Vintage Period Research Articles

PREDICTORS OF UNFAVOURABLE OUTCOME IN PATIENTS ON MAINTENANCE HEMODIALYSIS WITH SARS COV 2 INFECTION

Introduction:The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection was discovered in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and quickly gave rise to a devastating pandemic. Due to uraemia-related immune system dysfunction, pro-inammatory state , higher comorbidity burden, and the potential of cross-contamination from dialysis centres; patients on maintenance haemodialysis appear to be particularly prone to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Materials and Methods The retrospective observational study aimed to determine the clinical, biochemical, pharmacological, and radiological prognosticators of favourable outcomes in patients on maintenance haemodialysis with COVID-19 infection. It included all adult patients who were on haemodialysis therapy and were admitted to B.M.H.Gimcare hospital, Kanuur , Kerala ; with a positive real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction for SARS-CoV-2 between September 2020 to February 2021, identied from the electronic medical records system. Result: The mean age of the study's 21 males and nine females was 61.47 years; of these patients, nine succumbed to their illness. The mean age of the deceased (67.11 ± 12.34 years), dialysis vintage period (31.67 ± 7.48 months), and duration of hospital stay (13 ± 8 days) were higher than those of the survivors (59.05 ± 11.42 years, 15.71 ± 7.24 months, and 8.67 ± 4.23 days, respectively). The TLC at admission (14033.33 ± 14423.07 per µL), N/L ratio (6.27 ± 6.38), and lactate dehydrogenase serum (457.11 ± 245.26) were also signicantly higher in those who had an unfavourable outcome. All cases on femoral dialysis access succumbed to this virus. Conclusion: We postulate that the outcome will be unfavourable in COVID-19 patients on heparin-free haemodialysis via femoral access, with higher total leukocyte levels, a raised neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio, lactate dehydrogenase and quick sequential organ failure assessment scores of more than two requiring invasive ventilatory support at admission.

Factors Influencing Survival Outcome in Deceased Renal Transplant Recipients

Background: Renal replacement therapy is the gold standard treatment of end-stage renal disease. Since the number of cases of chronic kidney diseases are increasing exponentially in our country, only live-related transplant is not enough to bridge the gap between disease and their treatment which increased the demand for deceased renal transplant program in our country. Objective: The objective is to study donors and recipients' characteristics for association with survival of patients in deceased renal allograft transplant. Materials and Methods: It is an ambispective observational analysis of 42 deceased donor renal transplants performed in our institute from January 2012 to December 2019. The difference among donors and recipients' characteristics was analyzed for association with the outcome for survival or death of the patient. Statistical analysis was done using SSPS 21.0 software and P value < 0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Results: In association with survival and expired outcomes, donors and recipients age, donors sex, cause of brain death (traumatic/nontraumatic), standard or extended criteria of donor, serum creatinine at the time of death, dialysis vintage period, warm and cold ischemia time, duration of hospital stay had shown no significant association with survival. While donors' urine output at the time of death, recipients sex, previous sensitization of recipients either by previous episodes of blood transfusion or pregnancy, achievement of normal renal function at day 14 of transplant, and tacrolimus level at 1 month of transplant shown significant association with the outcome. Conclusion: Deceased donors' characteristics, mainly urine output at death, recipients characteristic, namely any previous sensitization, achievement of normal renal function at day 14, serum tacrolimus level at 1-month posttransplant have a significant association with survival of deceased renal allograft transplant recipients. Sepsis and severe acidosis were the main complications contributing to mortality.

Influence of nutrients and pH on the efficiency of vertical flow constructed wetlands treating winery wastewater

Winery wastewater is characterized by high organic content, low nutrient content and low pH at least during vintage periods. The effect of nutrient shortage and low pH on constructed wetlands (CWs) operation was scarcely studied, but early field studies indicate that some operational problems can arise. This work aims to determine the effect of nutrient shortage and acidic pH during the treatment of high organic load wastewater in one-step vertical subsurface flow (VF) CWs. Two lab scale VF units at hydraulic loading rates over 70 L/m2·d and surface loading rate in the range of 110−170 g COD/m2·d were operated for periods with and without nutrients in the influent as well as with influent pH of 7.0 and 4.5. The results showed that neither low nutrient nor low pH impair organic matter removal whilst low pH decreased nitrogen removal rates. At low pH, the effluent concentration of ammonia and nitrate increased, indicating deterioration in both nitrification and denitrification processes. The paper discuss the implications of these findings for a better strategy in the treatment of winery process wastewater, such as options for separate treatment or its combination with other nutrient-containing streams.

