Unsorted Fractions Research Articles

Influence of Scott pine seed size on the quality of seedlings produced

The creation of highly productive forests should be based on the use of high quality seedlings. Those machines and technologies that have been used for cleaning and subsequent sorting of coniferous seeds with their subsequent sowing in the nursery do not fully provide the forestry complex with good-quality planting material. The reason for this is the use of seeds of unsorted fractions in nurseries, the failure to observe conditions during sowing that ensure the amicable emergence of seedlings and conditions in the sowing rows for the normal development of plants, excluding their large mortality and obtaining non-standard seedlings. It should be noted that modern requirements for silvicultural production largely depend on the quality of planting material. Seedlings obtained by growing them without overshooting give a high silvicultural effect if they meet the intended purpose of the cultivated area, have biometric parameters determined by GOST, which make it possible to grow high-quality planting material without overshooting in two growing seasons. The use of innovations in the restoration of forest landscapes is necessary for the cooperation of engineers and researchers. The integration of scientific and technical research and engineering design contributes to the speedy achievement of stringent environmental requirements for vehicle engines and tools. Obtaining high-quality seed is possible while maintaining the sowing qualities of seeds, reducing the degree of injury and treatment cycles, reducing losses during processing and sowing in the nursery. Based on this, there is a need to develop a device for sorting seeds of coniferous species, which will ensure the quality and efficiency of the technological process, as well as obtaining high-quality seed material in a minimum number of processing cycles.

Still edible wasted food from households: A regional Italian case study.

A 2-year monitoring campaign was carried out within the Marche Region (Italy) to quantify the potential still edible wasted food (seFW) within the sorted (seFWsorted) and unsorted (seFWunsorted) waste streams. Results were elaborated to estimate the distribution of seFW among the five provinces and the amount per capita. Results in terms of total quantities per inhabitants (seFWindex per capita) depict an important variability between districts but almost constant in years (26-38 kg/inhabitants in 2018 and 26-36 kg/inhabitants in 2019). Scores in Marche were then used to study the national situation, adopting the same percentage factors. Analysis was performed on 2019 data. Gradual colour shade was used to identify the Regions with greater seFW production potential. Worst scores are achieved by Lazio, Lombardia and Sicilia (red), followed by others classified as orange and yellow. More than 1.5 Mt potential seFW was estimated at national level, 29% of which is due to the unsorted fraction. Results at national level were used to assess the potential environmental impact related to seFW in terms of climate change. Carbon footprint indicator was quantified per capita (69 kg equivalent carbon dioxide (CO2e)/inhabitant/year in the case of Marche) and overall (3.5 MtCO2e). In addition, an evaluation of the potential economic implications related to the greenhouse gases emitted was made using the Social Cost of Carbon. Results showed that cost of the tCO2e global damage related to seFW in Italy ranges from 35 to 700 M$.

Effectiveness-efficiency nexus in municipal solid waste management: A non-parametric evidence-based study

The scope of this work is to present a comprehensive approach to analyze the effectiveness-efficiency nexus in the evaluation of the performance of municipal solid waste (MSW) management. The rate of separate MSW collection is used to measure service effectiveness. A multiple set of non-parametric indicators is employed to obtain measurements of technical, scale and congestion efficiencies of waste service provision. This approach was implemented to conduct an empirical study to evaluate the performance of MSW management in 258 municipalities in the Apulia region (Southern Italy) from 2010 to 2017. The study was organized in two phases. In the first phase, measures for the three efficiency indicators were calculated applying Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with an output-oriented model specification. In the second phase, Panel Tobit analysis with random parameters was employed to examine the effectiveness-efficiency one way nexus, considering both municipalities’ heterogeneities and context-specific variables. The efficiency analysis shows that several municipalities are still far from achieving acceptable performance scores. Between 2010 and 2017 the average rate of separate MSW collection increased only from 16.6% to 39.6%, while the average loss of technical efficiency ranged from 27% to 39%. On average, such inefficiency was due to an important extent to the low pure technical efficiency that ranged from about 69% to 81%, and to a lesser extent to scale and congestion inefficiencies. Indeed, scale efficiency was between 85.4% and 92.6%, whereas congestion efficiency was higher than 99%. The study also highlights that there is no trade-off between effectiveness and efficiency. For the largest part of the municipalities, high levels of effectiveness and efficiency can be achieved at the same time. For about 83% of the municipalities the decrease of the sorted waste collection rate is associated to a decrease of the pure technical efficiency. A drop of the output congestion efficiency due to a relatively high collection of the unsorted fraction of waste reduces the rate of the sorted waste collection for most of municipalities (77.3%). Results also indicate that for many municipalities (about 87%) improving the MSW service effectiveness necessarily requires reducing the average quantity of waste generated by people.

