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An increase in the number of independent breweries and distilleries has led to an increase in the amount of spent grains with inadequate means of disposal. One option for disposal is as feedstock for anaerobic digestion if digester stability is ensured. In this study, brewers’ spent grain and distillers’ spent grain were used as substrate for anaerobic digestion for 32 weeks. The digestate was treated by recirculation through a silicone hose located in an external tank filled with saline solution. The hose served as a permeable membrane allowing for the passage of gases. The recirculation tanks were fitted with check valves to maintain three pressure/gas regimes: 26 mm Hg N2, 26 mm Hg aeration or 100 mm Hg aeration. A fourth digester was operated with no recirculation as the control. These treatments were chosen to determine if differences in digester stability, wastewater treatment efficiency, and biogas production could be detected. A combination of dairy and swine manure was used as seeding to provide a methanogenic consortium and bicarbonate buffering. However, despite trying to provide for adequate initial bicarbonate buffering, all four digesters had low initial buffering and consequently low pH as short-chain fatty acids accumulated. After six weeks, bicarbonate buffering and pH increased as methane production increased, and short-chain fatty acids decreased. Later, despite the fluxes of O2 and N2 across the silicone membrane being very low, differences between the various treatments were noted. The pH of the digestate treated by N2 recirculation was lower than the other digesters and decreased further after distillers’ spent grain was substituted for brewers’ spent grain. Aeration at a pressure of 26 mm Hg and 100 mg Hg increased biogas production compared to other treatments but only significantly so at 100 mm Hg. These results suggest that partial purging of dissolved gases in anaerobic digestate by the small fluxes of N2 or O2 across a permeable membrane may affect digester performance.

SOA is a powerful concept allowing organizations to leverage dieir IT assets in flexible and creative ways, increase dieir agility and expose die hidden power of data and information previously locked widiin mainframe confines. And security concerns shouldn't prevent adoption of a SOA. Many mainframe-to-SOA migrations are completed in a haphazard fashion widiout a look toward how the applications will be used and how to stay secure over the life of the program.

The purpose of this research has been to combine prevailing organothiol modified electrode electrochemistry and spectroelectrochemical techniques to provide additional tools for the study of cytochrome c electron transfer. This has been accomplished by developing an instrument for conducting volt-electroreflectommetry (VER) experiments, which are commonly referred to by the name electroreflectance. The development of this instrument is covered in detail, including the progression of the evolution of the spectroelectrochemical interface. Data is presented and analyzed with an eye toward validating VER techniques for use in determining kinetic parameters by making direct comparisons to more conventional techniques like electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Plans for further improvement of the instrument are delineated which include upgrades along two paths for the instrument hardware, suggestions for better software, and a revision of the spectroelectrochemical cell to make it easier to use. Preliminary data on the kinetics of guanidine-denatured cytochrome c are also presented and suggestions for further work in this area are made.

Parkinson's disease psychosis, which includes hallucinations and delusions, is frequent and debilitating in people with Parkinson's disease. We aimed to assess safety and efficacy of pimavanserin, a selective serotonin 5-HT2A inverse agonist, in this population. In our 6 week, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, we enrolled adults (aged ≥40 years) with Parkinson's disease psychosis. Antipsychotic treatments were not permitted during the study, but controlled antiparkinsonian medication or deep brain stimulation was allowed. Eligible participants entered a 2 week non-pharmacological lead-in phase to limit the placebo response, after which they were randomly allocated (1:1) to receive pimavanserin 40 mg per day or matched placebo. The primary outcome was antipsychotic benefit as assessed by central, independent raters with the Parkinson's disease-adapted scale for assessment of positive symptoms (SAPS-PD) in all patients who received at least one dose of study drug and had a SAPS assessment at baseline and at least one follow-up. We assessed safety and tolerability in all patients who received at least one dose of study drug. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01174004. Between Aug 11, 2010, and Aug 29, 2012, we randomly allocated 199 patients to treatment groups. For 90 recipients of placebo and 95 recipients of pimavanserin included in the primary analysis, pimavanserin was associated with a −5·79 decrease in SAPS-PD scores compared with −2·73 for placebo (difference −3·06, 95% CI −4·91 to −1·20; p=0·001; Cohen's d 0·50). Ten patients in the pimavanserin group discontinued because of an adverse event (four due to psychotic disorder or hallucination within 10 days of start of the study drug) compared with two in the placebo group. Overall, pimavanserin was well tolerated with no significant safety concerns or worsening of motor function. Pimavanserin may benefit patients with Parkinson's disease psychosis for whom few other treatment options exist. The trial design used in this study to manage placebo response could have applicability to other studies in neuropsychiatric disease. ACADIA Pharmaceuticals.

Meningococcal acquisition is a prerequisite for invasive disease. Three hundred and eleven male marine commando recruits were studied throughout 29 weeks of basic training to identify factors influencing meningococcal carriage and acquisition including troop number, season, smoking, respiratory infection, antibiotic usage and nasopharyngeal bacterial interference flora. A high carriage rate on entry to training (118/311, 37·9%) and subsequent sustained high rates of meningococcal acquisition were found. Of the potential factors examined, only active and passive smoking were found to be associated significantly with meningococcal carriage on entry. The association between active smoking and meningococcal carriage was dose-dependent, with odds ratios (OR) of 2·2 (95% CIs 1·0–4·8) and 7·2 (95% CIs 2·3–22·9) for light and heavy smokers respectively. Passive smoking predisposed independently to carriage (OR 1·8, 95% CIs 1·1–3·0). Active and passive smoking combined to give an attributable risk for meningococcal carriage of 33%. In contrast, despite a high and sustained rate of meningococcal acquisition in the study population, none of the risk factors investigated, including active smoking, was associated significantly with meningococcal acquisition. No cases of meningococcal disease occurred during the 16-month study period. Therefore smoking may increase the duration of meningococcal carriage rather than the rate of acquisition, consistent with the increased risk of meningococcal disease from passive as opposed to active smoking. Public health measures that reduce the prevalence of smoking should reduce the risk of meningococcal disease.