Systematic review of antimicrobial drug prescribing in hospitals.

Prudent antibiotic prescribing to hospital inpatients has the potential to reduce the incidences of antimicrobial resistance and healthcare-associated infection. We reviewed the literature from January 1980 to November 2003 to identify rigorous evaluations of interventions to improve hospital antibiotic prescribing. We identified 66 studies with interpretable data of which 16 reported 20 microbiological outcomes: Gram negative resistant bacteria (GNRB), 10 studies; Clostridium difficile associated diarrhoea (CDAD), 5 studies; vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE), 3 studies and methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), 2 studies. Four studies provide good evidence that the intervention changed microbial outcomes with low risk of alternative explanations, eight studies provide less convincing evidence and four studies were negative. The strongest and most consistent evidence was for CDAD but we were able to analyse only the immediate impact of interventions because of nonstandardised durations of follow up. The ability to compare results of studies could be substantially improved by standardising methodology and reporting

Reducing Versatile Bat Wing Conformations to a 1-DoF Machine

Recent works have shown success in mimicking the flapping flight of bats on the robotic platform Bat Bot (B2). This robot has only five actuators but retains the ability to flap and fold-unfold its wings in flight. However, this bat-like robot has been unable to perform folding-unfolding of its wings within the period of a wingbeat cycle, about 100 ms. The DC motors operating the spindle mechanisms cannot attain this folding speed. Biological bats rely on this periodic folding of their wings during the upstroke of the wingbeat cycle. It reduces the moment of inertia of the wings and limits the negative lift generated during the upstroke. Thus, we consider it important to achieve wing folding during the upstroke. A mechanism was designed to couple the flapping cycle to the folding cycle of the robot. We then use biological data to further optimize the mechanism such that the kinematic synergies of the robot best match those of a biological bat. This ensures that folding is performed at the correct point in the wingbeat cycle

A rapid and multi-element method for the analysis of major nutrients in grass (Lolium perenne) using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy

peer-reviewedElemental analysis of grass (Lolium perenne) is essential in agriculture to ensure grass quality and animal health. Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectroscopy is a rapid, multi-element alternative to current methods using acid digestion and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Percentage phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg) and calcium (Ca), determined from grass samples using EDXRF, were within 0.035, 0.319, 0.025 and 0.061, respectively, of ICP-OES values. Concordance correlation coefficients computed using agreement statistics ranged from 0.4379 to 0.9669 (values close to one indicate excellent agreement); however, the level of agreement for each element depended on the calibrations used in EDXRF. Empirical calibrations gave excellent agreement for percentage P, K and Ca, but moderate agreement for percentage Mg due to a weaker correlation between standards and intensities. Standardless calibration using the fundamental parameters (FP) approach exhibited bias, with consistently lower values reported for percentage P and Mg, when compared with ICP-OES methods. The relationship between the methods was plotted as scatter plots with the line of equality included, and although correlation coefficients indicated strong relationships, these statistics masked the effects of consistent bias in the data for percentage P and Mg. These results highlight the importance of distinguishing agreement from correlation when using statistical methods to compare methods of analysis. Agreement estimates improved when a matching library of grass samples was added to the FP method. EDXRF is a comparable alternative to conventional methods for grass analysis when samples of similar matrix type are used as empirical standards or as a matching library

The Corrosion Protection of Copper and Copper Alloys using an Electrodeposited Conducting Polypyrrole Coating

Adherent polypyrrole films were electropolymerized from a near neutral sodium oxalate solution at pure Cu, CuZn and CuNi electrodes. The growth of these films was facilitated by the formation of a pseudo-passive oxalate layer. This layer was sufficiently protective to minimize dissolution of the substrate, but sufficiently conductive to enable the electropolymerization of pyrrole at the interface, and the generation of an adherent polypyrrole film. The rate of electropolymerization at the CuNi layer was reduced significantly by the formation of a nickel-rich oxide phase, however, the presence of Cu2+ increased the rate of polymer growth, enabling the formation of a thin polypyrrole layer during the early stages of polymerization. Likewise, the presence of zinc in the oxalate layer generated at the CuZn electrode reduced somewhat the rate of polymer formation. These films exhibited good corrosion protection properties in an acidified chloride solution

A closed loop brain-machine interface for epilepsy control using dorsal column electrical stimulation

Although electrical neurostimulation has been proposed as an alternative treatment for drug-resistant cases of epilepsy, current procedures such as deep brain stimulation, vagus, and trigeminal nerve stimulation are effective only in a fraction of the patients. Here we demonstrate a closed loop brain-machine interface that delivers electrical stimulation to the dorsal column (DCS) of the spinal cord to suppress epileptic seizures. Rats were implanted with cortical recording microelectrodes and spinal cord stimulating electrodes, and then injected with pentylenetetrazole to induce seizures. Seizures were detected in real time from cortical local field potentials, after which DCS was applied. This method decreased seizure episode frequency by 44% and seizure duration by 38%. We argue that the therapeutic effect of DCS is related to modulation of cortical theta waves, and propose that this closed-loop interface has the potential to become an effective and semi-invasive treatment for refractory epilepsy and other neurological disorders.We are grateful for the assistance from Jim Meloy for the design and production of the multielectrode arrays as well as setup development and maintenance, Laura Oliveira, Terry Jones, and Susan Halkiotis for administrative assistance and preparation of the manuscript. This work was funded by a grant from The Hartwell Foundation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

