• Energy Research
• Closed Access close
• Embargo close
• medical and health sciences close
• GB close

This study assessed the hand hygiene performance in French nursing homes using the consumption of alcohol-based hand rubs (AHRs) as a surrogate. Nursing homes from the 17 French regions were contacted to collect their AHR consumption and occupancy in 2018 and 2019. A total of 1290 nursing homes from 15 French regions participated in the survey. The estimated median number of hand hygiene actions per resident-day was 1.48 (interquartile range: 1.04-2.03) in 2018 and 1.60 (1.10-2.26) in 2019. A significantly higher AHR consumption was observed in public nursing homes with an infection control team or link nurse.

Abstract Synchronous cultures of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe 972 h −1 are most sensitive to killing by 15 min, 49 °C pulses during a stage stretching from nuclear division through short G1 and S phases to a point early in G2. In this work the cell cycle position of the S phase has been altered by growing the cells in the presence of 2-phenylethanol. The heat sensitivity of these cells was greater at all stages of the cell cycle compared with the cells grown without 2-phenylethanol. However, the position of the most heat sensitive stage in the cell cycle was unaltered. This heat sensitive stage did not include S phase in the cells grown with 2-phenylethanol.

Patients with pure autonomic failure (PAF) and multiple system atrophy (MSA) may complain of feeling light-headed after alcohol ingestion particularly on assumption of the upright posture. The reasons for this have not been investigated. We therefore studied the effects of oral alcohol (40% vodka in sugar-free orange juice) and placebo (juice only) on the systemic and regional (including superior mesenteric artery, SMA) blood flow in nine patients with PAF and six patients with MSA. After alcohol, there was a fall in supine blood pressure (BP) and vasodilatation in the SMA but no change in cardiac output, or forearm muscle and cutaneous blood flow in either PAF or MSA; BP fell further during head-up tilt with no changes in levels of plasma catecholamines. After placebo, there were no changes while supine. We conclude that alcohol lowers supine BP and dilates the SMA with no change in muscle or cutaneous blood flow. Alcohol also enhances the fall in BP during head-up tilt. This may explain the symptoms experienced by PAF and MSA patients after alcohol.

AbstractEcologists are increasingly aware of the importance of environmental variability in natural systems. Climate change is affecting both the mean and the variability in weather and, in particular, the effect of changes in variability is poorly understood. Organisms are subject to selection imposed by both the mean and the range of environmental variation experienced by their ancestors. Changes in the variability in a critical environmental factor may therefore have consequences for vital rates and population dynamics. Here, we examine ≥90‐year trends in different components of climate (precipitation mean and coefficient of variation (CV); temperature mean, seasonal amplitude and residual variance) and consider the effects of these components on survival and recruitment in a population of Eurasian beavers (n = 242) over 13 recent years. Within climatic data, no trends in precipitation were detected, but trends in all components of temperature were observed, with mean and residual variance increasing and seasonal amplitude decreasing over time. A higher survival rate was linked (in order of influence based on Akaike weights) to lower precipitation CV (kits, juveniles and dominant adults), lower residual variance of temperature (dominant adults) and lower mean precipitation (kits and juveniles). No significant effects were found on the survival of nondominant adults, although the sample size for this category was low. Greater recruitment was linked (in order of influence) to higher seasonal amplitude of temperature, lower mean precipitation, lower residual variance in temperature and higher precipitation CV. Both climate means and variance, thus proved significant to population dynamics; although, overall, components describing variance were more influential than those describing mean values. That environmental variation proves significant to a generalist, wide‐ranging species, at the slow end of the slow‐fast continuum of life histories, has broad implications for population regulation and the evolution of life histories.

