The application of TiO2 photocatalysis for disinfection of water contaminated with pathogenic micro-organisms: a review

The use of semiconductor photocatalysis for treatment of water and air has been the topic of intense research activity over the past 20 years. This powerful process has also been extended to the disinfection of environments contaminated with pathogenic micro-organisms. This review summarizes recent developments concerned with the photocatalytic treatment of water contaminated with pathogenic micro-organisms presenting a potential hazard to animals and human beings.

Alcohol, Tobacco and Pharmacy Students: Usage and Views on Professional Issues

Introduction/background: This study aimed to ascertain pharmacy students’ use and views on cigarettes and alcohol (including in relation to provision of health promotion advice) and to establish if alcohol intake affected academic performance. Within the United Kingdom (UK), there has been limited research conducted in this area
Methods: Following ethical approval, pharmacy students (n=581) were invited to participate in a pre-piloted electronic questionnaire, consisting of 21 questions on smoking and alcohol. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests were used for data analyses.
Results: A response rate of 64.5% (375/581) was obtained (69.9% female, 30.2% male). Many respondents (77.9%) reported that they drank alcohol; whereas only 3.7% stated they currently smoked cigarettes. Students who drank alcohol were more likely to fail elements of the program than those who did not. Less than half (47.8%) were in agreement that it was hypocritical for a pharmacist to give health promotion advice and then get drunk outside of work.
Discussion/conclusions: Students seem to consider that lifestyle recommendations are less relevant for themselves and also that a pharmacist’s responsibility centers on providing advice, rather than being a role-model. Alcohol consumption appears to negatively influence academic achievement.

Relationship between Azithromycin Susceptibility and Administration Efficacy for Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae Respiratory Infection

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) is an opportunistic pathogen that is an important cause of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). COPD is an inflammatory disease of the airways, and exacerbations are acute inflammatory events superimposed on this background of chronic inflammation. Azithromycin (AZM) is a macrolide antibiotic with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties and a clinically proven potential for AECOPD prevention and management. Relationships between AZM efficacy and resistance by NTHI and between bactericidal and immunomodulatory effects on NTHI respiratory infection have not been addressed. In this study, we employed two pathogenic NTHI strains with different AZM susceptibilities (NTHI 375 [AZM susceptible] and NTHI 353 [AZM resistant]) to evaluate the prophylactic and therapeutic effects of AZM on the NTHI-host interplay. At the cellular level, AZM was bactericidal toward intracellular NTHI inside alveolar and bronchial epithelia and alveolar macrophages, and it enhanced NTHI phagocytosis by the latter cell type. These effects correlated with the strain MIC of AZM and the antibiotic dose. Additionally, the effect of AZM on NTHI infection was assessed in a mouse model of pulmonary infection. AZM showed both preventive and therapeutic efficacies by lowering NTHI 375 bacterial counts in lungs and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and by reducing histopathological inflammatory lesions in the upper and lower airways of mice. Conversely, AZM did not reduce bacterial loads in animals infected with NTHI 353, in which case a milder anti-inflammatory effect was also observed. Together, the results of this work link the bactericidal and anti-inflammatory effects of AZM and frame the efficacy of this antibiotic against NTHI respiratory infection.

Relative contributions of lipooligosaccharide inner and outer core modifications to nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae pathogenesis

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a frequent commensal of the human nasopharynx that causes opportunistic infection in immunocompromised individuals. Existing evidence associates lipooligosaccharide (LOS) with disease, but the specific and relative contributions of NTHi LOS modifications to virulence properties of the bacterium have not been comprehensively addressed. Using NTHi strain 375, an isolate for which the detailed LOS structure has been determined, we compared systematically a set of isogenic mutant strains expressing sequentially truncated LOS. The relative contributions of 2-keto-3-deoxyoctulosonic acid, the triheptose inner core, oligosaccharide extensions on heptoses I and III, phosphorylcholine, digalactose, and sialic acid to NTHi resistance to antimicrobial peptides (AMP), self-aggregation, biofilm formation, cultured human respiratory epithelial infection, and murine pulmonary infection were assessed. We show that opsX, lgtF, lpsA, lic1, and lic2A contribute to bacterial resistance to AMP; lic1 is related to NTHi self-aggregation; lgtF, lic1, and siaB are involved in biofilm growth; opsX and lgtF participate in epithelial infection; and opsX, lgtF, and lpsA contribute to lung infection. Depending on the phenotype, the involvement of these LOS modifications occurs at different extents, independently or having an additive effect in combination. We discuss the relative contribution of LOS epitopes to NTHi virulence and frame a range of pathogenic traits in the context of infection.

