Antimicrobial Activity of the Quinoline Derivative HT61 against Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms.

Staphylococcus aureus biofilms are a significant problem in health care settings, partly due to the presence of a nondividing, antibiotic-tolerant subpopulation. Here we evaluated treatment of S. aureus UAMS-1 biofilms with HT61, a quinoline derivative shown to be effective against nondividing Staphylococcus spp. HT61 was effective at reducing biofilm viability and was associated with increased expression of cell wall stress and division proteins, confirming its potential as a treatment for S. aureus biofilm infections

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) (1995)

SOHO is the most comprehensive space mission ever devoted to the study of the Sun and its nearby cosmic environment known as the heliosphere. It was launched in December 1995 and is currently funded at least through the end of 2016. SOHO's twelve instruments observe and measure structures and processes occurring inside as well as outside the Sun, and which reach well beyond Earth's orbit into the heliosphere. While designed to study the "quiet" Sun, the new capabilities and combination of several SOHO instruments have revolutionized space weather research. This article gives a brief mission overview, summarizes selected highlight results, and describes SOHO's contributions to space weather research. These include cotemporaneous EUV imaging of activity in the Sun's corona and white light imaging of coronal mass ejections in the extended corona, magnetometry in the Sun's atmosphere, imaging of far side activity, measurements to predict solar proton storms, and monitoring solar wind plasma at the L1 Lagrangian point, 1.5 million kilometers upstream of Earth

A High Deuterium Abundance at z=0.7

Of the light elements, the primordial abundance of deuterium, (D/H)_p, provides the most sensitive diagnostic for the cosmological mass density parameter Omega_B. Recent high redshift (D/H) measurements are highly discrepant, although this may reflect observational uncertainties. The larger (D/H) values, which imply a low Omega_B and require the Universe to be dominated by non-baryonic matter (dynamical studies indicate a higher total density parameter), cause problems for galactic chemical evolution models since they have difficulty in reproducing the large decline down to the lower present-day (D/H). Conversely, low (D/H) values imply an Omega_B greater than derived from ^7Li and ^4He abundance measurements, and may require a deuterium abundance evolution that is too low to easily explain. Here we report the first measurement at intermediate redshift, where the observational difficulties are smaller, of a gas cloud with ideal characteristics for this experiment. Our analysis of the z = 0.7010 absorber toward 1718+4807 indicates (D/H) = 2.0 +/- 0.5 x 10^{-4} which is in the high range. This and other independent observations suggests there may be a cosmological inhomogeneity in (D/H)_p of at least a factor of ten.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur

Perinatal risk factors for neonatal encephalopathy: an unmatched case-control study

OBJECTIVE: Neonatal encephalopathy (NE) is the third leading cause of child mortality. Preclinical studies suggest infection and inflammation can sensitise or precondition the newborn brain to injury. This study examined perinatal risks factor for NE in Uganda. DESIGN: Unmatched case-control study. SETTING: Mulago National Referral Hospital, Kampala, Uganda. METHODS: 210 term infants with NE and 409 unaffected term infants as controls were recruited over 13 months. Data were collected on preconception, antepartum and intrapartum exposures. Blood culture, species-specific bacterial real-time PCR, C reactive protein and placental histology for chorioamnionitis and funisitis identified maternal and early newborn infection and inflammation. Multivariable logistic regression examined associations with NE. RESULTS: Neonatal bacteraemia (adjusted OR (aOR) 8.67 (95% CI 1.51 to 49.74), n=315) and histological funisitis (aOR 11.80 (95% CI 2.19 to 63.45), n=162) but not chorioamnionitis (aOR 3.20 (95% CI 0.66 to 15.52), n=162) were independent risk factors for NE. Among encephalopathic infants, neonatal case fatality was not significantly higher when exposed to early neonatal bacteraemia (OR 1.65 (95% CI 0.62 to 4.39), n=208). Intrapartum antibiotic use did not improve neonatal survival (p=0.826). After regression analysis, other identified perinatal risk factors (n=619) included hypertension in pregnancy (aOR 3.77), male infant (aOR 2.51), non-cephalic presentation (aOR 5.74), lack of fetal monitoring (aOR 2.75), augmentation (aOR 2.23), obstructed labour (aOR 3.8) and an acute intrapartum event (aOR 8.74). CONCLUSIONS: Perinatal infection and inflammation are independent risk factors for NE in this low-resource setting, supporting a role in the aetiological pathway of term brain injury. Intrapartum antibiotic administration did not mitigate against adverse outcomes. The importance of intrapartum risk factors in this sub-Saharan African setting is highlighted