Urea is the most common nitrogen (N) fertilizer in agriculture, due to its cheaper price and high N content. Although the reciprocal influence between NO3- and NH4+ nutrition are well known, urea (U) interactions with these N-inorganic forms are poorly studied. Here, the responses of two tomato genotypes to ammonium nitrate (AN), U alone or in combination were investigated. Significant differences in root and shoot biomass between genotypes were observed. Under AN+U supply, Linosa showed higher biomass compared to UC82, exhibiting also higher values for many root architectural traits. Linosa showed higher Nitrogen Uptake (NUpE) and Utilization Efficiency (NUtE) compared to UC82, under AN+U nutrition. Interestingly, Linosa exhibited also a significantly higher DUR3 transcript abundance. These results underline the beneficial effect of AN+U nutrition, highlighting new molecular and physiological strategies for selecting crops that can be used for more sustainable agriculture. The data suggest that translocation and utilization (NUtE) might be a more important component of NUE than uptake (NUpE) in tomato. Genetic variation could be a source for useful NUE traits in tomato; further experiments are needed to dissect the NUtE components that confer a higher ability to utilize N in Linosa.

This paper reports on a methodology developed for studying the effects of various types of prosthetic feet on the gait of trans-femoral amputees. It is shown that an analysis in three planes of motion of not only the prosthetic, but also the sound limb provides important information on the performance of prosthetic feet. Two male trans-femoral amputees were tested with four different prosthetic feet; the Springlite II, Carbon Copy III, Seattle LightFoot and the Multiflex foot. A detailed analysis of the results of one amputee and a summary of the most important results of a second subject is presented. The tests were carried out at normal (1.16 m s(-1)) and fast (1.56 m s(-1)) walking speeds. Three dimensional gait analysis was carried out to derive the time curves of the joint angles, intersegmental moments and power at the ankle, knee and hip joints at both the prosthetic and sound sides. A higher first peak of the ground reaction force at the sound side with the Seattle LightFoot compared to that with the Springlite II, may be the result of the lower late stance dorsiflexion angle with the former. Compared to the other two feet, the Carbon Copy III and the Springlite II showed higher prosthetic dorsiflexing moments and positive power at late stance, which could assist in the push-off. The 3D intersegmental loads at the ankle and knee can be used as a guide for design and for compilation of standards for testing of lower limb prostheses incorporating flexible feet.

Abstract In a trial, 10 cucumber plants ( Cucumis sativus , variety ‘Virgo’ F 1 hybrids) were exposed continuously to a concentration of negative air ions exceeding 50 000/c.c. for a period of 40 days. The yield and productivity of the treated plants were compared with those of a control group of 10 plants in a matched-pairs experiment. An Index of Initial Vigour was developed to allow the subsequent production of the previously nursery-grown young plants to be related to their condition at the beginning of the trial. No effect on the total production or productivity at the end of the 40-day period was discerned, but the interim results (e.g. for the 10th day) are consistent with a model of reaction to stress governed by a negative-feedback mechanism. No harmful effects of the use of negatively ionised air were detected.

A data correction method to eliminate the effect of local tissue-accelerometer vibration from surface measurements of vibration over the spine has been developed and compared with previous direct measurements. A single degree-of-freedom linear model for the local tissue-accelerometer system in the vertical and the fore-and-aft axes is assumed. The natural frequency and the damping ratio of the local system are estimated so as to form a correction frequency function, using spectral analysis of the free vibration response of the local system caused by transient displacements of the accelerometer attached to the body surface. Accelerometers were attached to the skin over the spinous process of the vertebra L3 and on the abdominal wall. For four different masses and each site, correction frequency functions were computed. Seated subjects were then exposed to vertical random vibration (0.5-35 Hz) and acceleration transfer functions from the seat to each accelerometer were calculated. Different transfer functions were obtained with different additional masses but the differences were eliminated by the correction method so as to indicate the transfer functions to the spine and the viscera. For vertical responses, the correction method was effective at frequencies below the estimated natural frequencies of the local system. Fore-and-aft response over the spine did not require correction at frequencies below 35 Hz.