A new winery wastewater treatment approach during vintage periods integrating ferric coagulation, Fenton reaction and activated sludge

A two stage Coagulation- Fenton’s-like process was used for the treatment of winery wastewater. The main objective of this sequence was to enhance biodegradability so that a posterior aerobic biological depuration could be possible. The chemical processes (initial pH of 3, (Fe2 (SO4)3)=1500ppm, (H2O2)=1.18Lm−3effluentLm−3effluent and 8h of oxidation procedure) led to global COD removal of 56.6%. Besides, a biodegradability enhancement of 60% was attained reaching a BOD5/COD ratio of 0.4. The operation costs were assessed for this stage, showing that the proposed methodology entails a cost of 0.27€ per kg of COD removed. Moreover, the further refining of the effluent using a Sequential Batch Reactor (SBR) had a mild positive effect over COD removal. The final COD abatement was 74% (145mg O2L−1). Moreover, dissolved iron reached a value below 1mgL−1 after the biological treatment. Under these conditions, the final stream was within the legal limits for direct discharge into the hydrological resources. Thus, it was concluded that the proposed methodology is able to satisfactorily treat winery wastewater even during the harvesting peak.

Ten Evenings with Pina: Bausch's "Late" Style and the Cultural Politics of Coproduction

This essay reconsiders the legacy of German dance theatre choreographer Pina Bausch through a series of thoughts collected and tested while sitting in the dark during the World Cities retrospective that was presented as part of the Cultural Olympiad of the London 2012 Olympics. While Bausch's aesthetic is almost entirely articulated on the basis of her vintage period, World Cities called attention to the coproduction process under which Tanztheater Wuppertal primarily operated from the mid-1980s until Bausch's death in 2009. Interweaving structures of patronage, rehearsal processes, and aesthetic strategies, the essay argues that it is by recognizing how they built and were built by more distributed structures of support that we can shift our understanding of Bausch's "late" works themselves.

Evaluation of Red Wine Made on a Small Scale Utilizing Frozen Must

This paper describes the use of frozen-stored red must as an alternative to fresh must to permit research fermentations outside the vintage period. Additionally, the fermentation size (20, 50, and 300 kg) was also compared. Chemical analyses of six wines showed little variation in color profiles and final ethanol and organic acid concentrations. More importantly from a winemaking point of view, a descriptive sensory analysis revealed that all wines across each treatment and fermentation scale compared very well to each other. Key differences were limited to more appealing characteristics (i.e., lower tannin hardness and burnt/smoky attributes and higher fresh/fruity and red berry attributes) in the wine made on a 300 kg scale from frozen must. This study therefore provides quantitative data on the effectiveness of freezing for fruit preservation as well as the ability of small volume fermentations (20 and 50 kg) to be representative of conditions approaching those found in industry.

One-sensor electronic olfactometer for rapid sorting of fresh fruit juices

A low-cost electronic olfactometer was developed, based on virtual sensors array (an array of signals from a single metal oxide sensor) and on our proprietary semi-automated sampling system. This concept enables us to drastically improve the sensitivity and selectivity of the entire olfactometer to make it suited to food products analysis. Each step of the prototype was checked separately in earlier work, and finally the system performance was evaluated first on pure chemicals, and then at-line for grape juice during grape-harvesting in Champagne. It is shown that over a 3-week vintage period, the drift of the unique-sensor was quite low (absolute baseline value: avg., 2152; std., 150; response to test solution: avg., 5.08, std., 0.39), and the transient response to the temperature steps provided information for the discrimination and mapping of these products. The results correspond well with the separative quantification of the aroma by high speed GC analysis made in parallel on the same samples.

Occurrence of Killer Yeasts in Spontaneous Wine Fermentations from the Tuscany Region of Italy

The occurrence of killer yeasts in an area of Tuscany (central Italy) was studied. Killer yeasts were found in 88% of spontaneous wine fermentations from 18 wineries. The incidence of killers varied with respect to fermentation stage and vintage period, increasing from the first vintage to successive ones and from the commencement to the end of fermentation. At the end of fermentation, the proportion of killer strains relative to total yeast population was below 25% in 15 cases, above 75% in 6 cases, from 25 to 50% in 5 cases, and from 50 to 75% in 3 cases. Karyotype analysis also showed a mixed killer population in the fermentations in which the killers dominated.

Gene flow and selection in a natural population of Drosophila melanogaster.

A marked genetic differentiation to the presence of alcohol in the environment has been shown to occur between inside cellar and adjacent outside sections of a vineyard population of D. melanogaster (McKenzie and Parsons 1974). Estimates of migration during the vintage period suggest considerable movement occurs from outside into the cellar and that the most tolerant genotypes are the most successful migrants. A quantitative model of this system suggests that the selection intensity may not be a limiting factor in maintaining the differentiation. It also suggests that gene flow must be restricted between sections of the population at all but vintage periods if this differentiation is to persist.