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For treatment of peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis, intraperitoneal administration of antibiotics remains the preferable route. For home-based therapy, patients are commonly supplied with peritoneal dialysis fluids already containing antimicrobial agents. The present study set out to investigate the compatibility of fosfomycin with different peritoneal dialysis fluids, namely, Extraneal ® , Nutrineal ® , Physioneal ® 1.36% and Physioneal ® 2.27%, under varying storage conditions. The peritoneal dialysis fluid bags including 4 g fosfomycin were stored over 14 days at refrigeration temperature (6°C) and room temperature (25°C) and over 24 h at body temperature (37°C). Drug concentrations over time were determined by using high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to a mass spectrometer. In addition, drug activity was assessed by a disk diffusion method, diluent stability by visual inspection and drug adsorption by comparison of the measured and calculated concentrations. Blank peritoneal dialysis fluids and deionized water were used as comparator solutions. Fosfomycin was stable in all peritoneal dialysis fluids and at each storage condition investigated over the whole study period. The remaining drug concentrations ranged between 94% and 104% of the respective initial concentrations. No significant drug adsorption was observed for any peritoneal dialysis fluid at any storage condition. No relevant reduction of antimicrobial activity was observed. Fosfomycin is compatible with Extraneal ® , Nutrineal ® and Physioneal ® for up to two weeks at refrigeration or room temperature and may be used for home-based therapy. No dose adjustment is needed due to adsorption or degradation.

Intraperitoneal administration of antibiotics is recommended for the treatment of peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis. However, little data are available on a possible interference between peritoneal dialysis fluids and the activity of antimicrobial agents. Thus, the present in vitro study set out to investigate the influence of different peritoneal dialysis fluids on the antimicrobial activity of ampicillin, linezolid, and daptomycin against Enterococcus faecalis . Time–kill curves in four different peritoneal dialysis fluids were performed over 24 h with four different concentrations (1 × MIC, 4 × MIC, 8 × MIC, 30 × MIC) of each antibiotic evaluated. Cation-adjusted Mueller–Hinton broth was used as the comparator solution. All four peritoneal dialysis fluids evaluated had a bacteriostatic effect on the growth of Enterococcus faecalis . Compared to the cation-adjusted Mueller–Hinton broth comparator solution, the antimicrobial activity of all antibiotics tested was reduced. For ampicillin and linezolid, no activity was found in any peritoneal dialysis fluid, regardless of the concentration. Daptomycin demonstrated dose-dependent activity in all peritoneal dialysis fluids. Bactericidal activity was observed at the highest concentrations evaluated in Dianeal® PDG4 and Extraneal®, but not in concentrations lower than 30 × MIC and not in Nutrineal® PD4 and Physioneal® 40. The antimicrobial activity of ampicillin and linezolid is limited in peritoneal dialysis fluids in vitro. Daptomycin is highly effective in peritoneal dialysis fluids and might, thus, serve as an important treatment option in peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis. Further studies are needed to evaluate the clinical impact of the present findings.

Melampyrum pratense L. (Koch) is used in traditional Austrian medicine for the treatment of different inflammation-related conditions. In this work, we show that the extracts of M. pratense stimulated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors- (PPARs-)α and -γ that are well recognized for their anti-inflammatory activities. Furthermore, the extract inhibited the activation of the proinflammatory transcription factor NF-κB and induction of its target genes interleukin-8 (IL-8) and E-selectin in vitro. Bioassay-guided fractionation identified several active flavonoids and iridoids including melampyroside and mussaenoside and the phenolic compound lunularin that were identified in this species for the first time. The flavonoids apigenin and luteolin were distinguished as the main components accountable for the anti-inflammatory properties. Apigenin and luteolin effectively inhibited tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α)-induced NF-κB-mediated transactivation of a luciferase reporter gene. Furthermore, the two compounds dose-dependently reduced IL-8 and E-selectin protein expression after stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or TNF-α in endothelial cells (ECs). The iridoids melampyroside and mussaenoside prevented the elevation of E-selectin in LPS-stimulated ECs. Lunularin was found to reduce the protein levels of the proinflammatory mediators E-selectin and IL-8 in ECs in response to LPS. These data validate the ethnomedical use of M. pratense for the treatment of inflammatory conditions and point to the constituents accountable for its anti-inflammatory activity.

Chinese herbal medicinal (CHM) extracts from fourteen plants were investigated in cell-based in vitro assays for their effect on nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), a key regulator of inflammation, as well as on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) being key regulators of genes involved in lipid and glucose metabolism. 43% of the investigated CHMs showed NF-κB inhibitory and 50% PPARα and PPARγ activating effects. Apolar extracts from cortex and flos of Albizia julibrissin Durazz. and processed rhizomes of Arisaema sp. and Pinellia ternata (Thunb.) Breit. that effectively inhibited TNF-α-induced NF-κB activation and dose-dependently activated PPARα and PPARγ were further investigated. Bioassay-guided fractionation and analysis by GC-MS led to the identification of fatty acids as PPAR agonists, including linoleic and palmitic acid.

This study explores the role of producing low-carbon hydrogen using water electrolysis powered by offshore wind in facilitating the United States’ transition to a net-zero emissions economy by 2050. This research introduces an open-source scenario analysis tool for offshore wind-to-hydrogen systems, aiming to assess the impact of technology, regional considerations, and policy incentives on the cost of producing low-carbon hydrogen through offshore wind. Conducting a regional techno-economic analysis at four U.S. coastal sites, the study evaluates two energy transmission configurations and examines associated costs for the years 2025, 2030, and 2035. The results highlight that locations using fixed-bottom technology may achieve cost-competitive water electrolysis hydrogen production by 2030 through leveraging geologic hydrogen storage and federal policy incentives. Furthermore, floating technology locations are expected to see an average 38% reduction in the levelized cost of hydrogen from 2025 to 2035.

We investigated the relative contribution of minimum residence time, growth habit, and history of invasiveness to the spread of exotic plants in Michigan and California. Our data include minimum residence time as estimated by earliest herbarium collection records, growth habit, and history of invasiveness for over 2000 records from two herbaria (MI = 943, CA = 1131). Our data support the hypothesis that minimum residence time is highly associated with landscape spread, explaining 39–44% of variation in the number of counties invaded. In contrast, growth habit and history of invasiveness explained a small fraction of variation in spread in California but not Michigan. Over the past 30 years exotic plant species frequently became established in Michigan and California (≥50 species per decade), suggesting that many more species will become invasive over time. There is an urgent need to develop effective policies for exotic plant management. In both states we found significant positive correlations between minimum residence time and species occurrence on state invasive plant lists. Further, we found historical information on the pest status of a plant species introduced into a similar environment to be relevant in determining landscape spread of exotic plants. We conclude that efforts to predict exotic species spread based on biological characteristics may have limited success, and instead endorse pest risk analysis for proposed new imports coupled with rapid detection and early response for unintended and unwanted introductions.

The production rates of prompt and non-prompt J/psi and psi(2S) mesons in their dimuon decay modes are measured using 2.1 and 11.4 fb(-1) of data collected with the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, in proton-proton collisions at root s = 7 and 8 respectively. Production cross-sections for prompt as well as non-prompt sources, ratios of psi(2S) to J/psi production, and the fractions of non-prompt production for J/psi and psi(2S) are measured as a function of meson transverse momentum and rapidity. The measurements are compared to theoretical predictions.