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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.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of increasing sulfate concentrations on chromium removal, to evaluate the effect of the presence of Cr(VI) on sulfate removal by Streptomyces sp. MC1 and to analyze the differential protein expression profile in the presence of this metal for the identification of proteins repressed or overexpressed. In the presence of Cr(VI) but in the absence of sulfate ions, bacterial growth was negligible, showing the Cr(VI) toxicity for this bacterium. However, the sulfate presence stimulated bacterium growth and Cr(VI) removal, regardless of its concentrations. Streptomyces sp. MC1 showed ability to remove chromium and sulfate simultaneously. Also, the sulfate presence favored the decrease of total chromium concentration from supernatants reaching a decrease of 50% at 48 h. In presence of chromium, seven proteins were down‐expressed and showed homology to proteins involved in protein biosynthesis, energy production and free radicals detoxification while two proteins involved in oxidation‐reduction processes identified as dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase and S‐adenosyl‐l‐methionine synthase were overexpressed.

Interfacial resistance at electrode‐high Li+ conductive solid electrolytes must be reduced well to develop high‐power all‐solid‐state batteries using oxide‐based solid electrolytes (Ox‐SSBs). Herein, crystalline electrode films of LiCoO2 (LCO) are formed on a high Li+ conductive crystalline‐glass solid electrolyte sheet, Li1.3Al0.3Ti2(PO4)3 (LATP) (σ25 °C = 1 × 10−4 S cm−1), at room temperature by aerosol deposition (AD), and the effects of the annealing temperature on the interfacial resistivities (Rint) at the LCO/LATP are investigated. The Rint visibly increases by annealing over 500 °C with the growth of Co3O4 as a reactant. In contrast, Rint is reduced to ≈100 Ω cm2 by low‐temperature annealing at 250–350 °C due to superior contact through the structural rearrangement of an artificial metastable interface formed by the AD. These results are applied to bulk‐type Ox‐SSB, Li/Li7La3Zr2O12(LLZ)/LCO–LATP, and our best Ox‐SSB delivers a discharge capacity of 100 mA cm−2 at 100 °C.

To report the clinical efficiency and complications in patients treated with retrograde transvenous ethanol embolization of high-flow peripheral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). Retrograde transvenous ethanol embolization of high-flow AVMs is a technique that can be used to treat AVMs with a dominant outflow vein whenever conventional interventional procedures have proved insufficient.This is a retrospective study of the clinical effectiveness and complications of retrograde embolization in five patients who had previously undergone multiple arterial embolization procedures without clinical success.Clinical outcomes were good in all patients but were achieved at the cost of serious, although transient, complications in three patients.Retrograde transvenous ethanol embolization is a highly effective therapy for high-flow AVMs. However, because of the high complication rate, it should be reserved as a last resort, to be used after conventional treatment options have failed.

Ethanol has been claimed to potentiate greatly the lethality of propoxyphene, although published clinical data suggest only an additive effect. Mice were treated intraperitoneally with various doses of propoxyphene hydrochloride and ethanol. Isobolograms of the data show the combination to be less-than-additive for lethality and loss of motor coordination and, at worst, simply additive for sedation.

Excessive ethanol ingestion causes gastric mucosal damage through the inflammatory and oxidative processes. The present study was aimed to evaluate the protective effect of thalidomide on ethanol-induced gastric mucosal damage in mice. The animals were pretreated with vehicle or thalidomide (30 or 60 mg/kg, orally), and one hour later, the gastric mucosal injury was induced by oral administration of acidified ethanol. The animals were euthanized one hour after ethanol ingestion, and gastric tissues were collected to biochemical analyzes. The gastric mucosal lesions were assessed by macroscopic and histopathological examinations. The results showed that treatment of mice with thalidomide prior to the administration of ethanol dose-dependently reduced the gastric ulcer index. Thalidomide pretreatment significantly reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines [tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6], malondialdehyde (MDA) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. In addition, thalidomide significantly inhibited ethanol-induced nitric oxide (NO) overproduction in gastric tissue. Histological observations showed that ethanol-induced gastric mucosal damage was attenuated by thalidomide pretreatment. It seems that thalidomide as an anti-inflammatory agent may have a protective effect against alcohol-induced mucosal damage by inhibition of neutrophil infiltration and reducing the production of nitric oxide and inflammatory cytokines in gastric tissue.

This review presents recent advancements in high-voltage rechargeable aqueous batteries employing water-in-salt and modified water-in-salt electrolytes.

AbstractThe co‐occurrence of chronic pain and alcohol use disorders (AUDs) involves complex interactions between genetic and neurophysiological aspects, and the research has reported mixed findings when they both co‐occur. There is also an indication of a gender‐dependent effect; males are more likely to use alcohol to cope with chronic pain problems than females. Recently, a new conceptualization has emerged, proposing that the negative affective component of pain drives and maintains alcohol‐related behaviors. We studied in a longitudinal fashion alterations in alcohol drinking patterns and pain thresholds in a mouse model of chronic neuropathic pain in a sex‐dependent manner. Following partial denervation (spared nerve injury [SNI]), stimulus‐evoked pain responses were measured before chronic alcohol consumption, during drinking, during a deprivation phase, and following an episode of excessive drinking. During the course of alcohol drinking, we observed pronounced sex differences in pain thresholds. Male mice showed a strong increase in pain thresholds, suggesting an analgesic effect induced by alcohol over time, an effect that was not observed in female mice. SNI mice did not differ from sham‐operated controls in baseline alcohol consumption. However, following a deprivation phase and the reintroduction of ethanol, male SNI mice but not female mice showed more pronounced excessive drinking than controls. Finally, we observed decreased central ethanol sensitivity in male SNI mice but not in females. Together with our finding, that ethanol is able to decrease a pain‐induced negative affective memory we come to following conclusion. We propose that a lower sensitivity to the intoxicating effects of alcohol together with the ability of alcohol to reduce the negative affective component of pain may explain the higher co‐occurrence of AUD in male chronic pain patients.

Trace elements can have profound adverse effects on the health of people burning coal in homes or living near coal deposits, coal mines, and coal-burning power plants. Trace elements such as arsenic emitted from coal-burning power plants in Europe and Asia have been shown to cause severe health problems. Perhaps the most widespread health problems are caused by domestic coal combustion in developing countries where millions of people suffer from fluorosis and thousands from arsenism. Better knowledge of coal quality characteristics may help to reduce some of these health problems. For example, information on concentrations and distributions of potentially toxic elements in coal may help delineate areas of a coal deposit to be avoided. Information on the modes of occurrence of these elements and the textural relations of the minerals in coal may help to predict the behavior of the potentially toxic trace metals during coal cleaning, combustion, weathering, and leaching.