Aeroacoustic Measurements of the Bell 699 Rotor on the Tiltrotor Test Rig in the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel

The Tiltrotor Test Rig (TTR) with the Bell 699 Rotor was tested in the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel from 2017 to 2018. The primary goal of the test was to understand the operational capabilities of the TTR while also acquiring research data, including acoustic data. A data quality study revealed that the NFAC 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel is an adequate acoustic environment to test the Bell 699 Rotor for helicopter, conversion, and airplane configurations. Representative acoustic data are presented, and selected acoustic data and corresponding test conditions are included

Taking nature into lab: biomineralization by heavy metal-resistant streptomycetes in soil

Biomineralization by heavy metal-resistant streptomycetes was tested to evaluate the potential influence on metal mobilities in soil. Thus, we designed an experiment adopting conditions from classical laboratory methods to natural conditions prevailing in metal-rich soils with media spiked with heavy metals, soil agar, and nutrientenriched or unamended soil incubated with the bacteria. As a result, all strains were able to form struvite minerals (MgNH4PO4 6H2O) on tryptic soy broth (TSB)-media supplemented with AlCl3, MnCl2 and CuSO4, as well as on soil agar. Some strains additionally formed struvite on nutrient-enriched contaminated and control soil, as well as on metal contaminated soil without addition of media components. In contrast, switzerite (Mn3(PO4)2 7H2O) was exclusively formed on minimal media spiked with MnCl2 by four heavy metal-resistant strains, and on nutrient-enriched control soil by one strain. Hydrated nickel hydrogen phosphate was only crystallized on complex media supplemented with NiSO4 by most strains. Thus, mineralization is a dominant property of streptomycetes, with different processes likely to occur under laboratory conditions and sub-natural to natural conditions. This new understanding might have implications for our understanding of biological metal resistance mechanisms. We assume that biogeochemical cycles, nutrient storage and metal resistance might be affected by formation and re-solubilization of minerals like struvite in soil at microscale

Antimicrobial use in European acute care hospitals: results from the second point prevalence survey (PPS) of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use, 2016 to 2017

Antimicrobial agents used to treat infections are life-saving. Overuse may result in more frequent adverse effects and emergence of multidrug-resistant microorganisms. In 2016-17, we performed the second point-prevalence survey (PPS) of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial use in European acute care hospitals. We included 1,209 hospitals and 310,755 patients in 28 of 31 European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries. The weighted prevalence of antimicrobial use in the EU/EEA was 30.5% (95% CI: 29.2-31.9%). The most common indication for prescribing antimicrobials was treatment of a community-acquired infection, followed by treatment of HAI and surgical prophylaxis. Over half (54.2%) of antimicrobials for surgical prophylaxis were prescribed for more than 1 day. The most common infections treated by antimicrobials were respiratory tract infections and the most commonly prescribed antimicrobial agents were penicillins with beta-lactamase inhibitors. There was wide variation of patients on antimicrobials, in the selection of antimicrobial agents and in antimicrobial stewardship resources and activities across the participating countries. The results of the PPS provide detailed information on antimicrobial use in European acute care hospitals, enable comparisons between countries and hospitals, and highlight key areas for national and European action that will support efforts towards prudent use of antimicrobials

The dynamic changes of dominant clones of Staphylococcus aureus causing bloodstream infections in the European region : Results of a second structured survey

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most important human pathogens and meticillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) presents a major cause of healthcare- and community-acquired infections. This study investigated the spatial and temporal changes of S. aureus causing bacteraemia in Europe over a five-year interval and explored the possibility of integrating pathogen-based typing data with epidemiological and clinical information at a European level. Between January 2011 and July 2011, 350 laboratories serving 453 hospitals in 25 countries collected 3,753 isolates (meticillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) and MRSA) from patients with S. aureus bloodstream infections. All isolates were sent to the national staphylococcal reference laboratories and characterised by quality-controlled spa typing. Data were uploaded to an interactive web-based mapping tool. A wide geographical distribution of spa types was found, with some prevalent in all European countries. MSSA was more diverse than MRSA. MRSA differed considerably between countries with major international clones expanding or receding when compared to a 2006 survey. We provide evidence that a network approach of decentralised typing and visualisation of aggregated data using an interactive mapping tool can provide important information on the dynamics of S. aureus populations such as early signalling of emerging strains, cross-border spread and importation by travel.Peer reviewe

Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus: bad news and good news from the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net), formerly EARSS), 2002 to 2009

Based on data collected by the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (EARS-Net) and the former EARSS, the present study describes the trends in antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and occurrence of invasive infections caused by Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus in the period from 2002 to 2009. Antimicrobial susceptibility results from 198 laboratories in 22 European countries reporting continuously on these two microorganisms during the entire study period were included in the analysis. The number of bloodstream infections caused by E. coli increased remarkably by 71% during the study period, while bloodstream infections caused by S. aureus increased by 34%. At the same time, an alarming increase of antimicrobial resistance in E. coli was observed, whereas for S. aureus the proportion of meticillin resistant isolates decreased. The observed trend suggests an increasing burden of disease caused by E. coli. The reduction in the proportion of meticillin-resistant S. aureus and the lesser increase in S. aureus infections, compared with E. coli, may reflect the success of infection control measures at hospital level in several European countries.</p

Collection of Aerosolized Human Cytokines Using Teflon® Filters

Background: Collection of exhaled breath samples for the analysis of inflammatory biomarkers is an important area of research aimed at improving our ability to diagnose, treat and understand the mechanisms of chronic pulmonary disease. Current collection methods based on condensation of water vapor from exhaled breath yield biomarker levels at or near the detection limits of immunoassays contributing to problems with reproducibility and validity of biomarker measurements. In this study, we compare the collection efficiency of two aerosol-to-liquid sampling devices to a filter-based collection method for recovery of dilute laboratory generated aerosols of human cytokines so as to identify potential alternatives to exhaled breath condensate collection. Methodology/Principal Findings: Two aerosol-to-liquid sampling devices, the SKC® Biosampler and Omni 3000™, as well as Teflon® filters were used to collect aerosols of human cytokines generated using a HEART nebulizer and single-pass aerosol chamber setup in order to compare the collection efficiencies of these sampling methods. Additionally, methods for the use of Teflon® filters to collect and measure cytokines recovered from aerosols were developed and evaluated through use of a high-sensitivity multiplex immunoassay. Our results show successful collection of cytokines from pg/m3 aerosol concentrations using Teflon® filters and measurement of cytokine levels in the sub-picogram/mL concentration range using a multiplex immunoassay with sampling times less than 30 minutes. Significant degradation of cytokines was observed due to storage of cytokines in concentrated filter extract solutions as compared to storage of dry filters. Conclusions: Use of filter collection methods resulted in significantly higher efficiency of collection than the two aerosol-to-liquid samplers evaluated in our study. The results of this study provide the foundation for a potential new technique to evaluate biomarkers of inflammation in exhaled breath samples