Two technology-based approaches that improved hand hygiene compliance are featured at infection prevention conference

Real-time feedback and unit-level data impact hand hygiene behavior

Reports and Proceedings

ASSOCIATION FOR PROFESSIONALS IN INFECTION CONTROL

Orlando, Fla., June 27, 2023 – Hand hygiene is the simplest, most effective way to prevent the spread of infections in healthcare, yet healthcare worker adherence is often low. Infection preventionists at two health systems will present their successful hand hygiene interventions at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology’s (APIC’s) Annual Conference in Orlando Florida, June 26-28.

 

University of Michigan Health sustains 95% hospital-wide hand hygiene compliance through creation of interactive dashboards that visually depict data

In August of 2018, University of Michigan Health, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, transitioned from using static charts to creating dynamic electronic dashboards to visualize hand hygiene compliance in real time across its 1,100-bed campus. Through use of commercially available Business Intelligence (BI) software, they generated weekly and monthly compliance reports, made month-to-month comparisons, and filtered data by unit and by role (e.g., Environmental Services, Nursing, etc.) to show the rate at which healthcare workers cleaned their hands at the appropriate moments. Details about specific missed opportunities, like a failure to perform hand hygiene prior to donning personal protective equipment, were included.

A month after the infection prevention team implemented the dashboards, 19 units improved to 95% compliance or greater from rates that were already in the high 80s. From November 2018 to February 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, the hospital overall sustained a 95% or greater rate of adherence. Rates fell to 86% in March 2021 because the program was paused during the pandemic but have risen to 98% as of April 2023 through reintroduction and use of the dashboards and real-time data sharing.

University of Michigan Health relies on a robust team of trained observers to covertly monitor hand hygiene compliance, rather than an electronic system. ‘Secret shoppers’ track observations in the software using a mobile phone and that data is fed back to stakeholders in real time.

“We had already addressed hand hygiene at a global level at our facility and had achieved levels in the upper 80s and low 90s, but our goal was 95%,” said Harry Zhen, MPH, CIC, infection preventionist at University of Michigan Health. “The BI software allowed us to pinpoint departments and shifts that were struggling and stratify data by role types so we could have more meaningful conversations to drive improvement.”

The oral abstract, “Data Rather Than Germs on Your Fingertips: Leveraging Business Intelligence to Improve and Sustain Hand Hygiene Compliance,” is being presented at 2:51 pm ET, June 27 at the APIC Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla. 

 

Automated Hand Hygiene Monitoring Helps Newark Beth Israel Medical Center Achieve 98% Increase in Compliance 

When they trialed an automated hand hygiene monitoring system (AHHMS) in 2019, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center recognized opportunities to use this technology to improve hand hygiene compliance at their 665-bed, regional care teaching hospital that provides comprehensive health care.

After a 21-day baseline period in February 2022, the hospital deployed the AHHMS in eight adult inpatient units covering about 200 patient rooms. The AHHMS senses every opportunity for hand hygiene and counts actual dispenses of hand sanitizer to compute the compliance rate.

The intervention took place over a period of 56 weeks, from March 2022 – April 2023. As part of the intervention, the infection prevention team enlisted hand hygiene champions and unit managers who shared real-time data about their units during daily safety huddles with hospital leadership and during shift transitions.

During the intervention period, the median hand hygiene rate rose significantly in all units, ranging from a 67% to 132% improvement compared to baseline. The average percent increase over baseline across all eight areas was 98%.

“The automated monitoring system provides a level of accountability that is needed to supplement existing efforts and bring about a noticeable improvement in hand hygiene,” said Ndubuisi Eke-Okoro, MSc, CIC, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center infection preventionist who helped implement the intervention. “Hospital leaders at every level are actively engaged and supportive of this effort which has been critical to our success.”

The poster, “Hand Hygiene Performance Improvement Results in Adult Acute Care Units After 56-Weeks of a Novel Intervention Program,” is being presented at 11:15 am ET, June 27, at the APIC Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla.   

“Hand hygiene is the cornerstone of infection prevention, but achieving and sustaining high compliance is often elusive,” said APIC 2023 President Patricia Jackson, RN, MA, CIC, FAPIC. “We congratulate the University of Michigan Health and Newark Beth Israel for implementation of such effective programs and thank them for sharing their successful approaches at APIC’s Annual Conference.”

