Nonthermal Mechanochemical Destruction of POPs

The present chapter is dedicated to all relevant theoretical and application aspects of mechanochemical destruction technology for mineralization of POPs, both stockpiled ones and as contaminants in environmental and waste matrices. It will show that such solid-state technology, realized by high energy milling of POPs with a co-milling solid reagent, can achieve complete mineralization of haloorganics into graphitic/amorphous carbon, carbon oxides, and halides; it takes place at near environmental temperature, thus limiting unintentional formation of dioxins (if treatment conditions are selected carefully); and, in some cases, it can be used to produce useful materials instead of just detoxified waste. The chapter will also give a comprehensive picture of complex mechanochemical destruction mechanism, including mechanochemical activation of the co-milling reagent and the cascade of radical reactions that cause POP molecules mineralization. Finally, technological and economic considerations will be provided, which corroborate the validity and feasibility of the mechanochemical destruction as an effective and safe technology to treat POPs.

Evaluation of a Prototype of a Novel Galactomannan Sandwich Assay Using the VIDAS® Technology for the Diagnosis of Invasive Aspergillosis

ObjectivesTo evaluate the analytical and clinical performance of a prototype of a VIDAS® Galactomannan (GM) unitary test (bioMérieux, Marcy l’Etoile, France) and compare to that of the Platelia™ Aspergillus Ag assay (Bio-Rad, CA, USA).MethodsRepeatability, reproducibility, and freeze-thaw stability of VIDAS®GM were evaluated. Sera from patients at risk of IA were concurrently tested with both the VIDAS®GM and Platelia™ Aspergillus Ag assays. Correlations between the two assays were assessed by Passing Bablok (PB) regression and performance by ROC analysis.ResultsThe correlations between the VIDAS®GM indexes after one and two cycles of freezing/thawing were r=1.00 and r=0.989, respectively. The coefficients of variation for negative, low-positive, and positive sera were 13%, 6%, and 5% for repeatability and 14.4%, 7.2%, and 5.5% for reproducibility. Overall, 126 sera were tested with both assays (44 fresh and 82 frozen). The correlation between VIDAS®GM and Platelia™ Aspergillus Ag was r=0.798. The areas under the curve of the ROC analyses were 0.892 and 0.894, for VIDAS®GM and Platelia™ Aspergillus Ag, respectively.ConclusionsThis new VIDAS®GM prototype assay showed adequate analytical and clinical performance and a good correlation with that of Platelia™ Aspergillus Ag with 126 sera, although these results need to be confirmed in a larger prospective and multicentric study. As for the other VIDAS® assays, VIDAS®GM is a single-sample automated test using a solid reagent strip and receptacle. It is easy to use and suitable for rapid on-demand test results.