Efficacy of Cold Plasma for Direct Deposition of Antibiotics as a Novel Approach for Localized Delivery and Retention of Effect

Antimicrobial coating of medical devices has emerged as a potentially effective tool to prevent or ameliorate device-related infections. In this study the plasma deposition process for direct deposition of pharmaceutical drugs on to a range of surfaces and the retention of structure function relationship and antimicrobial efficacy against mono-species biofilms were investigated. Two selected sample antibiotics—ampicillin and gentamicin, were deposited onto two types of surfaces—polystyrene microtiter plates and stainless steel coupons. The antimicrobial efficacy of the antibiotic-coated surfaces was tested against challenge populations of both planktonic and sessile Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with responses monitored for up to 14 days. The plasma deposition process bonded the antibiotic to the surfaces, with localized retention of antibiotic activity. The antibiotics deposited on the test surfaces retained a good efficacy against planktonic cells, and importantly prevented biofilm formation of attached cells for up to 96 h. The antibiotic rapidly eluted from the surface of antibiotic-coated surfaces to the surrounding medium, with retention of effect in this surrounding milieu for up to 2 weeks. Control experiments established that there was no independent antimicrobial or growth promoting effect of the plasma deposition process, where there was no antibiotic in the helium plasma assisted delivery stream. Apart from the flexibility offered through deposition on material surfaces, there was no additive or destructive effect associated with the helium assisted plasma deposition process on the antibiotic. The plasma assisted process was a viable mean of coating clinically relevant materials and developing innovative functional materials with retention of antibiotic activity, without employing a linker or plasma modified polymer, thus minimizing bio-compatibility issues for medical device materials. This offers potential to prevent or control instrumented or non-permanent device associated infection localized to the surgical or implant site

Outcomes of the 2019 GRAPPA workshop on continuous composite indices for the assessment of psoriatic arthritis and membership-recommended next steps

OBJECTIVE: Improving the assessment of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a key purpose of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and PsA (GRAPPA). Herein, we report the proceedings of the GRAPPA composites workshop at the 2019 GRAPPA annual meeting and the membership\u27s recommended next steps. METHODS: A review of continuous composite measures was conducted in an introductory workshop, followed by 10 breakout group sessions and a final plenary session for feedback and voting. RESULTS: Participants included 154 members: 87 rheumatologists, 18 dermatologists, 2 rheumatologist/dermatologists, 12 patient research partners, 14 academics, 1 methodologist, and 20 industry members. Of voting members, 88.8% agreed a need exists for a continuous composite measure for routine practice, but only 62% were currently using a composite measure. Of these, 27% were using the 28-joint count Disease Activity Score (DAS), which is not a PsA-specific measure; 20% were using a PsA-specific measure such as PsA DAS (PASDAS), Composite Psoriatic Disease Activity Index (CPDAI), or Disease Activity Index for PsA (DAPSA). Members agreed that the existing measures were not feasible in their current forms (CPDAI 83%, PASDAS 82%, and DAPSA 47%) and that modification should be tested. The majority (76%) agreed that disease effect should be measured separately from disease activity. CONCLUSION: The GRAPPA membership supports the need for a continuous composite measure of disease activity for use in routine clinical care, the separate measurement of disease effect and activity, and the testing of modifications to candidate instruments rather than the development of new measures