About APIC

Founded in 1972, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) is the leading association for infection preventionists and epidemiologists. With more than 15,000 members, APIC advances the science and practice of infection prevention and control. APIC carries out its mission through research, advocacy, and patient safety; education, credentialing, and certification; and fostering development of the infection prevention and control workforce of the future. Together with our members and partners, we are working toward a safer world through the prevention of infection. Join us and learn more at apic.org.

APIC’s Annual Conference, June 26-28, is one of the most comprehensive infection prevention conferences in the world, with programs led by experts from across the globe and attended by physicians, researchers, epidemiologists, educators, administrators, and medical technologists, with strategies that can be implemented immediately to improve prevention programs and make healthcare safer. Join the conversation on social media with the hashtag #APIC2023.

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Updated guidance shows how hospitals should protect patients from resistant infections

MRSA infections soared during pandemic, undoing previous gains

Peer-Reviewed Publication

SOCIETY FOR HEALTHCARE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF AMERICA

ARLINGTON, Va. (June 27, 2023) — A group of five medical organizations have released updated recommendations for the prevention of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, known as MRSA, transmission and infection. MRSA causes approximately 10% of hospital-associated infections in the United States and such infections are associated with an increased risk of death. Certain infections caused by MRSA rose by as much as 41% during the pandemic after falling in preceding years.

Strategies to Prevent Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Transmission and Infection in Acute Care Hospitals provides evidence-based, practical recommendations to prevent the spread of MRSA and reduce the risk of MRSA infection. The document, published today in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, is the most recently updated guidance in the series known collectively as the Compendium.  

“The enormous strain put on healthcare during the pandemic may have contributed to the observed increase in some hospital infections. We have data that show MRSA infections rose,” said David Calfee, M.D., senior author of the updated guidance and editor of ICHE, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. “The evidence that informs these recommendations shows that we can be successful in preventing transmission and infection. We can get back to the pre-2020 rates and then do even better.”

The updated recommendations elevate antimicrobial stewardship – an effort focused on improving how antibiotics are prescribed and used – from an “additional practice” to an “essential practice,” meaning all hospitals should do it. When someone who is colonized with MRSA receives treatment with antibiotics for another infection, they may have a higher risk of developing MRSA infection and may be more likely to transmit MRSA to others. Avoiding unnecessary use of antibiotics may decrease these and other risks associated with antibiotic use, such as C. difficile infection.

The guidance describes other practices — surveillance to detect asymptomatic MRSA carriers and decolonization to eradicate or reduce the burden MRSA among people who are colonized with MRSA — for specific patient populations.

“Basic infection prevention practices, such as hand hygiene and cleaning and disinfection of the healthcare environment and equipment, remain foundational for preventing MRSA,” Calfee said. “These fundamental practices help to prevent the spread of other pathogens as well.”

The authors retained contact precautions, the use of a gown and gloves when providing care to a patient with MRSA colonization or infection, as an essential practice. However, the authors acknowledge that for a variety of reasons some hospitals have chosen to modify or may be considering modification of the use of contact precautions for all or some patients who are colonized or infected with MRSA. The updated recommendations provide guidance to help such hospitals assess risk, make informed decisions, monitor outcomes associated with changes in the use of contact precautions, and identify populations and scenarios in which continued use of contact precautions should be considered.

MRSA infection is caused by a type of staph bacteria that is resistant to many of the antibiotics used to treat ordinary staph infections. Healthcare-associated MRSA infections often follow invasive procedures, such as surgeries, or the use of devices, such as central venous catheters, and can be spread within hospitals by the hands of health care personnel or through contact with contaminated surfaces and equipment.

The guidance updates the 2014 Strategies to Prevent Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Transmission and Infection in Acute Care Hospitals. The Compendium, first published in 2008, is sponsored by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology (SHEA). It is the product of a collaborative effort led by SHEA, with the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, the American Hospital Association, and The Joint Commission, with major contributions from representatives of several organizations and societies with content expertise. The Compendium is a multiyear, highly collaborative guidance-writing effort by over 100 experts from around the world.

In coming weeks, a new Compendium section will be published outlining approaches to implementation of infection prevention strategies, followed by an update to strategies to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

Recently published Compendium updates include strategies for preventing surgical site infections, central line-associated bloodstream infections, ventilator and non-ventilator associated pneumonia and events, C. difficile infection, and strategies to prevent healthcare-associated infections through hand hygiene.

Each Compendium article contains infection prevention strategies, performance measures, and approaches to implementation. Compendium recommendations are derived from a synthesis of systematic literature review, evaluation of the evidence, practical and implementation-based considerations, and expert consensus.

