The CURTAIN feasibility study: Exploring a food-themed reminiscence theatre intervention to improve the nutrition of older adults living in residential care homes.

Reminiscence theatre (RT), an applied drama technique, is an effective tool for improving health-related outcomes for older adults in clinical settings. However, no research has explored the potential for a food-themed RT intervention to improve the nutrition, health and wellbeing of this population. Therefore, the current study explored the feasibility and acceptability of such an intervention - the CURTAIN intervention - in residential care-homes.

An accurate and robust method for intensification of wastewater sludge pipe flow.

Globally, environmental impacts and population growth are driving the process intensification of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) via transition from conventional (2-3 wt% solids) to highly concentrated (4-6 wt% solids) wastewater sludges (HCWS). This presents an industrial challenge as HCWS are complex, non-Newtonian materials whose viscosity increases nonlinearly with solids concentration. This viscosity increase is particularly relevant for sludge pipe flow as it leads to considerable pumping pressure that ultimately limits the feasibility of pipe flow transportation.

State-of-the-art detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in blood during tuberculosis infection using phage technology.

Tuberculosis (TB), an aerosol-transmitted infection caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), remains the commonest cause of death globally, from an infectious bacterial disease. Nine years on from the launch of the World Health Organization (WHO)'s END-TB strategy, disease incidence rates are stubbornly unchanged [1]. While this represents, in part, a reversal of improving trends caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it also reflects the fragility and inadequacy of healthcare systems to sustain TB control [2].

Dead in the water - Role of relic DNA and primer choice for targeted sequencing surveys of anaerobic sewage sludge intended for biological monitoring.

DNA-based monitoring of microbial communities that are responsible for the performance of anaerobic digestion of sewage wastes has the potential to improve resource recoveries for wastewater treatment facilities. By treating sludge with propidium monoazide (PMA) prior to amplicon sequencing, this study explored how the presence of DNA from dead microbial biomass carried over with feed sludge may mislead process-relevant biomarkers, and whether primer choice impacts such assessments. Four common primers were selected for amplicon preparation, also to determine if universal primers have sufficient taxonomic or functional coverage for monitoring ecological performance; or whether two domain-specific primers for Bacteria and Archaea are necessary.

PET-CT-guided characterisation of progressive, preclinical tuberculosis infection and its association with low-level circulating Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in household contacts in Leicester, UK: a prospective cohort study.

Background: Incipient tuberculosis, a progressive state of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection with an increased risk of developing into tuberculosis disease, remains poorly characterised. Animal models suggest an association of progressive infection with bacteraemia. Circulating M tuberculosis DNA has previously been detected in pulmonary tuberculosis by use of Actiphage, a bacteriophage-based real-time PCR assay.

Impact of volatile solids destruction on the shear and solid-liquid separation behaviour of anaerobic digested sludge.

Systematic and comprehensive characterisation of shear and solid-liquid separation properties of sludge across a wide range of solids concentration and volatile solids destruction (VSD) is critical for design and optimization of the anaerobic digestion process. In addition, there is a need for studies at the psychrophilic temperature range as many unheated anaerobic digestion processes are operated under ambient conditions with minimal self-heating. In this study, two digesters were operated at different combinations of operating temperature (15-25 °C) and hydraulic retention time (16-32 d) to ensure a wide range of VSD in the range of 0.

The role of microbial ecology in improving the performance of anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge.

The use of next-generation diagnostic tools to optimise the anaerobic digestion of municipal sewage sludge has the potential to increase renewable natural gas recovery, improve the reuse of biosolid fertilisers and help operators expand circular economies globally. This review aims to provide perspectives on the role of microbial ecology in improving digester performance in wastewater treatment plants, highlighting that a systems biology approach is fundamental for monitoring mesophilic anaerobic sewage sludge in continuously stirred reactor tanks. We further highlight the potential applications arising from investigations into sludge ecology.

Shear and solid-liquid separation behaviour of anaerobic digested sludge across a broad range of solids concentrations.

Due to the non-homogeneous and multiphase nature of anaerobic lagoon constituents, CFD modelling for process optimisation requires continuous functions for shear and solid-liquid separation properties across a large range of solids concentrations. Unfortunately, measurement of existing material properties of anaerobic sludges is limited to only shear or solid-liquid separation, or to a limited solids concentration. In this work, the shear properties of an anaerobic sludge were measured from 0.

Characterising sedimentation velocity of primary waste water solids and effluents.

Sedimentation in waste water is a heavily studied topic, but mainly focused on hindered and compression settling in secondary sludge, a largely monodispersed solids, where bulk sedimentation velocity is effectively described by functions such as double Vesilind (Takacs). However, many waste water solids, including primary sludge and anaerobic digester effluent are polydispersed, for which application of velocity functions is not well understood. These systems are also subject to large concentration gradients, and poor availability of settling velocity functions has limited design and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis of these units.

Tuberculosis in badgers where the bovine tuberculosis epidemic is expanding in cattle in England.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an important animal health and economic problem for the cattle industry and a potential zoonotic threat. Wild badgers (Meles meles) play a role on its epidemiology in some areas of high prevalence in cattle, particularly in the UK and Republic of Ireland and increasingly in parts of mainland Europe. However, little is known about the involvement of badgers in areas on the spatial edge of the cattle epidemic, where increasing prevalence in cattle is seen.

