• Energy Research
• Closed Access close
• medical and health sciences close
• GB close
• DE close
• CH 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.

Abstract In vivo NMR techniques and substrates selectively enriched with 13 C were used to follow the step-by-step metabolism of glucose and xylose, on their own or as mixed substrates in the ratio as they occur in hydrolysates from hemicellulose. The organism used was a newly isolated strain of Klebsiella planticola isolated from soil where maize has been cultivated for 30 years. Results suggest that glucose is converted to pyruvate via the Embden-Meyerhof pathway and then to lactate and ethanol. No evidence of 2,3-butandiol or formate metabolism was observed. This organism had a higher rate of uptake of xylose than previously studied microorganisms, resulting in ethanol, lactate, acetate succinate and formate as end products. Xylose metabolism in K. planticola G11, unlike that reported for many other organisms, was not inhibited by glucose. The addition of glucose, after 2 h of xylose fermentation, did not change the rate of xylose metabolism.

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.

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.

The fast decay in PEM fuel cells of a highly active, high performance, but unstable Fe/N/C catalyst like our NC_Ar + NH3 follows a chemical, not an electrochemical, demetallation mechanism for its ORR active FeN4 sites in the catalyst micropores.

We present the determination of the alkaloid hordenine and its forensic relevance as a qualitative and quantitative marker for beer consumption. A simple, rapid and sensitive ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC)-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) method for the determination of hordenine in human serum samples was developed and validated. The application was tested with serum samples after enzymatic cleavage. After addition of the synthesized internal standard hordenine-D 4, a liquid-liquid extraction with dichloromethane and diethyl ether was performed. Chromatographic separation was conducted with a Waters Acquity® UPLC system with gradient elution on an Agilent Eclipse XDB-C18 column (4.6 mm × 150 mm, 5-μm particle size). For quantification, a Waters Acquity® TQ detector (version SNC 627) with a positive electrospray ionization probe and multiple reaction monitoring mode was used. A flow rate of 0.4 ml/min was applied. The retention time for both the analyte and the internal standard was 3.67 min. Linearity was demonstrated from 0.2 to 16 ng/ml (R(2) > 0.999). The lower limit of quantification was 0.3 ng/ml in serum. Matrix effects and extraction recoveries for low and high concentrations were within acceptable limits of 75-125% and 50%, respectively. To the best of our knowledge there is no corresponding method for the determination of hordenine by UPLC-MS/MS in serum. By our drinking studies we demonstrate that beer consumption leads to detectable hordenine concentrations in serum and observed a linear elimination of total hordenine correlating to blood alcohol concentration, which shows that hordenine can be used as a reliable qualitative and quantitative marker for beer consumption. The validated method was successfully applied to serum from actual forensic cases.

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.