 

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About Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology
Published through a partnership between the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and Cambridge University Press, Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology provides original, peer-reviewed scientific articles for anyone involved with an infection control or epidemiology program in a hospital or healthcare facility. ICHE is ranked 24th out of 94 Infectious Disease Journals in the latest Web of Knowledge Journal Citation Reports from Thomson Reuters.

About the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) 

The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) is a professional society representing more than 2,000 physicians and other healthcare professionals around the world who possess expertise and passion for healthcare epidemiology, infection prevention, and antimicrobial stewardship. The society’s work improves public health by establishing infection-prevention measures and supporting antibiotic stewardship among healthcare providers, hospitals, and health systems. This is accomplished by leading research studies, translating research into clinical practice, developing evidence-based policies, optimizing antibiotic stewardship, and advancing the field of healthcare epidemiology. SHEA and its members strive to improve patient outcomes and create a safer, healthier future for all. Visit SHEA online at shea-online.org, facebook.com/SHEApreventingHAIs and twitter.com/SHEA_Epi.

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JOURNAL

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Literature review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Strategies to Prevent Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Transmission and Infection in Acute Care Hospitals

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

27-Jun-2023

Disclaimer: AAAS an

Boy fly meets girl fly meets AI: Training an AI to recognize fly mating identifies a gene for mating positions

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NAGOYA UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: BOY FLY MEETS GIRL FLY MEETS AI: TRAINING AN AI TO RECOGNIZE FLY MATING IDENTIFIES A GENE FOR MATING POSITIONS. view more 

CREDIT: HAYATO M YAMANOUCHI, NAGOYA UNIVERSITY

A research group at the Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University in Japan has used artificial intelligence to determine that Piezo, a channel that receives mechanical stimuli, plays a role in controlling the mating posture of male fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). Inhibition of Piezo led the flies to adopt an ineffective mating posture that decreased their reproductive performance. Their findings were reported in iScience. 

Most previous studies of animal mating have been limited to behavioral studies, limiting our understanding of this essential process. Since many animals adopt a fixed posture during copulation, maintaining an effective mating position is vital for reproductive success. In fruit flies, the male mounts the female and maintains this posture for at least until he transfers sufficient sperm to fertilize the female, which occurs about 8 minutes after copulation initiation. The Nagoya University research group realized that some factor was involved in maintaining this copulation posture. 

A likely contender is Piezo. Piezo is a family of transmembrane proteins found in bristle cells, the sensitive cells in male genitals. Piezo is activated when a mechanical force is applied to a cell membrane, allowing ions to flow through the channel and generate an electrical signal. This signal triggers cellular responses, including the release of neurotransmitters in neurons and the contraction of muscle cells. Such feedback helps a fly maintain his mating position. 

After identifying that the piezo gene is involved in the mating of fruit flies, Professor Azusa Kamikouchi (she/her), Assistant Professor Ryoya Tanaka (he/him), and student Hayato M. Yamanouchi (he/him) used optogenetics to further explore the neural mechanism of this phenomenon. This technique combines genetic engineering and optical science to create genetically modified neurons that can be inactivated with light of specific wavelengths. When the light was turned on during mating, the neuron was silenced. This allowed the researchers to manipulate the activity of piezo-expressing neurons.  

“This step proved to be a big challenge for us,” Kamikouchi said. “Using optogenetics, specific neurons are silenced only when exposed to photostimulation. However, our interest was silencing neural activity during copulation. Therefore, we had to make sure that the light was only turned on during mating. However, if the experimenter manually turned the photostimulation on in response to the animal's copulation, they needed to observe the animal throughout the experiment. Waiting around for fruit flies to mate is incredibly time-consuming.”  

The observation problem led the group to establish an experimental deep learning system that could recognize copulation. By training the AI to recognize when sexual intercourse was occurring, they could automatically control photostimulation. This allowed them to discover that when piezo-expressing neurons were inhibited, males adopted a wonky, largely ineffective mating posture. As one might expect, the males that showed difficulty in adopting an appropriate sexual position had fewer offspring. They concluded that a key role of the piezo gene was helping the male shift his axis in response to the female for maximum mating success.  

“Piezo proteins have been implicated in a variety of physiological processes, including touch sensation, hearing, blood pressure regulation, and bladder function,” said Kamikouchi. “Now our findings suggest that reproduction can be added to the list. Since mating is an important behavior for reproduction that is widely conserved in animals, understanding its control mechanism will lead to a greater understanding of the reproductive system of animals in general.” 