A procedure to assess the environmental, social and economic benefits wasted in the paper and cardboard fraction of the unsorted residual waste

The main aim of this study was to define a procedure useful to evaluate the potential environmental, social and economic benefits contained in paper and cardboard (or other recyclables), which are wasted in the unsorted fraction of municipal solid waste (MSW). To give a practical example, the procedure was applied to the 550 municipalities of the Campania region, in Southern Italy, but the developed procedure is applicable in any context in an ‘urban mining’ perspective. The procedure consists of five phases and uses two methodologies: one for the estimation of the composition analysis of the unsorted residual waste and another for the calculation of sustainability indicators able to measure the benefits wasted in the unsorted residual MSW. Six indicators were defined: two for the environment (carbon footprint and ecological footprint), two for the society (health footprint and occupational benefits) and two for the economy (economic profit and economic saving). The first methodology was developed by the regional environmental protection agency to update the MSW regional management plan. The second methodology is based on the use of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) through which it was possible to calculate the reference parameters useful for the calculation of the impacts (i.e., loss of benefits) for recycling, mechanical and biological treatment (MBT), incineration and landfilling of paper and cardboard contained in the unsorted residual waste. The obtained results confirmed the presence of such an enormous deposit of recyclable materials contained in the unsorted residual waste, which is a potential source, but not exploited, of environmental, social and economic benefits. For instance, the paper and cardboard ‘urban mine’ of Naples was greater than 16 million of euro (economic profit + economic saving), with a potential saving of around 11.4 million of kgCO2eq. (carbon footprint), 207 million of m2 (ecological footprint), 44 Disability Adjusted Life Years (health footprint), with a creation of 30 job positions in the waste management sector (occupational benefits).

Commissioning of a laboratory setup for studying the effects of ultraviolet and ozone on multifractional, unsorted production and consumption wastes

The article describes the process of commissioning carried out during the testing of the designed and manufactured laboratory installation for studying the effects of ultraviolet radiation and ozone on unsorted fractions of production and consumption waste, including medical waste. A detailed description of the installation is made, the characteristics of the elements of a power electric drive, metrological strapping and automation are given.

Alternating pure oxygen and air cycles for the biostabilization of unsorted fraction of municipal solid waste

Biostabilisation is a process of treating the unsorted fraction of municipal solid waste (UFMSW) mechanically pre-treated. Although concepts such as circular economy would seem to limit biostabilization, several authors have recently described the advantages of biostabilization in regions where recycling systems are inadequate. In this perspective, the development of new MBT technologies is of considerable importance.The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of the use of alternating air and oxygen cycles on the treated waste stability as well as on the quality of leachate and process gaseous emissions. Two Herhof biocells were prepared for this purpose. One implemented the conventional process and the other the “Air + O2” process. The biostabilization of the inlet UFMSW (3965 ± 1965 mgO2/kgVS/h) resulted in a final product with a dynamic respirometric index almost equal in both processes. The mass balance indicated that of the 400 tons representing the input waste, 37.57% were biostabilized waste, 0.29% leachate and 62.14% CO2 and odours. However, the biostabilized waste was lower than that of the conventional process (equal to 40.18%). The Air + O2 system resulted in a shorter duration, increased production of leachate (although characterized by higher quality) and process gaseous emissions quality. The energy balance (20.3 kJ/kg per input waste) and cost analysis (80.0 €/ton per input waste) showed values equal or better to those of the conventional system. By contrast, weakness was in the O2 diffusion system. Although a life cycle analysis is necessary, the results highlighted the feasibility of the proposal especially for emergency situations.