Do self-reported intentions predict clinicians behaviour: a systematic review.

Background: Implementation research is the scientific study of methods to promote the systematic uptake of clinical research findings into routine clinical practice. Several interventions have been shown to be effective in changing health care professionals' behaviour, but heterogeneity within interventions, targeted behaviours, and study settings make generalisation difficult. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the 'active ingredients' in professional behaviour change strategies. Theories of human behaviour that feature an individual's "intention" to do something as the most immediate predictor of their behaviour have proved to be useful in non-clinical populations. As clinical practice is a form of human behaviour such theories may offer a basis for developing a scientific rationale for the choice of intervention to use in the implementation of new practice. The aim of this review was to explore the relationship between intention and behaviour in clinicians and how this compares to the intention-behaviour relationship in studies of non-clinicians. Methods: We searched: PsycINFO, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Science/Social science citation index, Current contents (social & behavioural med/clinical med), ISI conference proceedings, and Index to Theses. The reference lists of all included papers were checked manually. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they had: examined a clinical behaviour within a clinical context, included measures of both intention and behaviour, measured behaviour after intention, and explored this relationship quantitatively. All titles and abstracts retrieved by electronic searching were screened independently by two reviewers, with disagreements resolved by discussion. Discussion: Ten studies were found that examined the relationship between intention and clinical behaviours in 1623 health professionals. The proportion of variance in behaviour explained by intention was of a similar magnitude to that found in the literature relating to non-health professionals. This was more consistently the case for studies in which intention-behaviour correspondence was good and behaviour was self-reported. Though firm conclusions are limited by a smaller literature, our findings are consistent with that of the non-health professional literature. This review, viewed in the context of the larger populations of studies, provides encouragement for the contention that there is a predictable relationship between the intentions of a health professional and their subsequent behaviour. However, there remain significant methodological challenges

Using the theory of planned behaviour as a process evaluation tool in randomised trials of knowledge translation strategies : A case study from UK primary care

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

3D Visualisation of Additive Occlusion and Tunable Full-Spectrum Fluorescence in Calcite

From biomineralization to synthesis, organic additives provide an effective means of controlling crystallisation processes. There is growing evidence that these additives are often occluded within the crystal lattice, where this promises an elegant means of creating nanocomposites and tuning physical properties. Here, we use the incorporation of sulfonated fluorescent dyes to gain new understanding of additive occlusion in calcite (CaCO3), and to link morphological changes to occlusion mechanisms. We demonstrate that these additives are incorporated within specific zones, as defined by the growth conditions, and show how occlusion can govern changes in crystal shape. Fluorescence spectroscopy and lifetime imaging microscopy also show that the dyes experience unique local environments within different zones. Our strategy was then extended to simultaneously incorporate mixtures of dyes, whose fluorescence cascade creates calcite nanoparticles that fluoresce white. This offers a simple strategy for generating biocompatible and stable fluorescent nanoparticles whose output can be tuned as required

Slow life history leaves endangered snake vulnerable to illegal collecting.

