. The 16S rRNA microbial community analysis indicated that at phylum level, both inoculum and dye acclimated cultures were mainly consisting of Proteobacteria which was 27.9, 53.6 and 68.9% in inoculum, suspension and anodic biofilm, respectively. At genus level, both suspension and biofilm contained decolorization as well as electrochemically active bacteria. The outcomes exhibited that the AB29 decolorization would contest with electrogenic bacteria for electrons.

Parameters influencing the development of highly conductive and efficient biofilm during microbial electrosynthesis: the importance of applied potential and inorganic carbon source.

Cathode-driven applications of bio-electrochemical systems (BESs) have the potential to transform CO2 into value-added chemicals using microorganisms. However, their commercialisation is limited as biocathodes in BESs are characterised by slow start-up and low efficiency. Understanding biosynthesis pathways, electron transfer mechanisms and the effect of operational variables on microbial electrosynthesis (MES) is of fundamental importance to advance these applications of a system that has the capacity to convert CO2 to organics and is potentially sustainable. In this work, we demonstrate that cathodic potential and inorganic carbon source are keys for the development of a dense and conductive biofilm that ensures high efficiency in the overall system. Applying the cathodic potential of -1.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl and providing only gaseous CO2 in our system, a dense biofilm dominated by Acetobacterium (ca. 50% of biofilm) was formed. The superior biofilm density was significantly correlated with a higher production yield of organic chemicals, particularly acetate. Together, a significant decrease in the H2 evolution overpotential (by 200 mV) and abundant nifH genes within the biofilm were observed. This can only be mechanistically explained if intracellular hydrogen production with direct electron uptake from the cathode via nitrogenase within bacterial cells is occurring in addition to the commonly observed extracellular H2 production. Indeed, the enzymatic activity within the biofilm accelerated the electron transfer. This was evidenced by an increase in the coulombic efficiency (ca. 69%) and a 10-fold decrease in the charge transfer resistance. This is the first report of such a significant decrease in the charge resistance via the development of a highly conductive biofilm during MES. The results highlight the fundamental importance of maintaining a highly active autotrophic Acetobacterium population through feeding CO2 in gaseous form, which its dominance in the biocathode leads to a higher efficiency of the system.

An Automated Mobile Mood Tracking Technology (Mood 24/7): Validation Study.

BACKGROUND: Electronic tracking has been utilized for a variety of health conditions. Previous studies have shown that there is higher adherence to electronic methods vs paper-and-pencil tracking modalities. Electronic tracking also ensures that there are no back-filled entries, where patients have-to appear compliant-entered their responses retrospectively just before their visits with their health care provider. On the basis of the recognition of an unmet need for a Web-based automated platform to track psychiatric outcomes, Johns Hopkins University partnered with Health Central (a subsidiary of Remedy Health Media LLC) to develop Mood 24/7, an electronic, mobile, automated, SMS-based mood tracker. This is a pilot study to validate the use of Mood 24/7 in anticipation of clinical trials to demonstrate the therapeutic benefit on patients' health outcomes of utilizing digital mood-tracking technology. OBJECTIVE: Mood 24/7 is an electronic mood-monitoring platform developed to accurately and efficiently track mood over time through automated daily SMS texts or emails. This study was designed to assess the accuracy and validity of Mood 24/7 in an outpatient psychiatric setting. METHODS: This pilot study involved a retrospective chart review for depressed outpatients (N=9) to compare their self-reported Mood 24/7 daily mood ratings with their psychiatrist's independent clinical mood assessment at the time of the patient's visit. Their mood ratings via Mood 24/7 were collected over 36 weeks. In addition, a mixed model analysis was applied to compare the weekly Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) scores with Mood 24/7 scores over an average of 3 months. RESULTS: A 97.2% (315/324) digital mood reporting adherence was found over 36 weeks, and a significant correlation (r=0.86, P<.001) was observed between patients' Mood 24/7 scores and their psychiatrist's blinded clinical assessment of the patient's mood when seen in the clinic. In addition, a significant concordance (intraclass correlation of 0.69, 95% CI 0.33-0.91, P<.001) was observed in the mixed model analysis of the clinician-administered MADRS vs Mood 24/7 scores over time. CONCLUSIONS: Our chart review and mixed model analyses demonstrate that Mood 24/7 is a valid instrument for convenient, simple, noninvasive, and accurate longitudinal mood assessment in the outpatient clinical setting.

Effect of Human Umbilical Cord Perivascular Cell-Conditioned Media in an Adult Zebrafish Model of Traumatic Brain Injury.

The pathophysiological events of secondary brain injury contribute to poor outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI). The neuroprotective effects of mesenchymal cells have been extensively studied and evidence suggests that their effects are mostly mediated through paracrine effects. Human umbilical cord perivascular cells (HUCPVCs) are mesenchymal stem cells with potential therapeutic value in TBI. In this study, we assessed the effect of HUCPVC-conditioned media (CM) in an established adult zebrafish model of TBI induced by pulsed high-intensity focused ultrasound (pHIFU). This model demonstrates similarities to mammalian outcome after TBI. Administration of HUCPVC-CM 1 h postinjury (hpi) resulted in improved outcome after pHIFU-induced TBI. Western blot and immunohistochemistry results demonstrated that the HUCPVC-CM reduced (p < 0.05) reactive astrogliosis at 24 hpi. Moreover, at 24 hpi, the HUCPVC-CM treatment resulted in reduced apoptosis in HUCPVC-CM-treated zebrafish. Behavioral analysis demonstrated improvement in locomotor activity (p < 0.05) and anxiety (p < 0.05) at 6 and 24 hpi following HUCPVC-CM treatment. Overall, HUCPVC-CM treatment improved acute outcome measures in pHIFU-injured zebrafish. Collectively, the data demonstrate a cell-free treatment approach for traumatic brain injuries.