Kamikouchi is enthusiastic about the use of AI in such research. “With the recent development of informatics, experimental systems and analysis methods have advanced dramatically,” she concludes. “In this research, we have succeeded in creating a device that automatically detects mating using machine learning-based real-time analysis and controls photostimulation necessary for optogenetics. To investigate the neural mechanisms that control animal behavior, it is important to conduct experiments in which neural activity is manipulated only when an individual exhibits a specific behavior. The method established in this study can be applied not only to the study of mating in fruit flies but also to various behaviors in other animals. It should make a significant contribution to the promotion of neurobiological research.”

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JOURNAL

iScience

DOI

10.1016/j.isci.2023.106617 

New developments for high-speed internet from space enabled by coherent modulation and adaptive optics

Peer-Reviewed Publication

LIGHT PUBLISHING CENTER, CHANGCHUN INSTITUTE OF OPTICS, FINE MECHANICS AND PHYSICS, CAS

 

IMAGE: VISION OF A SATELLITE COMMUNICATION LINKS BASED ON OPTICAL TECHNOLOGIES THAT PROVIDE INTERNET CONNECTIVITY TO THE EARTH FROM SPACE. AN OPTICAL SPACE NETWORK WOULD ONLY REQUIRE A LIMITED NUMBER OF GROUND STATIONS, STRATEGICALLY EMBEDDED IN A CONTINENTAL FIBRE NETWORK, TO MITIGATE POTENTIAL CLOUD OBSTRUCTION WHEN TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING INFORMATION ARE NEEDED TO AND FROM SPACE. view more 

CREDIT: BY YANNIK HORST, BERTOLD IAN BITACHON, LAURENZ KULMER, JANNIK BRUN, TOBIAS BLATTER, JEAN-MARC CONAN, AURÉLIE MONTMERLE-BONNEFOIS, JOSEPH MONTRI, BÉATRICE SORRENTE, CAROLINE B. LIM, NICOLAS VÉDRENNE, DANIEL MATTER, LOANN POMMAREL, BENEDIKT BAEUERLE AND JUERG LEUTHOLD

Internet from space via satellite has become a topic of interest. Commercial satellite networks, such as SpaceX Starlink and Telesat LightspeedTM, aim to provide high-speed Internet to remote and rural areas where traditional communication technologies are not available. A major challenge in this endeavour is the transfer of large amount of data between satellites and ground-stations from earth. The data rates required for this are in the order of Tbit/s, which can be hardly met by current radio-frequency technologies due to low bandwidth. “Free-space optical communication technologies offer a potential solution, as they can achieve unprecedented high throughputs by exploiting the license-free optical bandwidth und thus, greatly reduce the number of needed ground stations.” says Yannik Horst, lead author of the study and researcher in the group of Prof. Leuthold at ETH Zurich. Yet, optical modulation techniques and methods to mitigate atmospheric turbulence need to be found and are a subject of ongoing research.

In a new paper published in Light: Science & Applications, a team from ETH Zurich, Thales Alenia Space and Onera demonstrated a 1 Terabit per second line-rate over wireless distance of 53.42 km on a single optical carrier, an improvement of a factor five in data-rate and distance over previous experiments. To successfully carry out these experiments, the three partners combined their specific competencies. Thales Alenia Space, a French aerospace company, developed the space terminal with the precise pointing system. Onera, the French national office for aerospace studies and research, built the optical ground station with its adaptive optics system to mitigate the atmospheric turbulence and correct the phase-perturbated wavefront. ETH Zurich provided one of its key areas of expertise in advanced optical communication and was responsible for the development of the high-speed optical coherent transmitter and receiver.

In this study, they tested advanced optical modulation formats for space-earth applications. It was found that advanced modulation formats can be received with good quality despite of turbulences in atmosphere. Depending on weather conditions losses might be high though. “When power is limited, one should therefore resort to more robust modulation formats as they offer a higher sensitivity”, explains Horst.

In this matter, Leuthold’s group presents constellation modulation as a solution to transmit high data-rates despite of low signal-to-noise ratio. The group has introduced a new four-dimensional modulation format called 4D-BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying) that was first put to test in a communication link within this study. “Utilizing 4D-BPSK, we can transmit information with a sensitivity of 4.3 photons per bit at a bit-error-rate (BER) of 1∙10-3” says Horst, “we use this modulation format to show the successful transmission of up to 210 Gbit/s of information within a single-carrier.” Furthermore, it has a measured sensitivity advantage of 1.4 dB (1.7 dB simulated) and 0.7 dB (0.75 dB simulated) over polarization-multiplexed 4 QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) and polarization switched (PS) 4 QAM respectively at a BER of 1∙10-3. This is a novelty as PS 4 QAM modulation format was so far considered the most power-efficient modulation format for coherent modulation systems.