Abstract 3617: Digital sorting rescues low-cellularity tumor FFPE samples for genome-wide copy-number profiling

Abstract Introduction: The analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) cancer specimens is particularly challenging due to minute amount of tissue, low-tumor cellularity and heterogeneity, associated with low quality DNA. This results in an imprecise characterization of somatic variants and copy-number alterations (CNA). Here we show how digital sorting combined with low-pass whole genome sequencing (WGS) can resolve genome-wide copy-number profiling even for the more challenging FFPE samples. Methods: An archival FFPE sample from one pancreatic cancer patient, rejected by the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) criteria due to low tumor content (<25%), was dissociated into a single cell suspension. Using the DEPArray™ digital sorter, tumor and normal stromal cell subpopulations (range = 70-77) were recovered using Keratin/Vimentin immunofluorescence and DNA ploidy, from which 0.4-0.5ng DNA was obtained. After lysis, Illumina®-compatible libraries were prepared from one pool of pseudo-diploid sorted tumor cells, one pool of stromal cells and one unsorted sample (1500 cells, i.e. about 10ng gDNA) using the Accel-NGS® 2S DNA Library Kit from Swift Biosciences. Libraries were used for low-pass whole genome sequencing on Illumina® MiSeq. Paired-end (2×100) reads were aligned to hg19 human reference using BWA software and copy-number profiles were generated with Control-FREEC. Results: A total of 11M paired-end reads and a mean coverage of 0.12x were obtained from low-pass WGS, enabling the detection of CNAs at good resolution. The resulting copy-number profiles clearly show the difference between the stromal and tumor populations, with the first characterized by a flat profile (0 gains, 0 losses) and the second presenting several somatic copy-number alterations (6 gains, 22 losses). As expected due to dilution by normal cells, CNA profiles of unsorted samples missed most of the gains and losses (only 5/28 = 18% of aberrant genomic regions were detected). At a single base level, the difference between unsorted and sorted samples was more significant as the unsorted fraction missed >99% of CNA bases found in the sorted tumor population. Conclusions: DEPArray™ sorting combined with Accel-NGS® 2S kits and Illumina® low-pass whole genome sequencing enables high quality genome-wide profiling of pure tumor and stromal populations. The capacity of this method to deal with low DNA input (0.5ng) from archival FFPE samples characterized by low cancer cell content (<25%) makes it a valuable and easily accessible tool for studying tumor CNA profiles. Citation Format: Claudio Forcato, Julie Lalibertè, Chiara Bolognesi, Ivana Cataldo, Genny Buson, Chiara Mangano, Cinzia Cantù, Francesca Fontana, Paola Tononi, Gianni Medoro, Tim Harkins, Rita T. Lawlor, Aldo Scarpa, Nicolò Manaresi. Digital sorting rescues low-cellularity tumor FFPE samples for genome-wide copy-number profiling. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 3617.

Quality improvement of aged cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) seeds using chlorophyll fluorescence sensor

Fourteen old seeds of cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) were sorted on the basis of chlorophyll fluorescence (CF) signal. Seed fractions of 54.3% and 45.7% with low CF and high CF, respectively, were obtained. Unsorted seeds were considered as controls. The effects of CF sensor based sorting on quality parameters of aged cabbage seeds were examined. It was observed that the seeds with low CF resulted in significantly higher germination, vigour and germination rate over unsorted fraction. However, no significant differences were noticed in ethanol produced (μg/l) at 40°C in unsorted, low and high CF seeds. Significantly less numbers of hard seeds were noticed in seeds with low CF, whereas numbers of abnormal seedlings and dead seeds were found at par with unsorted seeds. Numerically higher values over unsorted seeds for fresh weight, dry weight, root and total seedlings length were found in seed fraction with low CF. The sorting improved the germination of aged cabbage seeds by 16%. Therefore, this method of quality up-gradation could be used to obtain a better quality seeds even from the lots which otherwise become substandard during storage. The technique could also be commercially exploited for sorting seeds and upgrading the quality of all those crop seeds where chlorophyll is present in the seed coat and persist during storage.

Proper genomic profiling of (BRCA1-mutated) basal-like breast carcinomas requires prior removal of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes

IntroductionBRCA1-mutated breast carcinomas may have distinct biological features, suggesting the involvement of specific oncogenic pathways in tumor development. The identification of genomic aberrations characteristic for BRCA1-mutated breast carcinomas could lead to a better understanding of BRCA1-associated oncogenic events and could prove valuable in clinical testing for BRCA1-involvement in patients. MethodsFor this purpose, genomic and gene expression profiles of basal-like BRCA1-mutated breast tumors (n = 27) were compared with basal-like familial BRCAX (non-BRCA1/2/CHEK2*1100delC) tumors (n = 14) in a familial cohort of 120 breast carcinomas. ResultsGenome wide copy number profiles of the BRCA1-mutated breast carcinomas in our data appeared heterogeneous. Gene expression analyses identified varying amounts of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) as a major cause for this heterogeneity. Indeed, selecting tumors with relative low amounts of TILs, resulted in the identification of three known but also five previously unrecognized BRCA1-associated copy number aberrations. Moreover, these aberrations occurred with high frequencies in the BRCA1-mutated tumor samples. Using these regions it was possible to discriminate BRCA1-mutated from BRCAX breast carcinomas, and they were validated in two independent cohorts. To further substantiate our findings, we used flow cytometry to isolate cancer cells from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded, BRCA1-mutated triple negative breast carcinomas with estimated TIL percentages of 40% and higher. Genomic profiles of sorted and unsorted fractions were compared by shallow whole genome sequencing and confirm our findings. ConclusionThis study shows that genomic profiling of in particular basal-like, and thus BRCA1-mutated, breast carcinomas is severely affected by the presence of high numbers of TILs. Previous reports on genomic profiling of BRCA1-mutated breast carcinomas have largely neglected this. Therefore, our findings have direct consequences on the interpretation of published genomic data. Also, these findings could prove valuable in light of currently used genomic tools for assessing BRCA1-involvement in breast cancer patients and pathogenicity assessment of BRCA1 variants of unknown significance. The BRCA1-associated genomic aberrations identified in this study provide possible leads to a better understanding of BRCA1-associated oncogenesis.

Sustainable management of waste-to-energy facilities

Abstract In 1995, Porter and van der Linde defined pollution as a manifestation of economic waste. Currently, incorrect information and conflicting theories among scientists hinder the diffusion of sustainable practices in waste management [1] . New industrial market research reports highlight that the value of the global waste incineration market has increased in recent years (+$1.3 billion dollars from 2008 to 2012), and this sector will continue to grow (+$6.8 billion dollars from 2012 to 2022) [2] . The paper focuses on the Italian situation on which urgent actions are required because more than 50% of waste is landfilled [3] . The correct environmental management increases the financial performance because waste investments offer both environmental and economic benefits. The problem to solve is related to both waste management and high levels of recycling, where an unsorted fraction of waste will remain. Based on a thorough review of the topic, a national waste management plan (NWMP) for energy recovery is herein proposed for evaluating all the aspects of sustainability of waste-to-energy (WTE) plants: the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs) with respect to landfill, the estimation of financial net present value (FNPV) and the economic net present value (ENPV) and, finally, the estimation of new employment opportunity.

Experimental Sorting of Municipal-Like Waste in the Hospital “Civico”, Palermo (IT)

An experiment of source sorting - based management of Health Care Waste (HCW) was carried out in 2011 in 4 Departments of the Public Hospital “Civico” (Palermo, IT), where the basic mandatory separation between hazardous and non-hazardous waste was already going on since year 2000.The experiment consisted in weighing every day for 15 days 4 predefined fractions collected in the Infirmaries (namely paper, plastics, glass and unsorted fraction), and the bags with unsorted waste from the patient’s stay room. Furthermore, in 1 of the 4 Departments also the boxes of Infectious Waste (IW) were weighed for a week.As a result a weighted average value of 0.56 kg of Municipal-like Waste (MLW) per bed and per day was obtained for the Infirmaries of the 4 Departments (1.89 kg for the whole Department). The potentially recoverable waste fractions of MLW were about 65.7 %, the balance being unsorted waste.The actual production of IW − monitored in just one of the Departments, OU 1− brought to a generation rate of 0.74 kg/bed-day with a range 0.50−1.00. This production represents the 54 % of total waste from that Infirmary but just 34 % of the overall waste stream from the Unit. This pilot experiment confirms the wide finding that IW are a minor part of the overall waste stream produced in a health care structure.

A case study of the characteristics of municipal solid waste in Asturias (Spain): influence of season and source

In the present research study, the weight composition, physical-chemical composition and net calorific values of unsorted municipal solid waste (MSW) generated by a population of around 1,080,000 inhabitants in a region of northern Spain were determined. The unsorted MSW was composed of 38.1% organic fraction and 42.3% combustible fraction, with paper/cardboard constituting the most important part of the latter fraction (20.6%). The high content of textiles (10.9%) is worth noting, being practically equal to the content in plastics. The unsorted fractions present an average moisture content of 28.5% and an ash content of 29.4% (dry basis). The average lower heating value (LHV) is 10,744 kJ kg(-1). Likewise, variations in regard to the season of the year and the source of the waste were taken into consideration. A new correlation is proposed for estimating the LHV as a function of the physical composition of the waste.

