Languages for Specific Purposes and Integration of Scientific Knowledge

The author examines the emergence of language for specific purposes, its functions and features

Quality-Controlled Small-Scale Production of a Well-Defined Bacteriophage Cocktail for Use in Human Clinical Trials

We describe the small-scale, laboratory-based, production and quality control of a cocktail, consisting of exclusively lytic bacteriophages, designed for the treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus infections in burn wound patients. Based on succesive selection rounds three bacteriophages were retained from an initial pool of 82 P. aeruginosa and 8 S. aureus bacteriophages, specific for prevalent P. aeruginosa and S. aureus strains in the Burn Centre of the Queen Astrid Military Hospital in Brussels, Belgium. This cocktail, consisting of P. aeruginosa phages 14/1 (Myoviridae) and PNM (Podoviridae) and S. aureus phage ISP (Myoviridae) was produced and purified of endotoxin. Quality control included Stability (shelf life), determination of pyrogenicity, sterility and cytotoxicity, confirmation of the absence of temperate bacteriophages and transmission electron microscopy-based confirmation of the presence of the expected virion morphologic particles as well as of their specific interaction with the target bacteria. Bacteriophage genome and proteome analysis confirmed the lytic nature of the bacteriophages, the absence of toxin-coding genes and showed that the selected phages 14/1, PNM and ISP are close relatives of respectively F8, φKMV and phage G1. The bacteriophage cocktail is currently being evaluated in a pilot clinical study cleared by a leading Medical Ethical Committee

Prospects for biocontrol of Vibrio parahaemolyticus contamination in blue mussels (Mytilus edulus) – a year-long study

Vibrio parahaemolyticus is an environmental organism normally found in subtropical estuarine environments which can cause seafood-related human infections. Clinical disease is associated with diagnostic presence of tdh and/or trh virulence genes and identification of these genes in our preliminary isolates from retail shellfish prompted a year-long surveillance of isolates from a temperate estuary in the north of England. The microbial and environmental analysis of 117 samples of mussels, seawater or sediment showed the presence of V. parahaemolyticus from mussels (100%) at all time-points throughout the year including the colder months although they were only recovered from 94.9% of seawater and 92.3% of sediment samples. Throughout the surveillance, 96 isolates were subjected to specific PCR for virulence genes and none tested positive for either. The common understanding that consuming poorly cooked mussels only represents a risk of infection during summer vacations therefore is challenged. Further investigations with V. parahaemolyticus using RAPD-PCR cluster analysis showed a genetically diverse population. There was no distinct clustering for ‘environmental’ or 'clinical reference strains although a wide variability and heterogeneity agreed with other reports. Continued surveillance of isolates to allay public health risks are justified since geographical distribution and composition of V. parahaemolyticus varies with future ocean warming and the potential of environmental strains to acquire virulence genes from pathogenic isolates. The prospects for intervention by phage-mediated biocontrol to reduce or eradicate V. parahaemolyticus in mussels was also investigated. Bacteriophages isolated from enriched samples collected from the river Humber were assessed for their ability to inhibit the growth of V. parahaemolyticus strains in-vitro and in-vivo (with live mussels). V. parahaemolyticus were significantly reduced in-vitro, by an average of 1 log - 2 log units and in-vivo, significant reduction of the organisms in mussels occurred in 3 replicate experimental tank set ups with a ‘phage cocktail’ containing 12 different phages. Our perspective biocontrol study suggests that a cocktail of specific phages targeted against strains of V. parahaemolyticus provides good evidence in an experimental setting of the valuable potential of phage as a decontamination agent in natural or industrial mussel processing

Towards Stronger Political Ties? The EU's Shifting Image in the Indian Media During the EU-India Summit of October 2017

status: publishe

Volumetric Absorptive Microsampling Technique in the LC-MS Determination of Direct Oral Anticoagulants

Direct oral anticoagulants represent a significant group of drugs used in the prevention or treatment of venous thromboembolic events and stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. Although routine therapy monitoring is not required, there is an increasing evidence that plasma levels may vary between individuals, suggesting the benefit of plasma levels measurement in some situations. Therapeutic drug monitoring is becoming more popular and accessible to the broader population. Introducing microsampling techniques for the quantitative collection of blood samples has arisen nowadays. The volumetric absorptive microsampling approach using a commercially available device such as a Mitra stick overcomes the hematocrit effect present in the dry blood spot technique. This review discusses the possible application of the volumetric absorptive microsampling approach in monitoring direct oral anticoagulant therapy efficacy