To compensate for the high losses in the turbulent 53 km free-space channel, they found that the atmospheric turbulence mitigation technique based on adaptive optics can improve the received optical power by up to 28 dB and 7 dB when compared against a simple static aberration correction or a tip-tilt correction, respectively. On top, adaptive optics is compatible with complex modulation formats, where information is encoded onto both, the amplitude and phase of the light, without performance penalty.

In future applications, the 1 channel 1 Terabit per second transmission can be easily scaled to a 50-channel transmission link by using wavelength division multiplexing. This might result in a > 50 Terabits per second space link using conventional technologies. The commercialization of the product is now up to the industrial partners, says Leuthold. Instead, the scientists from ETH will continue in their effort to boost the Internet with novel modulation techniques and device concepts.

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JOURNAL

Light Science & Applications

DOI

10.1038/s41377-023-01201-7 

Glial control of parallel memory processing

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TOHOKU UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: WHEN A MOUSE IS PRESENTED WITH AN IMAGE THAT OSCILLATES LEFT AND RIGHT, THE MOUSE INITIALLY CANNOT FOLLOW THE IMAGE WELL, BUT AFTER REPEATED TRAINING, THE VISUAL PURSUIT OF THE IMAGE BECOMES MORE ACCURATE. IN THIS STUDY, IT WAS SHOWN THAT THERE IS ONLINE LEARNING THAT PROGRESSES DURING TRAINING AND OFFLINE LEARNING THAT PROGRESSES SLOWLY DURING POST-TRAINING REST AND THAT THE FUNCTION OF GLIAL CELLS IN THE BRAIN IS INVOLVED IN EACH LEARNING PROCESS. view more 

CREDIT: TEPPEI KANAYA & KO MATSUI

Researchers at Tohoku University have discovered that there are two parallel processes involved in memory formation when a mouse performs a motor learning task. One process occurs during training and is called online learning, while the other happens during the resting period and is called offline learning. Online learning can be boosted or reduced by manipulating glial activity, but offline learning remains unaffected by these manipulations. Understanding the cellular mechanisms underlying these independent parallel memory formation processes may lead to the development of efficient rehabilitation after strokes, dementia treatment, or realizing extended intelligence.

The findings were detailed in the journal Glia on June 26, 2023.

We have long been aware that performance may not improve much during training, but increase the next day. Alternatively, excelling during training may not carry over to the next day. Here, the researchers have shown that online and offline learning are indeed separate parallel processes governed by distinct cellular mechanisms.

Glial cells in the brain occupy almost as much volume as neurons; however, they were simply thought to fill the gaps between neurons. Recently, glial cells have been shown to be involved in the information processing in the brain, albeit in quite a different manner than that of neurons. By releasing gliotransmitters, such as glutamate, glial cells can modulate the easiness of memory formation; a process termed meta-plasticity.

The researchers used the horizontal optokinetic response paradigm to understand the role of glial cells in online and offline learning. When mice were presented with a horizontally oscillating visual stimulus, their eyes followed the screen with a lesser amplitude relative to the presented stimulus. With prolonged and repeated presentation, the amplitude increased until their eyes could perfectly pursue the screen. The performance increase during the 15 min presentation was termed online learning and the increase during the 1-hour resting period, which the mice spent in the dark, was termed offline learning.

Light-activated proteins, channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) or archaerhodopsin (ArchT) were genetically expressed specifically in glial cells to manually control glial activity. When glutamate release from glial cells was facilitated by photo-activating ChR2, online learning was augmented. However, the benefit from glial modulation was short-lasting and the performance of eye movement soon became indistinguishable from control. When the glial activity was inhibited by ArchT, online learning was completely suppressed. Interestingly, offline learning proceeded normally even in the complete absence of online learning.

"Our data shows that short- and long-term memory formation is not a serial process, but rather it is a parallel and independent process," says Professor Ko Matsui of the Super-network Brain Physiology lab at Tohoku University, who led the research. "Agonizing over the performance gained during each training or study session is unnecessary, as long-lasting achievement depends on a totally separate process."

The cellular mechanisms underlying glial modulation of online learning are now partially uncovered. Anion conducting channels expressed in glial cells mediate glutamate release, which leads to the augmentation of synaptic plasticity. The process of offline learning is less clear; however, the researchers have also found that ArchT optogenetic manipulation of glial activity during the resting period could facilitate offline learning.