Determining critical conditions for two dimensional compost piles with air flow via numerical simulations

We consider the self-heating process of a two dimensional, spatially dependent, model of a compost pile which incorporates terms that account for self-heating due to both biological and oxidative mechanisms. This self-heating model consists of mass balance equations for oxygen and energy. We study the effects of air flow through the pile. Numerical solutions determine critical conditions for thermal ignition within the compost pile. Two distinct numerical approaches corroborate solutions to the self-heating problem in compost piles. We analyse the model numerically using FlexPDE (a commercial software package) in a two dimensional configuration. The results obtained are then compared with those obtained using the Method of Lines. We focus mainly on the critical conditions for thermal ignition for different rates of air flow moving through the compost pile. References P. C. Bowes, Self-heating: Evaluating and Controlling the Hazards, Elsevier Press, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1984. W. F. Brinton, E. Jr. Evans, M. L. Droffner and R. B. Brinton, Standardized test for evaluation of compost self-heating, BioCycle, 36, 60--65, 1995. http://www.jgpress.com X. D. Chen and D. A. Mitchell, Start-up strategies for self-heating and efficient growth in stirred bioreactors for solid state fermentation, In Proceeding of the 24th Australian and New Zealand Chemical Engineering Conference, 4, The Institution of Engineers, 111--116, 1996. V. Fierro, J. L. Miranda, C. Romero, J. M. Andres, A. Arriaga and D. Schamal, Model predictions and experimental results on self-heating prevention of stockpiled coals, FUEL, 80 (2008), 125--134, 2001. doi:10.1016/S0016-2361(00)00062-4 Flexpde, PDE Solutions Inc, http://www.pdesolutions.com. D. A. Frank--Kamenetskii, Diffusion and Heat Transfer in Chemical Kinetics, 2nd edition, Plenum Press, New York, USA, 1969. W. Hogland, T. Bramryd and I. Persson, Physical, biological and chemical effects of unsorted fractions of industrial solid waste fuel storage, Waste Manage. Res., 32, 21--98, 1996. doi:10.1006/wmre.1996.0019 P. F. Hudak, Spontaneous combustion of shale spoils at sanitary landfill, Waste Manage., 22, 687--688, 2001. doi:10.1016/S0956-053X(01)00077-0 T. Luangwilai, H. S. Sidhu, M. I. Nelson and X. D. Chen, Airflow and ambient temperature effects on the biological self-heating of compost piles, Asia-Pac. J. of Chem. Eng., 5(4), 609--618, 2010. doi:10.1002/apj.438 Matlab, MathWorks Inc, http://www.mathworks.com. N. O. Moraga, F. Corvalan, M. Escudey, A. Arias and C. E. Zambra, Unsteady 2D coupled heat and mass transfer in porous media with biological and chemical heat generations, Int. J. Heat Mass Tran., 52, 5841--5848, 2009. doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2009.07.027 V. D. Naylor, The stream function and the velocity potential function, Math. Gaz., 38(323), 30--34, 2007. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3609771 R. Rynk, Fires at composting facilities, BioCycle Magazine, 41(1), 54--58, 2000. http://www.jgpress.com W. E. Schiesser, The numerical method of lines: Integration of Partial Differential Equations, Academic Press, Inc, 1991. H. S. Sidhu, M. I. Nelson and X. D. Chen, A simple spatial model for self-heating compost piles, ANZIAM J(E), 48, C135--C150, 2007, http://anziamj.austms.org.au/ojs/index.php/ANZIAMJ/article/view/86