Radiative rates for E1, E2, M1, and M2 transitions in the Br-like ions Sr IV, Y V, Zr VI, Nb VII, and Mo VIII

Energies and lifetimes are reported for the lowest 375 levels of five Br-like ions, namely SrIV, YV, ZrVI, NbVII, and MoVIII, mostly belonging to the 4s²4p⁵, 4s²4p⁴4ℓ, 4s4p⁶, 4s²4p⁴5ℓ, 4s²4p³4d², 4s4p⁵4ℓ, and 4s4p⁵5ℓ configurations. Extensive configuration interaction has been included and the general-purpose relativistic atomic structure package (grasp) has been adopted for the calculations. Additionally, radiative rates are listed among these levels for all E1, E2, M1, and M2 transitions. From a comparison with the measurements, the majority of our energy levels are assessed to be accurate to better than 2%, although discrepancies between theory and experiment for a few are up to 6%. An accuracy assessment of the calculated radiative rates (and lifetimes) is more difficult, because no prior results exist for these ions.

Towards core outcome set (COS) development: a follow-up descriptive survey of outcomes in Cochrane reviews

BACKGROUND: A core outcome set (COS) can address problems of outcome heterogeneity and outcome reporting bias in trials and systematic reviews, including Cochrane reviews, helping to reduce waste. One of the aims of the international Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials (COMET) Initiative is to link the development and use of COS with the outcomes specified and reported in Cochrane reviews, including the outcomes listed in the summary of findings (SoF) tables. As part of this work, an earlier exploratory survey of the outcomes of newly published 2007 and 2011 Cochrane reviews was performed. This survey examined the use of COS, the variety of specified outcomes, and outcome reporting in Cochrane reviews by Cochrane Review Group (CRG). To examine changes over time and to explore outcomes that were repeatedly specified over time in Cochrane reviews by CRG, we conducted a follow-up survey of outcomes in 2013 Cochrane reviews.

METHODS: A descriptive survey of outcomes in Cochrane reviews that were first published in 2013. Outcomes specified in the methods sections and reported in the results section of the Cochrane reviews were examined by CRG. We also explored the uptake of SoF tables, the number of outcomes included in these, and the quality of the evidence for the outcomes.

RESULTS: Across the 50 CRGs, 375 Cochrane reviews that included at least one study specified a total of 3142 outcomes. Of these outcomes, 32 % (1008) were not reported in the results section of these reviews. For 23 % (233) of these non-reported outcomes, we did not find any reason in the text of the review for this non-report. Fifty-seven percent (216/375) of reviews included a SoF table.

CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of specified outcomes that were reported in Cochrane reviews had increased in 2013 (68 %) compared to 2007 (61 %) and 2011 (65 %). Importantly, 2013 Cochrane reviews that did not report specified outcomes were twice as likely to provide an explanation for why the outcome was not reported. There has been an increased uptake of SoF tables in Cochrane reviews. Outcomes that were repeatedly specified in Cochrane reviews by CRG in 2007, 2011, and 2013 may assist COS development.

Stability in a Network Economy: The Role of Institutions

We consider an economy in which agents are embedded in a network of potential value-generating relationships. Agents are assumed to be able to participate in three types of economic interactions: Autarkic self-provision; bilateral interaction; and multilateral collaboration through endogenously provided platforms.
We introduce two stability concepts and provide sufficient and necessary conditions on the network structure that guarantee existence, in cases of the absence of externalities, link-based externalities and crowding externalities. We show that institutional arrangements based on socioeconomic roles and leadership guarantee stability. In particular, the stability of more complex economic outcomes requires more strict and complex institutional rules to govern economic interactions. We investigate strict social hierarchies, tiered leadership structures and global market places.