A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of antiseptics for meatal cleaning in the prevention of catheter associated urinary tract infections

Background: Catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) are among the most common healthcare-associated infections. Antiseptic cleaning of the meatal area before and during catheter use may reduce the risk of CAUTIs. Aim: To undertake a systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis of studies investigating the effectiveness of antiseptic cleaning before urinary catheter insertion and during catheter use for prevention of CAUTIs. Methods: Electronic databases were searched to identify randomized controlled trials. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated and compared across intervention and control groups using DerSimonian–Laird random-effects model. Subgroup analyses were performed. Heterogeneity was estimated using the I2 statistic. Findings: In total, 2665 potential papers were identified; of these, 14 studies were eligible for inclusion. There was no difference in the incidence of CAUTIs when comparing antiseptic and non-antiseptic agents (pooled OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.73–1.10; P=0.31), or when comparing different agents: povidone-iodine vs routine care; povidone-iodine vs soap and water; chlorhexidine vs water; povidone-iodine vs saline; povidone-iodine vs water; and green soap and water vs routine care (P > 0.05 for all). Comparison of an antibacterial agent with routine care indicated near significance (P=0.06). There was no evidence of heterogeneity (I2=0%; P > 0.05). Subgroup analyses showed no difference in the incidence of CAUTIs in terms of country, setting, risk of bias, sex and frequency of administration. Conclusions: There were no differences in CAUTI rates, although methodological issues hamper generalizability of this finding. Antibacterial agents may prove to be significant in a well-conducted study. The present results provide good evidence to inform infection control guidelines in catheter management

Quasi-infra-red fixed points and renormalisation group invariant trajectories for non-holomorphic soft supersymmetry breaking

In the MSSM the quasi-infra-red fixed point for the top-quark Yukawa coupling gives rise to specific predictions for the soft-breaking parameters. We discuss the extent to which these predictions are modified by the introduction of additional ``non-holomorphic'' soft-breaking terms. We also show that in a specific class of theories there exists an RG-invariant trajectory for the ``non-holomorphic'' terms, which can be understood using a holomorphic spurion term.Comment: 24 pages, TeX, two figures. Uses Harvmac (big) and epsf. Minor errors corrected, and the RG trajectory explained in terms of a holomorphic spurion ter

MACiE: a database of enzyme reaction mechanisms.

SUMMARY: MACiE (mechanism, annotation and classification in enzymes) is a publicly available web-based database, held in CMLReact (an XML application), that aims to help our understanding of the evolution of enzyme catalytic mechanisms and also to create a classification system which reflects the actual chemical mechanism (catalytic steps) of an enzyme reaction, not only the overall reaction. AVAILABILITY: http://www-mitchell.ch.cam.ac.uk/macie/.EPSRC (G.L.H. and J.B.O.M.), the BBSRC (G.J.B. and J.M.T.—CASE studentship in association with Roche Products Ltd; N.M.O.B. and J.B.O.M.—grant BB/C51320X/1), the Chilean Government’s Ministerio de Planificacio´n y Cooperacio´n and Cambridge Overseas Trust (D.E.A.) for funding and Unilever for supporting the Centre for Molecular Science Informatics.application note restricted to 2 printed pages web site: http://www-mitchell.ch.cam.ac.uk/macie

First IBEX observations of the terrestrial plasma sheet and a possible disconnection event

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission has recently provided the first all-sky maps of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) emitted from the edge of the heliosphere as well as the first observations of ENAs from the Moon and from the magnetosheath stagnation region at the nose of the magnetosphere. This study provides the first IBEX images of the ENA emissions from the nightside magnetosphere and plasma sheet. We show images from two IBEX orbits: one that displays typical plasma sheet emissions, which correlate reasonably well with a model magnetic field, and a second that shows a significant intensification that may indicate a near-Earth (similar to 10 R(E) behind the Earth) disconnection event. IBEX observations from similar to 0.5-6 keV indicate the simultaneous addition of both a hot (several keV) and colder (similar to 700 eV) component during the intensification; if IBEX directly observed magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail, the hot component may signify the plasma energization