The Semenov formulation of the biological self-heating process in compost piles

We formulate and investigate a uniformly distributed mathematical model (based upon Semenov's theory for thermal explosions) for the thermal response of cellulosic materials in compost piles. The model consists of a mass balance equation for oxygen, a heat balance equation, and incorporates the heat release due to biological activity within the pile. Biological heat generation is known to be present in most industrial processes handling large volumes of bulk organic materials. We utilise singularity theory to investigate the generic properties of the model, as well as to determine the locus of different singularities, namely the cusp, isola and double limit point. Singularity theory provides a useful tool to systematically analyse this system. We investigate the conditions where biological activity results in the initiation of an elevated temperature branch within the compost pile. References V. Balakotaiah and D. Luss, Global analysis of the multiplicity features of multi-reaction lumped-parameter systems, Chemical Engineering Science , 39 , 865--881, 1984. P. C. Bowes, Self-heating: Evaluating and Controlling the Hazards , Elsevier Press, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1984. X. D. Chen and D. A. Mitchell, Start-up strategies for self-heating and efficient growth in stirred bioreactors for solid state fermentation, CHEMECA '96, 24th Australian and New Zealand Chemical Engineering Conference , Weiss, G.(ed.), 4(The Institution of Engineering), 111--116, 1996. D. A. Frank--Kamenetskii, Diffusion and Heat Transfer in Chemical Kinetics , 2nd edition, Plenum Press, New York, USA, 1969. M. Golubitsky and D. Schaeffer, The classification theorem, in Singularities and Groups in Bifurcation Theory , 1st Edition, Vol. 1, Chap. IV, (Springer, Berlin, Germany), 196--202, 1985. W. Hogland, T. Bramryd and I. Persson Physical, biolocical and chemical effects of unsorted fractions of industrial solid waste fuel storage, Waste Management and Research , 32 , 21--98, 1996. P. F. Hudak, Spontaneous combustion f shale spoils at sanitary landfill, Waste Management , 22 , 687--688, 2001. M. Khanahmadi, R. Roostaazad, A. Safekordi, R. Bozorgmehri and D. A. Mitchell, Investigating the use of cooling surfaces in solid-state fermentation tray bioreactors: modelling and experimentation, Jo urnal of Chemical Techonology and Biotechnology , 79 , 1228--1242, 2004. H. Kubler, Heat generating processes as cause of spontaneous ignition in forest products, Forest Products Abstracts , 10 , 6299--327, 1987. E. Liwarska-Bizukojc, M. Bizukojc and S. Ledakowicz, Kinetic model for the process of aerobic biodegradation of organic fraction of municipal solid waste, Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering , 24 , 195--202, 2001. T. Luangwilai, H. S. Sidhu, M. I. Nelson and X. D. Chen, Using Singularity Theory to Analyse a Spatially Uniform Model of Self-Heating in Compost Piles, Submitted to East-West Journal of Mathematics , Khon Kaen University, Thailand, 2009. M. I. Nelson , E. Balakrishnan and X. D. Chen, A Semenov model of self-heating in compost piles, Transaction of IChemE Part B: Process Safety and Environmental Protection , 81 , 375--383, 2003. M. I. Nelson , H. S. Sidhu and X. D. Chen, A Spatially Uniform Model of Oxidative Self-Heating in Compost Piles, In proceedings of the 35th Australian Chemical Engineering Conference, CHEMECA 2007 , 1673--1683, 2007. M. I. Nelson , T. R. Marchant, G. C. Wake, E. Balakrishnan and X. D. Chen, Self-heating in compost piles due to biological effects, Chemical Engineering Science , 62 (17), 4612--4619, 2007. doi:10.1016/j.ces.2007.05.018 R. Rynk, Fires at composting facilities, BioCycle Magazine , 41 (1), 54--58, 2000. N. N. Semenov, Zur theorie des verbrennungsprozesses, Zeitschrift Fur Physik , 48 , 571--582, 1928. H. S. Sidhu, M. I. Nelson and X. D. Chen, A simple spatial model for self-heating compost piles, ANZIAM J. , 48 (CTAC2006), C135--C150, 2007. http://anziamj.austms.org.au/ojs/index.php/ANZIAMJ/article/view/86

Genome-wide Allelic State Analysis on Flow-Sorted Tumor Fractions Provides an Accurate Measure of Chromosomal Aberrations

Chromosomal aberrations are a common characteristic of cancer and are associated with copy number abnormalities and loss of heterozygosity (LOH). Tumor heterogeneity, low tumor cell percentage, and lack of knowledge of the DNA content impair the identification of these alterations especially in aneuploid tumors. To accurately detect allelic changes in carcinomas, we combined flow-sorting and single nucleotide polymorphism arrays. Cells derived from archival cervical and colon cancers were flow-sorted based on differential vimentin and keratin expression and DNA content and analyzed on single nucleotide polymorphism arrays. A new algorithm, the lesser allele intensity ratio, was used to generate a molecular measure of chromosomal aberrations for each case. Flow-sorting significantly improved the detection of copy number abnormalities; 31.8% showed an increase in amplitude and 23.2% were missed in the unsorted fraction, whereas 15.9% were detected but interpreted differently. Integration of the DNA index in the analysis enabled the identification of the allelic state of chromosomal aberrations, such as LOH ([A]), copy-neutral LOH ([AA]), balanced amplifications ([AABB]), and allelic imbalances ([AAB] or [AAAB], etc.). Chromosomal segments were sharply defined. Fluorescence in situ hybridization copy numbers, as well as the high similarity between the DNA index and the allelic state index, which is the average of the allelic states across the genome, validated the method. This new approach provides an individual molecular measure of chromosomal aberrations and will likely have repercussions for preoperative molecular staging, classification, and prognostic profiling of tumors, particularly for heterogeneous aneuploid tumors, and allows the study of the underlying molecular genetic mechanisms and clonal evolution of tumor subpopulations.

Minimal Disease Detection and Confirmation in Hematologic Malignancies: Combining Cell Sorting with Clonality Profiling

In this study we demonstrate the technical application of flow cytometry and cell sorting combined with gene-rearrangement clonality profiling to detect and confirm minimal disease in 2 leukemia and 2 lymphoma cases. Specimens with low percentages (0.05%-5%) of abnormal lymphoid populations were identified by flow cytometry. The abnormal lymphoid populations were sorted by flow cytometry, and the purified tumor populations along with unsorted fractions were subsequently analyzed for the presence of clonal gene rearrangements by PCR and fluorescence-based capillary electrophoresis fragment analysis. In 3 cases, distinct clonality profiles could be detected in the purified tumor cell fraction, and suspicious amplicons of identical sizes were detected among the polyclonal backgrounds in the unsorted specimens. For 1 patient, a monoclonal signal was detected in the sorted tumor cell fraction but not in the unseparated bone marrow specimen containing 0.05% abnormal lymphoblasts. A subsequent bone marrow specimen containing 4.8% recurring leukemia cells tested positive with a clonality profile that matched the previous profile in the sorted cell population. The described method integrating 2 technologies allows genotypic confirmation of an aberrant population detected by immunophenotype to increase diagnostic certainty. This strategy provides a sensitive tool for disease monitoring without the need for patient-specific primer design and assay optimization required for quantitative PCR analysis.

Remediation of an old landsfill site: soil analysis, leachate quality and gas production.

The Baltic Sea Region has a large number of landfills that need remediation after care routines and control, in order to avoid future emissions to the environment and to fulfil the demands in the EU Waste Council Directive on the landfill of waste. Based on the Måsalycke test screening, an excavation of whole or of parts of the landfill can be seen as a potential measure for some of the old landfills. The material excavated in the test was screened into the fractions: < 18 mm, 18-50 mm and > 50 mm. The coarsest fraction (> 50 mm) contained 50% wood and paper. The medium-sized fraction (18-50 mm) contained stones and indefinable soil-like material, while the fine fraction contained peat-like material with some other small waste components. The spectral analysis of heavy metals indicated only high concentrations of zinc and there was no significant difference between the fine and the medium-sized fractions. The medium sized and the unsorted fraction was moisturized and refilled into the pit. The methane content in the landfill gas from the pit was 50-57% in the sorted material with a flow of 8-17 l/min and 38-57% in the unsorted fraction with a flow of 2-13 l/min during the first 1.5 year. The Måsalycke landfill is in the methanogenic phase and leachate concentrations are normal. Landfill mining can be used to prolong the landfill lifetime and/or used as a tool for remedial actions in contaminated sites.

Physical, Biological and Chemical Effects of Unsorted Fractions of Industrial Solid Waste in Waste Fuel Storage

Technical, biological and environmental problems encountered in the storage of industrial waste fuel are analysed and discussed. Measurements of temperature, moisture content, oxygen, methane and carbon dioxide during the storage period are presented. It is shown that the temperature increases rapidly to 70-90°C and the oxygen content decreases to almost zero in the lower parts of the storage pile. After several months of high but stable temperature conditions, self-ignition occurred in the storage piles. The test results are related to the proper design of storage piles.