"Glial cells apparently control the likelihood of plasticity to occur in the neural circuits, either during the online or offline learning process," says the lead study investigator, Dr. Teppei Kanaya. "By uncovering the details of the cellular process, we may be able to control our rapid adaptation to changes in the environment or facilitate long-term achievements."

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DOI

10.1002/glia.24431 

ARTICLE TITLE

Glial modulation of the parallel memory formation

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

26-Jun-2023

Dual-use rechargeable battery

Hybrid battery stores electricity and produces valuable chemicals at the same time

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WILEY

Rechargeable batteries store electricity in their electrode materials, while redox flow batteries use chemicals stored in tanks attached to the electrodes. Researchers have now developed a battery system based on a hybrid cell, which not only stores and provides electricity but also produces valuable chemicals in a flow system. During operation, the furfural–nickel hydroxide battery converts biomass-derived molecular furfural into either furfuryl alcohol or furoic acid.

Furfural is a small molecule formed from pentose sugars common in agricultural biomass, and it is considered an important platform chemical from which a number of intermediates can be obtained for various applications. It can be oxidized to furoic acid, a food preservative and intermediate in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and fragrances. When reduced, furfural is converted into furfuryl alcohol, a precursor in resins, flavors, and drugs. Haohong Duan and a team of researchers from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, have now succeeded in obtaining both value-added chemicals during the operation of a hybrid flow battery, increasing the cost efficiency of the battery system.

When charged, standard rechargeable batteries store electricity in their electrodes and feed it into a circuit as they discharge. Another battery type, redox flow batteries, store electricity in chemicals, with the chemical products cycling between two states and remaining within the battery. Combining both concepts, the researchers investigated the extent to which such batteries are able to produce extra chemicals while storing or providing energy.

A breakthrough came in the form of a bifunctional metal catalyst for the anode. Made of a rhodium–copper single-atom alloy, this catalyst smoothly converted electrolyte-containing furfural into furfuryl alcohol when the battery was charged, while furoic acid was formed as the battery was discharged. For the cathode, the researchers identified a cobalt-doped nickel hydroxide material, similar to cathode materials used in traditional nickel–zinc or nickel–metal hydride batteries.

This assembly led to a true dual-use battery system: after charging (using a solar cell), four series-connected hybrid batteries were able to run various devices, including LED lights and smart phones, while continually producing furfuryl alcohol and furoic acid during battery cycling, with these chemicals being conducted away using a flow system.

The authors found that the new hybrid battery is comparable to a number of common batteries in terms of energy density and power density, but it provides both power and value-added chemicals at the same time. While storing 1 kWh of energy, 0.7 kg of furfuryl alcohol is produced, and 1 kg of furoic acid is produced when the system provides a power of 0.5 kWh (on which a refrigerator can run for a couple of hours). However, furfural is continually fed into the system and the products must be separated from the electrolyte.

The team’s hybrid concept is a step toward improving the sustainability and cost effectiveness of rechargeable batteries, but there is still a need to develop the concept further.

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About the Author

Haohong Duan, PhD, is an Associate Professor and doctoral Supervisor at the Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. His research group develops novel electrocatalytic and photoelectrocatalytic reactions for materials synthesis driven by renewable sources, with an emphasis on hydrogen production, biomass conversion, plastic upcycling, and organic synthesis.

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METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Rechargeable Biomass Battery for Electricity Storage/generation and Concurrent Valuable Chemicals Production

Nottingham expert works on new project to reduce post-c-section infections in Brazil

Grant and Award Announcement

UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM

An expert at the University of Nottingham (UK) is working with nurses in Brazil to reduce the rate of post-caesarean wound infections in the country.

Caesarean births rates are considered high in Brazil, making up 45 per cent of all births in 2012, while this increases to 80 per cent in the private sector. Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation recommends that caesarean births should make up less than 15 per cent of all deliveries.

C-section incision infections (also known as post-caesarean surgical site infections (SSI)) have been highlighted as a common problem for women in the country and many around the world. The project will focus on the Amazonas region, one of the poorest and most deprived areas in Brazil.

The aim of project is to prevent infections through a new approach to managing the care of women after they have given birth by caesarean section.