Pressure Effects in Manganites with Layered Perovskite Structure

Pressure effects on the charge and spin dynamics in the bilayer manganite compounds $La_{2-2x}Sr_{1+2x}Mn_2O_7$ are studied theoretically by taking into account the orbital degrees of freedom. The orbital degrees are active in the layered crystal structure, and applied hydrostatic pressure stabilizes the $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital in comparison with $3d_{3z^2-r^2}$. The change of the orbital states weakens the interlayer charge and spin couplings, and suppresses the three dimensional ferromagnetic transition. Numerical results, based on an effective Hamiltonian which includes the energy level difference of the orbitals, show that the applied pressure controls the dimensionality of the spin and charge dynamics through changes of the orbital states.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Banking from Leeds, not London: regional strategy and structure at the Yorkshire Bank, 1859–1952

Industrial philanthropist Edward Akroyd created the Yorkshire Penny Savings Bank in 1859. Despite competition from the Post Office Savings Bank after 1861 and a serious reserve problem in 1911, it sustained his overall strategy to become a successful regional bank. Using archival and contemporary sources to build on recent scholarship illustrating how savings banks were integrated into local economies and the complementary roles of philanthropy and paternalism, we analyse an English regional bank's strategy, including an assessment of strategic innovation, ownership changes and management structure. This will demonstrate that the founder's vision continued, even though the 1911 crisis radically altered both strategy and structure

Predicting Developmental Morphology in Switchgrass and Big Bluestem

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) are important warm-season grasses in livestock production systems in the central and eastern USA. The objectives of this study were to quantify the morphological development of ‘trailblazer’ switchgrass and \u27Pawnee\u27 big bluestem and to evaluate day of the year (DOY) and growing degree day (GDD) as predictors of switchgrass and big blnestem morphological stage. Pure stands of each species were sampled at weekly intervals in 1990 and 1991 at Mead, NE, and classified as to mean stage count (MSC) and mean stage weight (MSW). Prediction equations for MSC and MSW were developed based on DOY and GDD. The validation study was harvested at 2-wk intervals in 1992 and 1993 at Mead, NE, and Manhattan, KS, and classified as to MSC and MSW. Switchgrass and big bluestem MSC and MSW were related linearly in all environments. Linear DOY calibration equations accounted for 96% of the variation in switchgrass MSC across four environments, which indicates that switchgrass development was related to photoperiod and that general management recommendations could be based on DOY in the central Great Plains. Quadratic GDD calibration equations accounted for 83% of the variation in big bluestem MSC across four environments, which indicates that big bluestem development is more difficult to predict and management recommendations in the central Great Plains should be based on morphological development (which is best predicted by GDD). The comprehensive growth staging system gave repeatable results for quantifying the morphological development of switchgrass and big blnestem. The morphological development of switchgrass and big bluestem can be reliably predicted for adapted cultivars in the central Great Plains during years with near-normal precipitation using DOY and GDD because of the determinate growth habit of these grasses

A Random Matrix Model of Adiabatic Quantum Computing

We present an analysis of the quantum adiabatic algorithm for solving hard instances of 3-SAT (an NP-complete problem) in terms of Random Matrix Theory (RMT). We determine the global regularity of the spectral fluctuations of the instantaneous Hamiltonians encountered during the interpolation between the starting Hamiltonians and the ones whose ground states encode the solutions to the computational problems of interest. At each interpolation point, we quantify the degree of regularity of the average spectral distribution via its Brody parameter, a measure that distinguishes regular (i.e., Poissonian) from chaotic (i.e., Wigner-type) distributions of normalized nearest-neighbor spacings. We find that for hard problem instances, i.e., those having a critical ratio of clauses to variables, the spectral fluctuations typically become irregular across a contiguous region of the interpolation parameter, while the spectrum is regular for easy instances. Within the hard region, RMT may be applied to obtain a mathematical model of the probability of avoided level crossings and concomitant failure rate of the adiabatic algorithm due to non-adiabatic Landau-Zener type transitions. Our model predicts that if the interpolation is performed at a uniform rate, the average failure rate of the quantum adiabatic algorithm, when averaged over hard problem instances, scales exponentially with increasing problem size.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure