The effects of alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) on zooplankton community structure in Depot Pond NH and a comparison of seven New Hampshire lakes

Physical, chemical and biological features of seven New Hampshire lakes were examined in September and October of 1997. Zooplankton communities exhibited evidence of “top-down” control in Milton Three Ponds (Depot, Norteast, and Townhouse Ponds), showing effects of a planktivorous fish, Alosa pseudoharengus: small mean body size, dominance of small grazers such as Bosmina, and absence of large grazers such as Daphnia. Phosphorus concentrations were positively correlated to fluorescence of all water fractions, chlorophyll a and a phytoplankton biotic pollution index (modified from Hillsenhoff, 1978), revealing a level of “bottom-up” control

Inadequate lopinavir concentrations with modified 8-hourly lopinavir/ritonavir 4:1 dosing during rifampicin-based tuberculosis treatment in children living with HIV

BACKGROUND: Lopinavir/ritonavir plasma concentrations are profoundly reduced when co-administered with rifampicin. Super-boosting of lopinavir/ritonavir is limited by nonavailability of single-entity ritonavir, while double-dosing of co-formulated lopinavir/ritonavir given twice-daily produces suboptimal lopinavir concentrations in young children. We evaluated whether increased daily dosing with modified 8-hourly lopinavir/ritonavir 4:1 would maintain therapeutic plasma concentrations of lopinavir in children living with HIV receiving rifampicin-based antituberculosis treatment. METHODS: Children with HIV/tuberculosis coinfection weighing 3.0 to 19.9 kg, on rifampicin-based antituberculosis treatment were commenced or switched to 8-hourly liquid lopinavir/ritonavir 4:1 with increased daily dosing using weight-band dosing approach. A standard twice-daily dosing of lopinavir/ritonavir was resumed 2 weeks after completing antituberculosis treatment. Plasma sampling was conducted during and 4 weeks after completing antituberculosis treatment. RESULTS: Of 20 children enrolled; 15, 1-7 years old, had pharmacokinetics sampling available for analysis. Lopinavir concentrations (median [range]) on 8-hourly lopinavir/ritonavir co-administered with rifampicin (n = 15; area under the curve 0-24 55.32 mg/h/L [0.30-398.7 mg/h/L]; C max 3.04 mg/L [0.03-18.6 mg/L]; C 8hr 0.90 mg/L [0.01-13.7 mg/L]) were lower than on standard dosing without rifampicin (n = 12; area under the curve 24 121.63 mg/h/L [2.56-487.3 mg/h/L]; C max 9.45 mg/L [0.39-26.4 mg/L]; C 12hr 3.03 mg/L [0.01-17.7 mg/L]). During and after rifampicin cotreatment, only 7 of 15 (44.7%) and 8 of 12 (66.7%) children, respectively, achieved targeted pre-dose lopinavir concentrations ≥1mg/L. CONCLUSIONS: Modified 8-hourly dosing of lopinavir/ritonavir failed to achieve adequate lopinavir concentrations with concurrent antituberculosis treatment. The subtherapeutic lopinavir exposures on standard dosing after antituberculosis treatment are of concern and requires further evaluation

Au-NHC@Porous Organic Polymers: Synthetic Control and Its Catalytic Application in Alkyne Hydration Reactions

The synthetic control and functions of porous organic polymers (POPs) with N-heterocyclic carbene gold(I) (Au-NHC@POPs) are described in this article. A series of Au-NHC@POPs with tunable physical properties such as surface area and pore size distribution were first synthesized via Sonogashira chemistry by differing monomer strut lengths and concentration during polymerization; a controllable transition from nonporous to microporous and the coexistence of micro- and mesoporous structures in the framework were realized by varying the monomer concentration. To explain this phenomenon, we put forward a model assumption of a branch-branch cross effect. Additionally, Au-NHC@POPs1 was found to have superior catalytic activity in alkyne hydration reactions, and the catalyst could be used six times with a slight loss of activity

Development of tuberculosis treatment decision algorithms in children below 5 years hospitalised with severe acute malnutrition in Zambia and Uganda: a prospective diagnostic cohort study

Background: In children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) tuberculosis is common, challenging to diagnose, and often fatal. We developed tuberculosis treatment decision algorithms (TDAs) for children under the age of 5 years with SAM. Methods: In this prospective diagnostic study, we enrolled and followed up children aged <60 months hospitalised with SAM at three tertiary hospitals in Zambia and Uganda from 4 November 2019 to 20 June 2022. We included children aged 2–59 months with SAM as defined by WHO and hospitalised following the WHO clinical criteria. We excluded children with current or history of antituberculosis treatment within the preceding 3 months. They underwent tuberculosis symptom screening, clinical assessment, chest X-ray, abdominal ultrasound, Xpert MTB/RIF Ultra (Ultra) and culture on respiratory and stool samples with 6 months follow-up. Tuberculosis was retrospectively defined using the 2015 standard case definition for childhood tuberculosis. We used logistic regression to develop diagnostic prediction models for a one-step diagnosis and a two-step screening and diagnostic approaches. We derived scores from models using WHO-recommended thresholds for sensitivity and proposed TDAs. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04240990. Findings: Of 1906 children hospitalised with SAM during the study period, 1230 were screened, 1152 were eligible and 603 were enrolled. Of the 603 children enrolled–median age 15 (inter-quartile range (IQR): 11–20) months and 65 (11.0%) living with HIV–114 (18.9%) were diagnosed with tuberculosis, including 51 (8.5%) with microbiological confirmation and 104 (17.2%) initiated treatment at a median of 6(IQR: 2–10) days after inclusion. 108 children were retrospectively classified as having tuberculosis resulting in a prevalence of 17.9% (95% confidence intervals (CI): 15.1; 21.2). 75 (69.4%) children with tuberculosis reported cough of any duration, 32 (29.6%) cough ≥2 weeks and 11 (10.2%) tuberculosis contact history. 535 children had complete data and were included in the diagnostic prediction model. The one-step diagnostic model had 15 predictors, including Ultra, clinical, radiographic, and abdominal features, an area under the receiving operating curve (AUROC) of 0.910, and derived TDA sensitivity of 86.14% (95% CI: 78.07–91.56) and specificity of 80.88% (95% CI: 76.91–84.30). The two-step model had AUROCs of 0.750 and 0.912 for screening and diagnosis, respectively, and derived combined TDA sensitivity of 79.21% (95% CI: 70.30–85.98) and a specificity of 83.64% (95% CI: 79.87–86.82). Interpretation: Tuberculosis prevalence was high among hospitalised children with SAM, with atypical clinical features. TDAs achieved satisfactory diagnostic accuracy and could be used to improve diagnosis in this vulnerable group