Potential availability of metals in anaerobic mono- and co-digestion of pig manure and maize.

This study aims to analyse the potential availability of essential metals including as Co, Fe, Ni, Zn, Mn, and Cu and non-essential metals such as Pb, Cr, and Cd within anaerobic mono- and co-digestion of pig manure and maize. The metals partitioning was determined using the Modified BCR (European Community Bureau of Reference) sequential extraction at defined intervals over a 45-days period, correlating changes in metals speciation with key digestion variables. The findings revealed that Cr, Cu, Fe, and Pb were predominantly associated with the oxidisable fraction, while Zn, Mn, and Cd were potentially available in both processes.

From grass to gas and beyond: Anaerobic digestion as a key enabling technology for a residual grass biorefinery.

Roadside grass clippings hold potential as a sustainable source of bioenergy as they do not compete with crops for land use, and are only partially utilized for low-value applications. In this study, we proposed using roadside grass as a sole feedstock for anaerobic digestion (AD) in three different settings, and assessed the potential of producing biomaterials and fertilizers from grass-based digestate. Wet continuous digestion at pilot scale and dry batch digestion at pilot and large scales resulted in biogas yields up to 700 Nm.

A real-world experience of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a tertiary referral centre of Montréal: Unexpected low prevalence and low mortality.

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) and liver transplant (LT) recipients remains a concern. The aim of this study was to report the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection among patients at the tertiary health care centre (CHUM) during the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Methods: This real-world, retrospective cohort included all patients admitted to our liver unit and/or seen as an outpatient with CLD with or without cirrhosis and/or LT recipients who tested positive to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Maximizing nutrient recycling from digestate for production of protein-rich microalgae for animal feed application.

The integration of phototrophic microalgal production and anaerobic digestion can recycle excess nutrients across European surplus hotspots to produce protein-rich biomass for nutritional applications. However, the challenging physico-chemical properties of raw digestate constrain microalgal growth and limit digestate valorization potential. This study focused on the pre-treatment of food waste-based digestate using paper-filtration to improve its properties for cultivating Desmodesmus sp.

Deferred treatment with a fixed-dose combination of sofosbuvir-velpatasvir for chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1, 2, 4 and 6 infection.

Sofosbuvir-velpatasvir is approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. In this single-arm, open-label, phase 3, deferred treatment study, we investigated the efficacy and safety of sofosbuvir-velpatasvir among patients randomized to the placebo group in the ASTRAL-1 study. Patients received sofosbuvir-velpatasvir (400/100 mg) once daily for 12 weeks.

Sofosbuvir/velpatasvir for 12 weeks in hepatitis C virus-infected patients with end-stage renal disease undergoing dialysis.

Background & Aims: Although off-label use of sofosbuvir-containing regimens occurs regularly in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection undergoing dialysis for severe renal impairment or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), these regimens are not licensed for this indication, and there is an absence of dosing recommendations in this population. This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of sofosbuvir/velpatasvir in patients with HCV infection with ESRD undergoing dialysis.

Methods: In this phase II, single-arm study, 59 patients with genotype 1-6 HCV infection with ESRD undergoing hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis received open-label sofosbuvir/velpatasvir (400 mg/100 mg) once daily for 12 weeks.

Type 3 cytokines IL-17A and IL-22 drive TGF-β-dependent liver fibrosis.

Inflammatory immune cells can modulate activation of hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and progression of liver fibrosis. Type 3 inflammation characterized by production of interleukin-17A (IL-17) and IL-22 by innate and adaptive immune cells is implicated in many inflammatory conditions of the gut and can be counteracted by regulatory T cells (T), but its contribution to liver fibrosis is still poorly understood. Here, we evaluated the contribution of type 3 inflammation in liver fibrosis using clinical liver biopsies, in vitro stimulation of primary HSCs, and in vivo mouse models.

Acute Kidney Injury Due to Inferior Vena Cava Stenosis After Liver Transplantation: A Case Report About the Importance of Hepatic Vein Doppler Ultrasound and Clinical Assessment.