The academics working on the project say that the Brazilian health system has encountered technical and operational difficulties in carrying out surveillance and prevention of post-caesarean SSI, and that there is a lack of protocols that clearly define what actions must be carried out by the entities that make up the different levels of care (primary health care, epidemiological surveillance centres and hospitals) in the health system involved in the control of post-caesarean SSI.

The project will establish an interdisciplinary research collaboration between academic researchers from Brazil and the UK that will focus on building standardised approaches to the prevention, surveillance and care of post-caesarean SSI. This will connect primary healthcare actions, SSI surveillance and hospital care.

Professor Stephen Timmons is an expert at Nottingham University Business School (UK) in the implementation of new treatments and interventions in the NHS, the NHS workforce, and new technology in health care. Professor Timmons will collaborate with academics at the Federal University of Amazonas and the Health Surveillance Foundation under the coordination of the School of Nursing at the University of São Paulo (EEUSP).

The academics have received funding from the Academy of Medical Sciences, which funds researchers to advance medical science and translate developments into benefits for patients and the wider society.

Dr Stephen Timmons, Professor of Health Services Management in the Centre for Health Innovation, Leadership and Learning at Nottingham University Business School, said: “Caesarean birth rates are rising across the world and surgical site infections are a common issue for women who have had c-sections. So this project has the potential to have a far-reaching impact if we can demonstrate that a new process for the care of women post-birth can be successful.  

“The quality of life for the women affected will be greatly improved if their care can be managed effectively, allowing them to care for their child and resume their role in work or family life. By reducing infection, or better managing the infection if it’s taken hold, we can also reduce any associated diseases that can be caused by infections that aren’t quickly and appropriately treated, reducing healthcare costs for governments and resources for hospitals.”

Chemical communication between female rats exists, and is complex

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CÓRDOBA

 

IMAGE: THE RESEARCHER WHO CARRIED OUT THE STUDY view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF CORDOBA

The UCO participates in a study that shows, through analysis of the scent marks they leave in theirsurroundings, that female rats also communicate with each other

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Scent marking is a communication strategy for many mammals. These scentmarks provide key information about the animals that leave them, with those animals that detect them often changing their behavior inresponse to them. This chemical communication has been studied in depth when it comes to males, but, in the case of females, scant attention had been paid to how they use it, to be receptive to males, or to communicate with their offspring. This dynamic had given rise to a knowledge gap regarding communication between females, which, in social species where they have to share territory, is fundamental, not only in terms of competition, but also cooperation.

A clear example of this shortcoming in knowledge was that on female rats, which are a species very often studied in medical studies to understand animals' cognitive and psychological behavior. This situation is being turned around thanks to a new study published in the journal PNAS in which University of Cordoba researcher Guadalupe Gómez Baena worked together with a team from the University of Liverpool to demonstrate that female rats communicate with each other through scent marks deposited in their environments. The direct study of the marks left by populations of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) demonstrates that use different, complex signals to communicate with each other.

"It tends to be thought that rats are very similar to mice, and that the two species use the same method to communicate. Our article shows that the communication strategy is completely different in these species. Moreover , females have never received much attention, so our article tries to shed light on communication between females,"explained the researcher with the UCO's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

At this point MUP (Major Urinary Proteins) enter into play, key in the transmission of odors through marks, and functioning differently in mice (found in the urine with which they mark) as opposed to in rats (whose marks contains sebaceous secretions, in addition to urine).

"In this work we analyze, for the first time, the marks that the animals deposit, finding that in females they contain a great variety of proteins from the clitoral glands, including a shorter version of MUPs," says Gómez Baena. This article demonstrates that connection between the clitoral glands, responsible for these sebaceous secretions, urine, and the marks left by rats, proving that these proteins, shorter in females, come from the clitoral glands. Thus, for the marks of the females to arouse interest in other females, the combination of urine and the secretion from the clitoral glands, is necessary.

What do females "talk about?"

When and why do female interrelate? To find out whether females use marks differently, depending on whether they are in heat, or the genetic identity of their counterparts, behavioral tests were carried out to determine the social context in which the females communicate.

Regardless of whether they are in heat, or the stage, females communicate with others by marking territory, because those marks may be not only to compete, but to cooperate as well. In terms of competition, they also use that communication to verify whether their counterparts are in heat, which may be beneficial during mating periods.

When responding to different marks, genetic background also matters: females increase their marking in response to that of other females of the same breed, which could reflect a motivation to communicate with females of the same colony.

This study focuses on communication between female rats, compared to the secondary position of the male here, expanding our knowledge of a species widely used in experimentation, and demonstrating the need to study the specificities of the females of other species.