Global Carbon Budget 2022

Accurate assessment of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO$_2$) emissions and their redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere in a changing climate is critical to better understand the global carbon cycle, support the development of climate policies, and project future climate change. Here we describe and synthesize data sets and methodologies to quantify the five major components of the global carbon budget and their uncertainties. Fossil CO$_2$ emissions (E$_{FOS}$) are based on energy statistics and cement production data, while emissions from land-use change (E$_{LUC}$), mainly deforestation, are based on land use and land-use change data and bookkeeping models. Atmospheric CO$_2$ concentration is measured directly, and its growth rate (G$_{ATM}$) is computed from the annual changes in concentration. The ocean CO$_2$ sink (S$_{OCEAN}$) is estimated with global ocean biogeochemistry models and observation-based data products. The terrestrial CO$_2$ sink (S$_{LAND}$) is estimated with dynamic global vegetation models. The resulting carbon budget imbalance (B$_{IM}$), the difference between the estimated total emissions and the estimated changes in the atmosphere, ocean, and terrestrial biosphere, is a measure of imperfect data and understanding of the contemporary carbon cycle. All uncertainties are reported as ±1σ. For the year 2021, E$_{FOS}$ increased by 5.1 % relative to 2020, with fossil emissions at 10.1 ± 0.5 GtC yr$^{−1}$ (9.9 ± 0.5 GtC yr$^{−1}$ when the cement carbonation sink is included), and E$_{LUC}$ was 1.1 ± 0.7 GtC yr$^{−1}$, for a total anthropogenic CO$_2$ emission (including the cement carbonation sink) of 10.9 ± 0.8 GtC yr$^{−1}$ (40.0 ± 2.9 GtCO$_2$). Also, for 2021, G$_{ATM}$ was 5.2 ± 0.2 GtC yr$^{−1}$ (2.5 ± 0.1 ppm yr$^{−1}$), S$_{OCEAN}$ was 2.9  ± 0.4 GtC yr$^{−1}$, and S$_{LAND}$ was 3.5 ± 0.9 GtC yr$^{−1}$, with a B$_{IM}$ of −0.6 GtC yr$^{−1}$ (i.e. the total estimated sources were too low or sinks were too high). The global atmospheric CO$_2$ concentration averaged over 2021 reached 414.71 ± 0.1 ppm. Preliminary data for 2022 suggest an increase in E$_{FOS}$ relative to 2021 of +1.0 % (0.1 % to 1.9 %) globally and atmospheric CO$_2$ concentration reaching 417.2 ppm, more than 50 % above pre-industrial levels (around 278 ppm). Overall, the mean and trend in the components of the global carbon budget are consistently estimated over the period 1959–2021, but discrepancies of up to 1 GtC yr$^{−1}$ persist for the representation of annual to semi-decadal variability in CO$_2$ fluxes. Comparison of estimates from multiple approaches and observations shows (1) a persistent large uncertainty in the estimate of land-use change emissions, (2) a low agreement between the different methods on the magnitude of the land CO$_2$ flux in the northern extratropics, and (3) a discrepancy between the different methods on the strength of the ocean sink over the last decade. This living data update documents changes in the methods and data sets used in this new global carbon budget and the progress in understanding of the global carbon cycle compared with previous publications of this data set. The data presented in this work are available at https://doi.org/10.18160/GCP-2022 (Friedlingstein et al., 2022b)

Gender equity as policy paradigm in the Irish educational policy process

The construct of policy paradigm is used to analyse how the proposition that Irish education is a gendered phenomenon has been conceptualized, communicated, reflected in educational policy and acted upon in practice. Intersubjectivity is conceived as a realm of political action in education and the article seeks to excavate it more comprehensively than its usual ?glossed? treatment in educational policy analysis through the schematisation of the construct of policy paradigm. The gender equity paradigm is analysed in terms of this schematisation highlighting its construction, dominion, systematisation, response to counter interpretations of gendered education and possibilities for change

Shaping educational debate: a case study and an interpretation

The contribution of American economist, A. Dale Tussing, to the penetration of Irish policy paradigms governing the funding of education is presented as a case study of how a cultural stranger can, by a process of cultural mirroring and deconstruction, influence the cultural understanding of the-educational process in an indigenous society. In relation to the funding of education, Tussing succeeded in making public existing assumptions, advanced a reconceptualisation of the benefits of schooling, suggested principles for guiding funding decisions, proposed values of equity and justice and added stratification and elitism to the terminology of concern in public educational discourse. Why it should fall to a cultural stranger to provide such an experience in cultural illumination for us is explored in relation to the influence of corporatist policy making on educational discourse. Suggestions for a more paradigmatically-open analysis of education are made in relation to the Green Paper on Education, Education for a Changing World

SOLUBILITY OF NITROBEN AND METHANE IN AQUEOUS SODIUM-CHLORIDE SOLUTIONS AT HIGH PRESSURES

Abstract not availabl

Genetic Analysis of Irish Populations of Phytophthora Infestans

End of Project ReportPhytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary, the causal agent of potato late blight is best known for its role in the great Irish famine of 1845-1849 which resulted in the deaths of over 1 million people. Since then, the disease has become established in all potato growing countries and is the most important pathogen of potatoes worldwide. The appearance of resistance to the phenylamide fungicides in the late 1970’s indicated that populations of P. infestans were changing. An antiresistance strategy was developed for growers in an effort to reduce the spread of resistant strains. Subsequently the A2 mating type of the fungus was discovered in 1989 promoting fears that a super strain of the fungus could evolve through sexual reproduction. Populations of the fungus have been monitored from 1981 to 1998 for levels of phenylamide resistance and since 1988 for the A2 mating type. Physiological race surveys were conducted in 1983 and 1996. Prior to the 1980s no reliable methods were available for adequate identification of genotypes. Development of molecular markers specific to P. infestans has made this possible and a survey was conducted on isolates from the 1996 population. Results confirm that the anti-resistance strategy for phenylamide based fungicides has been effective in preventing the build up of metalaxyl resistant populations of P. infestans. During the 1990’s the distribution of phenylamide resistance has remained stable at about 50% of crops tested compared to a high of over 80 % in 1981. The level of A2 in the population has also fallen from a high of 35% of isolates tested in 1989 to a static level of 3-4 % in the 1990’s. Physiological race composition has become much more complex since 1983 and 16 different physiological races were found in Ireland in 1996. The population was dominated by race 3.4.7.10.11 which accounted for over 54% of isolates tested. This change has taken place without a corresponding change to varieties with a complex Rgene base. Twelve different genotypes of the fungus were uncovered using the multilocus probe RG57. Races of the fungus were independent of genotype. One particular genotype IE-2 was predominantly associated with phenylamide resistance. The low population diversity discovered suggests that sexual reproduction between A1 and A2 types has not been a major factor in disease epidemiology to date. Super strains similar to those identified in the USA could not be confirmed. The overall level of variation in the Irish isolates of Phytophthora infestans would confirm that the population has become progressively more diverse during the last forty years. However, the population is much less complex than that found in the highland tropics of central Mexico.Teagasc Walsh Fellowship Programm

Basic Science Session 1. Biomarkers for Psoriatic Arthritis Treatment Response and Joint Damage Progression: An Update on 2 Industry-GRAPPA Projects.

The Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) has identified several priority areas for biomarker development, including biomarkers to predict at baseline which patients may progress to develop joint damage and whether a patient will respond to a specific targeted therapy. Two industry-GRAPPA projects were initiated in 2020 on these biomarker research areas: (1) the Pfizer-GRAPPA project, focused on biomarkers of treatment response to tofacitinib in the Oral Psoriatic Arthritis TriaL program; and (2) the Lilly-GRAPPA project, focused on biomarkers of damage in the ixekizumab SPIRIT-P1 randomized controlled trial. Preliminary results from these 2 projects were presented by the GRAPPA team, with both studies showing promising initial results. Data from these studies will be published when the studies have been completed. Large-scale validation studies are required and are under discussion

International Treatment Recommendations Update: A Report from the GRAPPA 2016 Annual Meeting.

At the 2016 annual meeting of the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA), the treatment recommendations committee summarized its work and presented its plans for future updates. The committee announced a partnership between GRAPPA and Guideline Central to develop a pocket reference guide to the treatment recommendations. Because key new data appear regularly, the group discussed publishing periodic updates of the recommendations online through the GRAPPA Website as well as a goal of publishing another major update of the recommendations in 2020. The committee also announced that 2 GRAPPA members were awarded a grant from the International League of Associations for Rheumatology to look at potential adaptations of international treatment recommendations for resource-poor settings, particularly in South America and Africa