Meta-analysis on the effectiveness of alcohol screening with brief interventions for patients in emergency care settings.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Despite ambiguous evidence for the effectiveness of alcohol screening with brief interventions (BI) in emergency departments (ED), ambition for their widespread implementation continues to grow. To clarify whether such an application of BI is justifiable, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on studies testing the impact of BI on alcohol consumption. METHODS: We included peer-reviewed, randomized controlled studies investigating the effects of BI on alcohol consumption in injured and/or intoxicated patients, published January 2002-September 2015. Changes from baseline in consumption quantity, intensity and number of heavy drinking episodes were assessed at 3-, 6- and 12-month follow-up, resulting in nine separate random-effects meta-analyses of standardized mean differences (SMD). Moderation effects of intervention mode, length, type of interventionist, intensity of control intervention and study quality were assessed using subgroup comparisons and meta-regression. RESULTS: We considered 33 publications (28 separate studies) including 14 456 patients. Six of nine comparisons revealed small significant effects in favour of BI, with the highest SMD at 0.19 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.08-0.31]. No significant moderators could be identified, and statistical heterogeneity (I(2) ) was below 40%. CONCLUSIONS: In a large meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in emergency care settings, there was evidence for very small effects of brief interventions on alcohol consumption reductions. More intensive interventions showed no benefit over shorter approaches. Non-face-to-face interventions appear to be comparably effective, but this finding remains tentative due to the low number of non-face-to-face studies.

Effect of electrochemical redox reaction on biochemical ammonium oxidation and chemical nitrite oxidation.

A modified graphite felt electrode with neutral red (NRelectrode) was shown to catalyze the chemical oxidation of nitrite to nitrate under aerobic conditions. The electrochemically oxidized NR-electrode (EO-NR-electrode) and reduced NR-electrode (ER-NR-electrode) catalyzed the oxidation of 1,094+/-39 mg/l and 382+/-45 mg/l of nitrite, respectively, for 24 h. The electrically uncharged NRelectrode (EU-NR-electrode) catalyzed the oxidation of 345+/-47 mg/l of nitrite for 24 h. The aerobic bacterial community immobilized in the EO-NR-electrode did not oxidize ammonium to nitrite; however, the aerobic bacterial community immobilized in the ER-NR-electrode bioelectrochemically oxidized 1,412+/-39 mg/l of ammonium for 48 h. Meanwhile, the aerobic bacterial community immobilized on the EU-NR-electrode biochemically oxidized 449+/-22 mg/l of ammonium for 48 h. In the continuous culture system, the aerobic bacterial community immobilized on the ER-NR-electrode bioelectrochemically oxidized a minimal 1,337+/-38 mg/l to a maximal 1,480+/-38 mg/l of ammonium to nitrate, and the community immobilized on the EU-NR-electrode biochemically oxidized a minimal 327+/-23 mg/l to a maximal 412+/-26 mg/l of ammonium to nitrate every two days. The bacterial communities cultivated in the ER-NR-electrode and EU-NR-electrode in the continuous culture system were analyzed by TGGE on the 20th and 50th days of incubation. Some ammoniumoxidizing bacteria were enriched on the ER-NR-electrode, but not on the EU-NR-electrode.

Electricity generation coupled with wastewater treatment using a microbial fuel cell composed of a modified cathode with a ceramic membrane and cellulose acetate film.

A noncompartmented microbial fuel cell (NCMFC) composed of a Mn(IV)-carbon plate and a Fe(III)-carbon plate was used for electricity generation from organic wastewater without consumption of external energy. The Fe(III)-carbon plate, coated with a porous ceramic membrane and a semipermeable cellulose acetate film, was used as a cathode, which substituted for the catholyte and cathode. The Mn(IV)-carbon plate was used as an anode without a membrane or film coating. A solar cell connected to the NCMFC activated electricity generation and bacterial consumption of organic matter contained in the wastewater. More than 99 degrees of the organic matter was biochemically oxidized during wastewater flow through the four NCMFC units. A predominant bacterium isolated from the anode surface in both the conventional and the solar cell-linked NCMFC was found to be more than 99 degrees similar to a Mn(II)-oxidizing bacterium and Burkeholderia sp., based on 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The isolate reacted electrochemically with the Mn(IV)-modified anode and produced electricity in the NCMFC. After 90 days of incubation, a bacterial species that was enriched on the Mn(IV)-modified anode surface in all of the NCMFC units was found to be very similar to the initially isolated predominant species by comparing 16S rDNA sequences.

Characterization of exopolysaccharide (EPS) produced by Weissella hellenica SKkimchi3 isolated from kimchi.

Weissella hellenica SKkimchi3 produces the higher exopolysaccharide (EPS) on sucrose than lactose, glucose, and fructose at pH 5 and 20 degrees C. Sucrose was exclusively used to cultivate SKkimchi3 in all experiments base on the EPS production tests. The molecular mass of EPS, as determined by gel permeation chroma-tography, was 203,000. (1)H and (13)C NMR analysis indicated that the identity of EPS may be a glucan. When EPS, starch, and cellulose was treated with a-amylase, glucoamylase, glucosidase, and cellulase, glucose was produced from starch and cellulose but was not produced from EPS. Based on HPLC analysis, elemental analysis, (1)H and (13)C NMR analysis, and enzymatic hydrolysis tests, EPS was estimated to be a glucan. EPS suspension was not precipitated even by centrifugation at 10,000xg for 60 min, and EPS made the fermented milk and bacterial culture viscous.