Global wildlife trade is a multibillion-dollar industry and a significant driver of vertebrate extinction risk. Yet, few studies have quantified the impact of wild harvesting for the illicit pet trade on populations. Long-lived species, by virtue of their slow life history characteristics, may be unable to sustain even low levels of collecting. Here, we assessed the impact of illegal collecting on populations of endangered broad-headed snakes (Hoplocephalus bungaroides) at gated (protected) and ungated (unprotected) sites. Because broad-headed snakes are long-lived, grow slowly and reproduce infrequently, populations are likely vulnerable to increases in adult mortality. Long-term data revealed that annual survival rates of snakes were significantly lower in the ungated population than the gated population, consistent with the hypothesis of human removal of snakes for the pet trade. Population viability analysis showed that the ungated population has a strongly negative population growth rate and is only prevented from ultimate extinction by dispersal of small numbers of individuals from the gated population. Sensitivity analyses showed that the removal of a small number of adult females was sufficient to impose negative population growth and suggests that threatened species with slow life histories are likely to be especially vulnerable to illegal collecting

A meta-analytic review of stand-alone interventions to improve body image

Objective Numerous stand-alone interventions to improve body image have been developed. The present review used meta-analysis to estimate the effectiveness of such interventions, and to identify the specific change techniques that lead to improvement in body image. Methods The inclusion criteria were that (a) the intervention was stand-alone (i.e., solely focused on improving body image), (b) a control group was used, (c) participants were randomly assigned to conditions, and (d) at least one pretest and one posttest measure of body image was taken. Effect sizes were meta-analysed and moderator analyses were conducted. A taxonomy of 48 change techniques used in interventions targeted at body image was developed; all interventions were coded using this taxonomy. Results The literature search identified 62 tests of interventions (N = 3,846). Interventions produced a small-to-medium improvement in body image (d+ = 0.38), a small-to-medium reduction in beauty ideal internalisation (d+ = -0.37), and a large reduction in social comparison tendencies (d+ = -0.72). However, the effect size for body image was inflated by bias both within and across studies, and was reliable but of small magnitude once corrections for bias were applied. Effect sizes for the other outcomes were no longer reliable once corrections for bias were applied. Several features of the sample, intervention, and methodology moderated intervention effects. Twelve change techniques were associated with improvements in body image, and three techniques were contra-indicated. Conclusions The findings show that interventions engender only small improvements in body image, and underline the need for large-scale, high-quality trials in this area. The review identifies effective techniques that could be deployed in future interventions

Translating clinicians' beliefs into implementation interventions (TRACII) : a protocol for an intervention modeling experiment to change clinicians' intentions to implement evidence-based practice

Background: Biomedical research constantly produces new findings, but these are not routinely incorporated into health care practice. Currently, a range of interventions to promote the uptake of emerging evidence are available. While their effectiveness has been tested in pragmatic trials, these do not form a basis from which to generalise to routine care settings. Implementation research is the scientific study of methods to promote the uptake of research findings, and hence to reduce inappropriate care. As clinical practice is a form of human behaviour, theories of human behaviour that have proved to be useful in other settings offer a basis for developing a scientific rationale for the choice of interventions. Aims: The aims of this protocol are 1) to develop interventions to change beliefs that have already been identified as antecedents to antibiotic prescribing for sore throats, and 2) to experimentally evaluate these interventions to identify those that have the largest impact on behavioural intention and behavioural simulation. Design: The clinical focus for this work will be the management of uncomplicated sore throat in general practice. Symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections are common presenting features in primary care. They are frequently treated with antibiotics, and research evidence is clear that antibiotic treatment offers little or no benefit to otherwise healthy adult patients. Reducing antibiotic prescribing in the community by the "prudent" use of antibiotics is seen as one way to slow the rise in antibiotic resistance, and appears safe, at least in children. However, our understanding of how to do this is limited. Participants will be general medical practitioners. Two theory-based interventions will be designed to address the discriminant beliefs in the prescribing of antibiotics for sore throat, using empirically derived resources. The interventions will be evaluated in a 2 × 2 factorial randomised controlled trial delivered in a postal questionnaire survey. Two outcome measures will be assessed: behavioural intention and behavioural simulation.This study is funded by the European Commission Research Directorate as part of a multi-partner program: Research Based Education and Quality Improvement (ReBEQI): A Framework and tools to develop effective quality improvement programs in European healthcare. (Proposal No: QLRT-2001-00657)