Reference:

Guadalupe Gómez-Baena Kieran C. Pounder and Josiah O. Halstead and Sarah A. Roberts and Amanda J. Davidson and Mark Prescott and Robert J. Beynon and Jane L. Hurst (2023) Unraveling female communication through scent marks in the Norway rat. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Vol 120 (25) e2300794120 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2300794120 

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2300794120 

ARTICLE TITLE

Unraveling female communication through scent marks in the Norway rat

New study reveals best words for brand slogans

Peer-Reviewed Publication

CITY UNIVERSITY LONDON

A new study from Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), the University of Missouri and the University of Arizona has uncovered the word properties that make slogans effective, as the researchers found that the attributes that make a slogan easier to process lead to it being more likeable but less memorable, and vice versa.  

Previous research has recommended that slogans should be creative or capture the soul of the brand, but the authors found that people preferred slogans that are shorter, omit the brand name, and use words that are linguistically frequent and abstract. In contrast, slogans are less liked, but better remembered, if they are long, include the brand name, and feature unusual and concrete words.  

The paper, co-authored by Professor Zachary Estes, Professor of Marketing at Bayes, sheds light for the first time on the trade-offs that brands face when crafting a new slogan. It also offers marketers practical advice on choosing appropriate words, as well as guidance on how to write slogans that are either likeable or memorable in line with their strategic goals.   

Words matter  

To explore the relationship between the length and composition of a slogan and how well liked it is, the researchers carried out a large multi-method study with 820 brand slogans and a variety of experiments to uncover the word properties that make slogans more effective. They asked around 1,000 students and online workers to tell them how much they liked, or disliked, a subset of real brand slogans. Later, they also gave them a surprise recognition test to see which slogans they remembered seeing earlier.  

Following on from this experiment, the researchers identified five linguistic properties that had opposing effects on whether a slogan was liked and remembered: length, brand name, word frequency, perceptual distinctiveness, and abstractness.  

Slogans that were longer and included the brand name (Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there vs. Like a neighbor) were more frequently remembered but liked less. Conversely, slogans that included words that are more frequently used (bad breath vs. halitosis) and abstract (disease vs. halitosis) were better liked but less well remembered.   

This is because consumers fixate less often and for less time on slogan words that are frequently used and more abstract. As a result, when consumers come across fluent slogans, they are more likely to like and click on the ads but remember them less accurately.  

Snag the sensation  

Using these findings, the researchers then tried to improve existing brand slogans by making disliked ones more fluent, and forgettable slogans less fluent. In one experiment with 243 students, they found that the slogans they had made more fluent (e.g., changing Listerine’s slogan from ‘Stops halitosis’ to ‘Kills bad breath’) became better liked but also worse remembered. Conversely, slogans that they made less fluent (e.g., altering Toyota’s slogan from ‘Get the feeling’ to ‘Snag the sensation’) became better remembered but less liked.   

Another experiment using eye-tracking technology revealed that these changes occurred because participants look longer and more often at disfluent words (e.g., sensation) compared to fluent words (e.g., feeling). The researchers also saw a 28% increase in the click-through rate on a Facebook ad when they improved the fluency of a slogan, as the rate increased from 1.3% to 1.7%, reducing the cost-per-click. 

As a result, the authors suggest that brands that need to gain recognition may consider using words that are difficult to process, i.e., rare and concrete words, while established brands may want to use words that are easy to process, i.e., those that are common and abstract.  

Semantic selection  

Professor Zachary Estes, Professor of Marketing in the Faculty of Management at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), said:  

"Brands spend a lot of time and money creating and communicating slogans that consumers will like and remember. Our research identifies specific properties of words that can make a slogan better liked or better remembered, but importantly, the properties that make a slogan more likeable also make it less memorable, and vice versa.  

“To be memorable, slogans should be relatively long, include the brand name, and use rare and concrete words. For instance, BMW could make its slogan easier to remember by changing it from ‘The ultimate driving machine’ to ‘BMW is the peak driving machine’, but that would also make it harder to like. In fact, our research can be viewed as the ultimate slogan machine, and we hope that it will help marketers choose the best words for their brand." 

'Intel Inside: The Linguistic Properties of Effective Slogans' by Professor Brady Hodges (University of Missouri), Professor Zachary Estes, and Professor Caleb Warren (University of Arizona) has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research. 

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JOURNAL

Journal of Consumer Research

DOI

10.1093/jcr/ucad034 

ARTICLE TITLE

Intel Inside: The Linguistic Properties of Effective Slogans