Development of a Method to Detect in the Blood of Farmed Deer Using Actiphage® Rapid.

subsp paratuberculosis (MAP) is the causative agent of Johne's disease, which is an economically and clinically relevant pathogen for commercial deer production. The purpose of this study was to develop a method that could be used to rapidly detect MAP infection in deer using the Actiphage Rapid blood test. This test has previously been used to detect MAP in cattle blood following the purification of buffy coat using Ficoll gradients, however this method is quite laborious and costly.

Properties of the Extracellular Polymeric Substance Layer from Minimally Grown Planktonic Cells of .

The bacterium is a serious concern to food processing facilities because of its persistence. When liquid cultures of were prepared in defined media, it was noted that planktonic cells rapidly dropped out of suspension. Zeta potential and hydrophobicity assays found that the cells were more negatively charged (-22, -18, -10 mV in defined media D10, MCDB 202 and brain heart infusion [BHI] media, respectively) and were also more hydrophobic.

Characterisation of isolates from cattle using a bovine caruncular epithelial cell model.

is an important foodborne pathogen in human and veterinary health, causing significant morbidity and mortality including abortion. It has a particular tropism for the gravid uterus, however, the route of infection in reproductive tissues of ruminants (i.e.

CONSERVATION CHALLENGES: THE LIMITATIONS OF ANTEMORTEM TUBERCULOSIS TESTING IN CAPTIVE ASIATIC LIONS ().

Genetic diversity of captive wild animals can be enhanced by moving those individuals with valuable genes between collections and through introduction of a new pair from a range country. This requires movement of animals, which is inherent with disease risks, such as the introduction of pathogenic sp. (MTBC) into a zoological collection.

A mixed methods evaluation of got care!

This study aimed to assess the relationship between an Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPCP) intervention for community-dwelling older adults, Geriatric Outreach and Training with Care! (GOT Care!), and the observed 26% reduction in Emergency Department (ED) visits for the 51 older adult participants. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was utilized. Demographic data and ED visit data were collected and analyzed using paired-samples t-tests, poisson regression and generalized poisson regression.

Diversity of Species of Stilton Cheese Relates to Site of Isolation.

This study has characterized the dominant non-starter species isolated from different sites in a Stilton cheese to establish its diversity, stress-tolerance, anti-microbial activity and potential contribution to quality of cheese. Fifty-nine isolates were cultured from the outer crust, blue veins and white core of the cheese and were speciated phenotypically and by 16S rDNA sequence analysis. was the dominant species detected with only two isolates identified as .

The development and use of Actiphage to detect viable mycobacteria from bovine tuberculosis and Johne's disease-infected animals.

Here, we describe the development of a method that exploits bacteriophage D29 as a lysis agent for efficient DNA extraction from low numbers of mycobacterial cells. This method (Actiphage ) used in combination with PCR achieved rapid and sensitive (LOD ≤ 10 cell ml ) detection and identification of viable, pathogenic mycobacteria in blood samples within 6 h. We demonstrate that mycobacteriophage D29 can be used to detect a range of mycobacteria from clinical blood samples including both Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex and Mycobacterium avium subsp.

A Novel, High-sensitivity, Bacteriophage-based Assay Identifies Low-level Mycobacterium tuberculosis Bacteremia in Immunocompetent Patients With Active and Incipient Tuberculosis.

The haematogenous dissemination of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is critical to the pathogenesis of progressive tuberculous infections in animal models. Using a novel, phage-based blood assay, we report the first concordant evidence in well-characterized, immunocompetent human cohorts, demonstrating associations of Mtb bacteremia with progressive phenotypes of latent infection and active pulmonary tuberculosis.

Reducing Risks for Older Adults With an Interprofessional Community-Academic Partnership: A Case Study.

As the older adult population in the United States increases and diversifies, understanding and reducing risks for hospitalization and institutionalization can reduce burdens for this vulnerable population. Using evidence-based assessment tools to understand medical, psychosocial, pharmacologic, and functional status can aid an interprofessional team to best evaluate older adults at risk. By providing culturally competent care for a diversifying older adult demographic, attention to social determinants can improve health equity for this population.

Survival of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis in retail pasteurised milk.

A survey of retail purchased semi-skimmed pasteurised milk (n = 368) for Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) was conducted between May 2014 and June 2015 across the midlands of England using the Phage-PCR assay. Overall, 10.3% of the total samples collected contained viable MAP cells, confirming that pasteurisation is not capable of fully eliminating human exposure to viable MAP through milk.

Evidence that Listeria innocua modulates its membrane's stored curvature elastic stress, but not fluidity, through the cell cycle.

This paper reports that the abundances of endogenous cardiolipin and phosphatidylethanolamine halve during elongation of the Gram-positive bacterium Listeria innocua. The lyotropic phase behaviour of model lipid systems that describe these modulations in lipid composition indicate that the average stored curvature elastic stress of the membrane is reduced on elongation of the cell, while the fluidity appears to be maintained. These findings suggest that phospholipid metabolism is linked to the cell cycle and that changes in membrane composition can facilitate passage to the succeding stage of the cell cycle.

Draft Genome Sequences of , Isolated from Fresh Leaf Vegetables in Owerri City, Nigeria.

Here, we report the draft genome sequences of three isolates from fresh leaves collected in Nigeria, belonging to sequence types ST5 and ST155 (sublineages SL5 and SL155, respectively).

Evaluation of the limitations and methods to improve rapid phage-based detection of viable Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in the blood of experimentally infected cattle.

Background: Disseminated infection and bacteraemia is an underreported and under-researched aspect of Johne's disease. This is mainly due to the time it takes for Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) to grow and lack of sensitivity of culture.