A Research Agenda for Helminth Diseases of Humans: Social Ecology, Environmental Determinants, and Health Systems

In this paper, the Disease Reference Group on Helminth Infections (DRG4), established in 2009 by the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), with the mandate to review helminthiases research and identify research priorities and gaps, focuses on the environmental, social, behavioural, and political determinants of human helminth infections and outlines a research and development agenda for the socioeconomic and health systems research required for the development of sustainable control programmes. Using Stockols' social-ecological approach, we describe the role of various social (poverty, policy, stigma, culture, and migration) and environmental determinants (the home environment, water resources development, and climate change) in the perpetuation of helminthic diseases, as well as their impact as contextual factors on health promotion interventions through both the regular and community-based health systems. We examine these interactions in regard to community participation, intersectoral collaboration, gender, and possibilities for upscaling helminthic disease control and elimination programmes within the context of integrated and interdisciplinary approaches. The research agenda summarises major gaps that need to be addressed

When carbon meets light: synergistic effect between carbon nanomaterials and metal oxide semiconductors for photocatalytic applications

Activated carbon based materials and more recently, nanostructured carbon materials namely, fullerenes, nanotubes, nanodiamonds and graphene, have been the focus of intensive research for application in nanotechnology. In the field of photocatalysis, carbon materials have been combined with conventional semiconductors as carbon/inorganic composites seeking for synergies resulting from the coupling of both phases. This overview paper aims at exploring some important aspects that influence the photocatalytic activity of hybrid carbon/metal oxide materials such as the synthesis method, the nature and the surface chemistry of the carbon phase as well as their use immobilized in membranes or as films

Nanodiamond-TiO2 composites for heterogeneous photocatalysis

This is a pioneering study on the synthesis and application of composites based on micro- and nanodiamonds for the photocatalytic degradation of environmental water pollutants. Micro- and nanodiamond powders (with particle sizes of 1-3 μm and 2-10 nm, respectively) were combined with TiO2 , by varying the carbon-phase content, and tested as composite photocatalysts for the degradation of diphenhydramine, which is a pharmaceutical water pollutant, under near-UV/Vis irradiation. These composites exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than the respective bare materials. In addition, composites prepared with pristine nanodiamonds were always more active than those prepared with microdiamonds of the same carbon content. A significant enhancement in the photocatalytic performance was observed on preparation of the composite with 15 wt % of nanodiamonds oxidised in air at 703 K; these oxidised nanodiamonds contained mainly carboxylic anhydrides, lactones, phenols and, to a lesser extent, carbonyl/quinone groups on their surface.status: publishe

Photocatalytic degradation of estradiol under simulated solar light and assessment of estrogenic activity

International audienceThe ability of nanostructured titanium materials developed in the FP7/EU collaborative Clean Water project to photocatalytically degrade pollutants was tested, using 17 beta-estradiol (E2) as the model compound. The photocatalytic degradation of E2 was carried out under simulated solar light (both the UV part (280-400 nm) and full spectrum (200 nm-30 mu m)). The efficiency of the process was assessed using several indicators including the conversion yield, the mineralization yield, the formation of by-products and their endocrine disrupting effects. The newly synthesized catalysts significantly degraded E2 and their efficiency was found to depend on the irradiation wavelength range. Some of the intermediates formed during the photocatalytic treatment with ECT-1023t and Evonik P25 were identified and their estrogenic effect was evaluated in vivo using the ChgH-GFP transgenic medaka line. This analysis confirmed that in the structure of the identified by-products, the phenol group is not destroyed and that the estrogenic effect is still present in the corresponding solution. The persistence of the estrogenic effect after the photocatalytic treatment is hypothesized to be due to the presence of the phenol group in the by-products. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V