DGCR8 HITS-CLIP reveals novel functions for the Microprocessor

The Drosha-DGCR8 complex (Microprocessor) is required for microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis. DGCR8 recognizes the RNA substrate, whereas Drosha functions as the endonuclease. High-throughput sequencing and crosslinking immunoprecipitation (HITS-CLIP) was used to identify RNA targets of DGCR8 in human cells. Unexpectedly, miRNAs were not the most abundant targets. DGCR8-bound RNAs also comprised several hundred mRNAs as well as snoRNAs and long non-coding RNAs. We found that the Microprocessor controls the abundance of several mRNAs as well as of MALAT-1. By contrast, DGCR8-mediated cleavage of snoRNAs is independent of Drosha, suggesting the involvement of DGCR8 in cellular complexes with other endonucleases. Interestingly, binding of DGCR8 to cassette exons, acts as a novel mechanism to regulate the relative abundance of alternatively spliced isoforms. Collectively, these data provide new insights in the complex role of DGCR8 in controlling the fate of several classes of RNAs

Influence of protein standardisation media and heat treatment on viscosity and related physicochemical properties of skim milk concentrate

peer-reviewedThe effects of heat treatment and protein standardisation on the physical properties of skim milk concentrates were determined. Protein standardisation was carried out by the addition of lactose or milk permeate to skim milk. Unstandardised and standardised skim milk was subjected to heat treatment temperatures of 90 or 120 °C prior to evaporation whereafter the solids content was increased to 46% (w/w). Viscosity data showed non-standardised concentrates had the highest viscosity, followed by skim standardised with milk permeate followed by that standardised with lactose. Thermal treatment at 120 °C also resulted in a higher viscosity than that at 90 °C for all concentrates. Particle size data of evaporated skim milk showed a bimodal size distribution for skim milk standardised with liquid milk permeate, compared with monomodal distribution profiles for unstandardised skim milk and lactose standardised skim milk. Overall, this study showed that protein standardisation and standardisation media significantly affected concentrate properties

Prediction of bovine milk technological traits from mid-infrared spectroscopy analysis in dairy cows

peer-reviewedRapid, cost-effective monitoring of milk technological traits is a significant challenge for dairy industries specialized in cheese manufacturing. The objective of the present study was to investigate the ability of mid-infrared spectroscopy to predict rennet coagulation time, curd-firming time, curd firmness at 30 and 60 min after rennet addition, heat coagulation time, casein micelle size, and pH in cow milk samples, and to quantify associations between these milk technological traits and conventional milk quality traits. Samples (n = 713) were collected from 605 cows from multiple herds; the samples represented multiple breeds, stages of lactation, parities, and milking times. Reference analyses were undertaken in accordance with standardized methods, and mid-infrared spectra in the range of 900 to 5,000 cm−1 were available for all samples. Prediction models were developed using partial least squares regression, and prediction accuracy was based on both cross and external validation. The proportion of variance explained by the prediction models in external validation was greatest for pH (71%), followed by rennet coagulation time (55%) and milk heat coagulation time (46%). Models to predict curd firmness 60 min from rennet addition and casein micelle size, however, were poor, explaining only 25 and 13%, respectively, of the total variance in each trait within external validation. On average, all prediction models tended to be unbiased. The linear regression coefficient of the reference value on the predicted value varied from 0.17 (casein micelle size regression model) to 0.83 (pH regression model) but all differed from 1. The ratio performance deviation of 1.07 (casein micelle size prediction model) to 1.79 (pH prediction model) for all prediction models in the external validation was <2, suggesting that none of the prediction models could be used for analytical purposes. With the exception of casein micelle size and curd firmness at 60 min after rennet addition, the developed prediction models may be useful as a screening method, because the concordance correlation coefficient ranged from 0.63 (heat coagulation time prediction model) to 0.84 (pH prediction model) in the external validation

Factors associated with milk processing characteristics predicted by mid-infrared spectroscopy in a large database of dairy cows

Despite milk processing characteristics being important quality traits, little is known about the factors underlying their variability, due primarily to the resources required to measure these characteristics in a sufficiently large population. Cow milk coagulation properties (rennet coagulation time, curd-firming time, curd firmness 30 and 60 min after rennet addition), heat coagulation time, casein micelle size, and pH were generated from available mid-infrared spectroscopy prediction models. The prediction models were applied to 136,807 spectra collected from 9,824 Irish dairy cows from research and commercial herds. Sources of variation were investigated using linear mixed models that included the fixed effects of calendar month of test; milking time in the day; linear regressions on the proportion of Friesian, Jersey, Montb\ue9liarde, Norwegian Red, and \u201cother\u201d breeds in the cow; coefficients of heterosis and of recombination loss; parity; stage of lactation; and the 2-way interaction parity 7 stage of lactation. Withinand across-parity cow effects, contemporary group, and a residual term were also included as random effects in the model. Supplementary analyses considered the inclusion of either test-day milk yield or milk protein concentration as fixed-effects covariates in the multiple regression models. Milk coagulation properties were most favorable (i.e., short rennet coagulation time and strong curd firmness) for cheese manufacturing in early lactation, concurrent with the lowest values of both pH and casein micelle size. Milk coagulation properties and pH deteriorated in mid lactation but improved toward the end of lactation. In direct contrast, heat coagulation time was more favorable in mid lactation and less suitable (i.e., shorter) for high temperature treatments in both early and late lactation. Relative to multiparous cows, primiparous cows, on average, yielded milk with shorter rennet coagulation time and longer heat coagulation time. Milk from the evening milking session had shorter rennet coagulation time and greater curd firmness, as well as lower heat coagulation time and lower pH compared with milk from the morning session. Jersey cows, on average, yielded milk more suitable for cheese production rather than for milk powder production. When protein concentration was included in the model, the improvement of milk coagulation properties toward the end of lactation was no longer apparent. Results from the present study may aid in decisionmaking for milk manufacturing, especially in countries characterized by a seasonal supply of fresh milk