Monitoring Performance of a combined water recycling system

Global water demand is expected to outstrip supply dramatically by 2030, making water recycling an important tool for future water security. A large combined grey water and rainwater recycling system has been monitored in response to an identified knowledge gap of the in-use performance of such systems. The water saving efficiency of the system was calculated at −8ṡ5% in 2011 and –10% in 2012 compared to the predicted 36%. This was due to a lower quantity of grey water and rainwater being collected than the system filter required to backwash alone. Top-up potable water was therefore required to complete the backwash process and flush WCs and urinals. The efficiency of the filter itself was calculated at 0ṡ68, much lower than current figures used in grey water saving predictions. Using direct mains water with no recycling system would be more efficient in this case, highlighting the importance of realistic system analysis before future installations

Erythropoietin release from baboom renal allografts treated with subcellular kidney cell fractions

No Abstract

Competition between plant and bacterial cells at the microscale regulates the dynamics of nitrogen acquisition in wheat (Triticum aestivum)

The ability of plants to compete effectively for nitrogen (N) resources is critical to plant survival. However, controversy surrounds the importance of organic and inorganic sources of N in plant nutrition because of our poor ability to visualize and understand processes happening at the root�microbial�soil interface. Using high-resolution nano-scale secondary ion mass spectrometry stable isotope imaging (NanoSIMS-SII), we quantified the fate of 15N over both space and time within the rhizosphere. We pulse-labelled the soil surrounding wheat (Triticum aestivum) roots with either inline image or 15N-glutamate and traced the movement of 15N over 24 h. Imaging revealed that glutamate was rapidly depleted from the rhizosphere and that most 15N was captured by rhizobacteria, leading to very high 15N microbial enrichment. After microbial capture, approximately half of the 15N-glutamate was rapidly mineralized, leading to the excretion of inline image, which became available for plant capture. Roots proved to be poor competitors for 15N-glutamate and took up N mainly as inline image. Spatial mapping of 15N revealed differential patterns of 15N uptake within bacteria and the rapid uptake and redistribution of 15N within roots. In conclusion, we demonstrate the rapid cycling and transformation of N at the soil�root interface and that wheat capture of organic N is low in comparison to inorganic N under the conditions tested

Dihydrobenz[e][1,4]oxazepin-2(3H)-ones, a new anthelmintic chemotype immobilising whipworm and reducing infectivity in vivo.

Trichuris trichiura is a human parasitic whipworm infecting around 500 million people globally, damaging the physical growth and educational performance of those infected. Current drug treatment options are limited and lack efficacy against the worm, preventing an eradication programme. It is therefore important to develop new treatments for trichuriasis. Using Trichuris muris, an established model for T. trichiura, we screened a library of 480 novel drug-like small molecules for compounds causing paralysis of the ex vivo adult parasite. We identified a class of dihydrobenz[e][1,4]oxazepin-2(3H)-one compounds with anthelmintic activity against T. muris. Further screening of structurally related compounds and resynthesis of the most potent molecules led to the identification of 20 active dihydrobenzoxazepinones, a class of molecule not previously implicated in nematode control. The most active immobilise adult T. muris with EC50 values around 25–50μM, comparable to the existing anthelmintic levamisole. The best compounds from this chemotype show low cytotoxicity against murine gut epithelial cells, demonstrating selectivity for the parasite. Developing a novel oral pharmaceutical treatment for a neglected disease and deploying it via mass drug administration is challenging. Interestingly, the dihydrobenzoxazepinone OX02983 reduces the ability of embryonated T. muris eggs to establish infection in the mouse host in vivo. Complementing the potential development of dihydrobenzoxazepinones as an oral anthelmintic, this supports an alternative strategy of developing a therapeutic that acts in the environment, perhaps via a spray, to interrupt the parasite lifecycle. Together these results show that the dihydrobenzoxazepinones are a new class of anthelmintic, active against both egg and adult stages of Trichuris parasites. They demonstrate encouraging selectivity for the parasite, and importantly show considerable scope for further optimisation to improve potency and pharmacokinetic properties with the aim of developing a clinical agent

Targeted nasal vaccination provides antibody-independent protection against Staphylococcus aureus.

Despite showing promise in preclinical models, anti-Staphylococcus aureus vaccines have failed in clinical trials. To date, approaches have focused on neutralizing/opsonizing antibodies; however, vaccines exclusively inducing cellular immunity have not been studied to formally test whether a cellular-only response can protect against infection. We demonstrate that nasal vaccination with targeted nanoparticles loaded with Staphylococcus aureus antigen protects against acute systemic S. aureus infection in the absence of any antigen-specific antibodies. These findings can help inform future developments in staphylococcal vaccine development and studies into the requirements for protective immunity against S. aureus

2,4-Diaminothieno[3,2-d]pyrimidines, a new class of anthelmintic with activity against adult and egg stages of whipworm

The human whipworm Trichuris trichiura is a parasite that infects around 500 million people globally, with consequences including damage to physical growth and educational performance. Current drugs such as mebendazole have a notable lack of efficacy against whipworm, compared to other soil-transmitted helminths. Mass drug administration programs are therefore unlikely to achieve eradication and new treatments for trichuriasis are desperately needed. All current drug control strategies focus on post-infection eradication, targeting the parasite in vivo. Here we propose developing novel anthelmintics which target the egg stage of the parasite in the soil as an adjunct environmental strategy. As evidence in support of such an approach we describe the actions of a new class of anthelmintic compounds, the 2,4-diaminothieno[3,2-d]pyrimidines (DATPs). This compound class has found broad utility in medicinal chemistry, but has not previously been described as having anthelmintic activity. Importantly, these compounds show efficacy against not only the adult parasite, but also both the embryonated and unembryonated egg stages and thereby may enable a break in the parasite lifecycle

Expression of LMO4 and outcome in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Identification of a biomarker of prognosis and response to therapy that can be assessed preoperatively would significantly improve overall outcomes for patients with pancreatic cancer. In this study, patients whose tumours exhibited high LMO4 expression had a significant survival advantage following operative resection, whereas the survival of those patients whose tumours had low or no LMO4 expression was not significantly different when resection was compared with operative biopsy alone