Rationale: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a frequent complication after liver transplantation. In some patients, prompt intervention targeted at a specific etiology is of paramount importance.

Presenting Concerns Of The Patients: A 25 years old man with advanced liver cirrhosis caused by sclerosing cholangitis and autoimmune hepatitis underwent orthotopic liver transplantation.

Ledipasvir-Sofosbuvir Plus Ribavirin in Treatment-Naive Patients With Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 3 Infection: An Open-Label Study.

Background: Patients chronically infected with genotype 3 hepatitis C virus (HCV) have faster disease progression and are less responsive to current direct-acting antiviral regimens than patients infected with other genotypes. We conducted an open-label trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir plus ribavirin in patients with genotype 3 HCV infection.

Methods: We enrolled treatment-naive patients with and without compensated cirrhosis at 15 sites in Canada.

Persistence of Virologic Response after Liver Transplant in Hepatitis C Patients Treated with Ledipasvir / Sofosbuvir Plus Ribavirin Pretransplant.

Introduction: Recurrence of HCV infection in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) at the time of liver transplantation is nearly universal and reduces the likelihood of graft and patient survival.

Materials And Methods: We evaluated outcomes of 17 patients (16 with HCV genotype 1 and 1 with genotype 4) who received up to 12 or 24 weeks of ledipasvir/sofosbuvir plus ribavirin prior to or up to the time of liver transplant in the SOLAR-1 and SOLAR-2 trials. In all patients, HCV RNA was < 15 IU/mL prior to transplant.

Efficacy of 8 Weeks of Sofosbuvir, Velpatasvir, and Voxilaprevir in Patients With Chronic HCV Infection: 2 Phase 3 Randomized Trials.

Background & Aims: Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have high rates of sustained virologic response (SVR) after 12 weeks of treatment with the nucleotide polymerase inhibitor sofosbuvir combined with the NS5A inhibitor velpatasvir. We assessed the efficacy of 8 weeks of treatment with sofosbuvir and velpatasvir plus the pangenotypic NS3/4A protease inhibitor voxilaprevir (sofosbuvir-velpatasvir-voxilaprevir).

Methods: In 2 phase 3, open-label trials, patients with HCV infection who had not been treated previously with a direct-acting antiviral agent were assigned randomly to groups given sofosbuvir-velpatasvir-voxilaprevir for 8 weeks or sofosbuvir-velpatasvir for 12 weeks.

Inoculum selection influences the biochemical methane potential of agro-industrial substrates.

Obtaining a reliable estimation of the methane potential of organic waste streams in anaerobic digestion, for which a biochemical methane potential (BMP) test is often used, is of high importance. Standardization of this BMP test is required to ensure inter-laboratory repeatability and accuracy of the BMP results. Therefore, guidelines were set out; yet, these do not provide sufficient information concerning origin of and the microbial community in the test inoculum.

Intact dendritic cell pathogen-recognition receptor functions associate with chronic hepatitis C treatment-induced viral clearance.

Although studies have addressed the exhaustion of the host's immune response to HCV and its role in treatment, there is little information about the possible contribution of innate immunity to treatment-induced clearance. We hypothesized that because intact myeloid dendritic cell (MDC) pathogen sensing functions are associated with improved HCV-specific CD8+ T cell functionality in some chronically infected patients, it might enhance HCV clearance rate under standard interferon therapy. To investigate this hypothesis, TLR-induced MDC activation and HCV-specific CD8+ T cell response quality were monitored longitudinally at the single-cell level using polychromatic flow cytometry in chronically infected patients undergoing interferon therapy.

IL28B SNP screening and distribution in the French Canadian population using a rapid PCR-based test.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the proximity of the interleukin-28B (IL28B) gene can predict spontaneous resolution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and response to interferon therapy. Screening for this polymorphism has become part of the standard criteria for the management of HCV-infected patients, hence the need for a rapid, cost-effective screening method. Here, we describe a rapid PCR-based test to screen for two IL28B SNPs (rs12979860 and rs8099917).

