Until now anaerobic oxidation of VFA at high salt-pH has been demonstrated only at sulfate-reducing conditions. Here, we present results of a microbiological investigation of anaerobic conversion of organic acids and alcohols at methanogenic conditions by syntrophic associations enriched from hypersaline soda lakes in Central Asia. Sediment incubation experiments showed active, albeit very slow, methane formation from acetate, propionate, butyrate and C₂C₄ alcohols at pH 10 and various levels of salinity. Enrichments of syntrophic associations using hydrogenotrophic members of the genus Methanocalculus from soda lakes as partners resulted in several highly enriched cultures converting acetate, propionate, butyrate, benzoate and EtOH to methane. Most syntrophs belonged to Firmicutes, while the propionate-oxidizer formed a novel lineage within the family Syntrophobacteraceae in the Deltaproteobacteria. The acetate-oxidizing syntroph was identified as ‘Ca. Syntrophonatronum acetioxidans’ previously found to oxidize acetate at sulfate-reducing conditions up to salt-saturating concentrations. Butyrate and a benzoate-degrading syntrophs represent novel genus-level lineages in Syntrophomonadales which are proposed as Candidatus taxons ‘Syntrophobaca’, ‘Syntrophocurvum’ and ‘Syntropholuna’. Overall, despite very slow growth, the results indicated the presence of a functionally competent syntrophic community in hypersaline soda lakes, capable of efficient oxidation of fermentation products to methane at extremely haloalkaline conditions.

Background: The closure of the valves generates shear waves in the heart walls. The propagation velocity of shear waves relates to stiffness. This could potentially be used to estimate the stiffness of the myocardium, with huge potential implications in pathologies characterized by a deterioration of the diastolic properties of the left ventricle. In an earlier phantom study we already validated shear wave tracking with a clinical ultrasound system in cardiac mode.

Purpose: In this study we aimed to measure the shear waves velocity in normal individuals.

Methods: 12 healthy volunteers, mean age=37±10, 33% females, were investigated using a clinical scanner (Philips iE33), equipped with a S5-1 probe, using a clinical tissue Doppler (TDI) application. ECG and phonocardiogram (PCG) were synchronously recorded. We achieved a TDI frame rate of >500Hz by carefully tuning normal system settings. Data were processed offline in Philips Qlab 8 to extract tissue velocity along a virtual M-mode line in the basal third of the interventricular septum, in parasternal long axis view. This tissue velocity showed a propagating wave pattern after closure of the valves. The slope of the wave front velocity in a space-time panel was measured to obtain the shear wave propagation velocity. The velocity of the shear waves induced by the closure of the mitral valve (1st heart sound) and aortic valve (2nd heart sound) was averaged over 4 heartbeats for every subject.

Results: Shear waves were visible after each closure of the heart valves, synchronous to the heart sounds. The figure shows one heart cycle of a subject, with the mean velocity along a virtual M-mode line in the upper panel, synchronous to the ECG signal (green line) and phonocardiogram (yellow line) in the lower panel. The slope of the shear waves is marked with dotted lines and the onset of the heart sounds with white lines. In our healthy volunteer group the mean velocity of the shear wave induced by mitral valve closure was 4.8±0.7m/s, standard error of 0.14 m/s. The mean velocity after aortic valve closure was 3.4±0.5m/s, standard error of 0.09 m/s. We consistently found that for any subject the velocity after mitral valve closure was higher than after aortic valve closure.

Conclusion: The velocity of the shear waves generated by the closure of the heart valves can be measured in normal individuals using a clinical TDI application. The shear wave induced after mitral valve closure was consistently faster than after aortic valve closure. Abstract P1138 Figure.

Abstract P1138 Figure.

Partial nitritation was stably achieved in a bench-scale airlift reactor (1.5L) containing granular sludge. Continuous operation at 20 °C treating low-strength synthetic wastewater (50 mg N-NH₄ ⁺/L and no COD) achieved nitrogen loading rates of 0.8 g N-NH₄ ⁺/(L·d) during partial nitritation. The switch between nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) repression and NOB proliferation was observed when ammonium concentrations in the reactor were below 2–5 mg N-NH₄ ⁺/L for DO concentrations lower than 4 mg O₂/L at 20 °C. Nitrospira spp. were detected to be the dominant NOB population during the entire reactor operation, whereas Nitrobacter spp. were found to be increasing in numbers over time. Stratification of the granule structure, with ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) occupying the outer shell, was found to be highly important in the repression of NOB in the long term. The pH gradient in the granule, containing a pH difference of ca. 0.4 between the granule surface and the granule centre, creates a decreasing gradient of ammonia towards the centre of the granule. Higher residual ammonium concentration enhances the ammonium oxidation rate of those cells located further away from the granule surface, where the competition for oxygen between AOB and NOB is more important, and it contributes to the stratification of both populations in the biofilm.