INTRODUCTION Protective ventilatory strategies have been applied to prevent ventilator-induced lung injury in patients with acute lung injury (ALI). However, adjustment of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) to avoid alveolar de-recruitment and hyperinflation remains difficult. An alternative is to set the PEEP based on minimizing respiratory system elastance (Ers) by titrating PEEP. In the...

Biological aerated filters (BAFs) are an emerging wastewater treatment technology designed for a wide range of municipal and industrial applications. BAFs utilize an inert media, either dense granular or floating, which supports biomass retention in the filter bed. BAFs offer an alternative to typical biological treatment processes; however, knowledge of the process is often limited, especially...

Colfax, WA, operates an aerated lagoon to achieve compliance with its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, which currently requires biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and total suspended solids (TSS) removal. However, ammonia removal may soon be required, and Colfax is considering a nitrifying trickling filter (NTF) that would allow them to also maintain the lagoons. To ...

In accordance with other investigators (2, 3), the authors have reported an increase in (18)-F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in the lung parenchyma of a small and heterogeneous group of ALI/ARDS patients using positron emission tomography/computed tomography scan in different phases of the disease. Additionally, the authors found heterogeneity in FDG uptake when regional metabolic activity wa...

BACKGROUND One-lung ventilation (OLV) exposes the dependent lung to increased mechanical stress which may affect the postoperative course. This study evaluates regional pulmonary gas/tissue distribution in a porcine model of OLV. METHODS Nine anaesthetized and mechanically ventilated (V(T)=10 ml kg(-1), FI(O(2))=0.40, PEEP=5 cm H(2)O) pigs were studied. After lung separation by an endobronchi...

Ammonia can be removed from landfill leachate through aerobic biological processes. The biological aerated filter (BAF) combines biological treatment and subsequent biomass separation in one reactor providing a small footprint alternative to conventional systems. Leachate from an operational landfill was found to be aerobically treatable using the OECD recommended Modified Zahn-Wellens test. Th...