Altered thymic function during interferon therapy in HCV-infected patients.

Interferon alpha (IFNα) therapy, despite good efficacy in curing HCV infection, leads to major side effects, in particular inducement of a strong peripheral T-cell lymphocytopenia. We here analyze the early consequences of IFNα therapy on both thymic function and peripheral T-cell homeostasis in patients in the acute or chronic phase of HCV-infection as well as in HIV/HCV co-infected patients. The evolution of T-cell subsets and T-cell homeostasis were estimated by flow cytometry while thymic function was measured through quantification of T-cell receptor excision circles (TREC) and estimation of intrathymic precursor T-cell proliferation during the first four months following the initiation of IFNα therapy.

Extended treatment with lamivudine and adefovir dipivoxil in chronic hepatitis B patients with lamivudine resistance.

Purpose: We and others have reported that adding adefovir dipivoxil (adefovir) to lamivudine results in virological and biochemical improvement in cases of lamivudine resistance. The current study assessed the efficacy and safety of combined therapy after 104 weeks of combined treatment and analyzed the frequency of persistent lamivudine resistant HBV.

Methods: A total of 78 patients with compensated CHB (Group A) were maintained on either adefovir 10 mg daily (n = 38) or placebo (n = 40) while continuing lamivudine.

Comparison of immune restoration in early versus late alpha interferon therapy against hepatitis C virus.

Early alpha interferon (IFN-alpha) therapy against hepatitis C virus (HCV) rescues polyfunctional, virus-specific memory CD8(+) T cells, but whether immune restoration is possible during late therapy remains controversial. We compared immune restoration of HCV-specific memory T cells in patients who cleared HCV infection spontaneously and following early or late IFN therapy. Multifunctional CD4(+) and CD8(+) memory T cells were detected in spontaneous resolvers and in individuals treated early following an acute infection.

Calibration and statistical analysis of a simplified model for the anaerobic digestion of solid waste.

Modelling is increasingly used for optimizing environmental treatment processes such as anaerobic digestion. It allows problems such as instability of the process to be solved by predicting various scenarios. The anaerobic digestion model No.

Dendritic cell inhibition is connected to exhaustion of CD8+ T cell polyfunctionality during chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

Although chronic viral infections have evolved mechanisms to interfere with aspects of pathogen recognition by dendritic cells (DCs), the role that these APCs play in virus-specific T cell exhaustion is unclear. Herein we report that NS3-dependent suppression of Toll/IL-1 domain-containing adapter-inducing IFN-beta- and IFN-beta promoter stimulator-1- but not MyD88-coupled pathogen-recognition receptor-induced synthesis of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-12 and TNF-alpha) from DCs by hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a distinctive feature of a subgroup of chronically infected patients. The result is decreased CD8(+) T cell polyfunctional capacities (production of IFN-gamma, IL-2, TNF-alpha, and CD107a mobilization) that is confined to HCV specificities and that relates to the extent to which HCV inhibits DC responses in infected subjects, despite comparable plasma viral load, helper T cell environments, and inhibitory programmed death 1 receptor/ligand signals.

Primary cultures of human hepatocytes isolated from hepatitis C virus-infected cirrhotic livers as a model to study hepatitis C infection.

Background/aim: Since the discovery of hepatitis C virus (HCV), researchers have encountered difficulties with in vitro models. The aim of this study was to determine whether HCV-infected human primary hepatocytes, isolated from cirrhotic livers at liver transplantation, can be used as a model to study HCV infection.

Methods: Hepatocytes were isolated with collagenase and cultured over a 20-day period on different matrices.

Management and treatment of hepatitis C virus in patients with HIV and hepatitis C virus coinfection: A practical guide for health care professionals.

Concomitant HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a common yet complex coinfection. The present document is a practical guide for treating HCV infection in people coinfected with HIV. Effective antiretroviral therapies have prolonged survival rates for HIV-infected people over the past decade, which have made latent complications of HCV major causes of morbidity and mortality in these patients.