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In 1987 the Australasian Law Teachers Association (ALTA) Law Teaching Workshop celebrated its tenth anniversary. For over a decade, it has conducted residential workshops for law teachers in the Australasian region annually, and in 1994 it sponsored the first advanced workshop for participants of earlier workshops. Although the workshop has evolved since its introduction into Australia from Canada by Professors Neil Gold and Mary Gerace, its main aim has remained the same — to professionalise the teaching of law in tertiary institutions in the Australasian region. It is, therefore, somewhat fitting that, by chance, ten years on, workshops were held in York, Western Australia and in Bangalore, India.

Given the high mortality rate observed in our data, tocilizumab is not recommended as a salvage therapy for patients affected by acute exacerbation of pulmonary fibrosis who did not show clinical improvement after three steroids bolus https://bit.ly/3ClggYb., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: M. Le Brun reports grants or contracts from GSK and AstraZeneca; payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, manuscript writing or educational events from GSK, La revue du praticien and AstraZeneca; and support for attending meetings and/or travel from Asten Santé, Novartis and Sanofi; all outside the submitted work. Q. Philippot reports grants or contracts from Fondation Bettencourt Schuller and royalties or licenses form Elsevier, all outside the submitted work. C. Dupin reports consulting fees from AstraZeneca, Sanofi and GSK; lecture honoraria from AstraZeneca, GSK, Sanofi, Novartis, Chiesi, OPA Pratique, Pneumoscoop and La Lettre du Pneumologue; and travel support from AstraZeneca, Sanofi, Novartis, Chiesi and GSK; all outside the submitted work. M-P. Debray reports consulting fees from Boehringer Ingelheim and Sanofi, and support for attending meetings and/or travel form Boehringer Ingelheim, all outside the submitted work. R. Borie reports consulting fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, Ferrer and Sanofi; payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, manuscript writing or educational events from Boehringer Ingelheim; and support for attending meetings and/or travel form Boehringer Ingelheim, all outside the submitted work. B. Crestani reports grants or contracts from Boehringer Ingelheim; consulting fees from BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, GSK and Sanofi; payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, manuscript writing or educational events from AstraZeneca, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Novartis, Roche and Sanofi; support for attending meetings and/or travel from AstraZeneca, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Roche and Sanofi; participation on a data safety monitoring board or advisory board for BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Horizon and Sanofi; and he is president of the board of the Fondation du Souffle, a French charity, all outside the submitted work. G. Franco, P. Le Guen, C. Bancal and C. Taillé have no conflict of interest to declare., (Copyright ©The authors 2024.)

Articular manifestations should be screened before and during anti-IL-5/5R biologic treatment in severe asthma. Rigorous multidisciplinary team discussion should be carried out to assess the risk-benefit balance of withholding effective treatment. https://bit.ly/3vfPn4k., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: C. Dupin reports consulting fees from AstraZeneca, Sanofi and GSK; lecture honoraria from AstraZeneca, GSK, Sanofi, Novartis, Chiesi, OPA Pratique, Pneumoscoop and La Lettre du Pneumologue; and travel support from AstraZeneca, Sanofi, Novartis, Chiesi and GSK; all outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: L. Guilleminault reports grants from AstraZeneca; consulting fees from Bayer, MSD, AstraZeneca, GSK, Novartis, Sanofi and Chiesi; lecture honoraria from MSD, AstraZeneca, GSK, Novartis, Sanofi and Chiesi; payment for expert testimony from Bayer, MSD and Sanofi; and travel support from MSD, AstraZeneca, GSK, Novartis and Sanofi; all outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: G. Devouassoux reports lecture or consulting fees from GSK, Menarini, ALK, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Chiesi and Sanofi; payment for expert testimony from GSK, AstraZeneca, Sanofi and Chiesi; and travel support from AstraZeneca, GSK, Sanofi, Novartis, Chiesi; all outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: M. Le Brun reports grants from GSK, AstenSante and Novartis; lecture honoraria from GSK and La Revue du Praticien; and travel support from Asten Santé and Novartis; all outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: G. Mourin reports lecture honoraria from AstraZeneca and GSK; and travel support from AstraZeneca, Sanofi, Menarini and GSK; all outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: P. Bonniaud reports grants from AstraZeneca; lecture honoraria from Sanofi and AstraZeneca; travel support from AstraZeneca, Novartis and Sanofi; advisory board participation from AstraZeneca, Novartis, Sanofi and GSK; all outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: E. Ebstein reports consulting fees from Abbvie, Novartis and BMS; lecture honoraria from UCB and Galapagos; and travel support from UCB and Novartis; all outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: C. Taillé reports grants from GSK; consulting fees from AstraZeneca, GSK and Sanofi; lecture honoraria from AstraZeneca, GSK, Sanofi, Novartis, Stallergenes and Chiesi; and travel support from AstraZeneca and GSK; all outside the submitted work. Conflict of interest: S. Valéry, M. Merveilleau, M. Russier, J. Pradelli, P-A. Juge all have nothing to disclose., (Copyright ©The authors 2024.)

Background: At the time of the SARS-CoV-2 emergence, asthma patients were initially considered vulnerable because respiratory viruses, especially influenza, are associated with asthma exacerbations, increased risk of hospitalization and more severe disease course. We aimed to compare the asthma prevalence in patients hospitalized for COVID-19 or influenza and risk factors associated with poor prognosis with the diseases., Methods: This retrospective cohort study used the Paris university hospitals clinical data warehouse to identify adults hospitalized for COVID-19 (January to June 2020) or influenza (November 2017 to March 2018 for the 2017-2018 influenza period and November 2018 to March 2019 for the 2018-2019 period). Asthma patients were identified with J45 and J46 ICD-10 codes. Poor outcomes were defined as admission in intensive care or death., Results: Asthma prevalence was significantly higher among influenza than COVID-19 patients (n = 283/3 119, 9.1%, 95% CI [8.1-10.1] in 2017-2018 and n = 309/3 266, 9.5%, 95% CI [8.5-10.5] in 2018-2019 versus n = 402/9 009, 4.5%, 95% CI [4.0-4.9]). For asthma patients, 31% with COVID-19 were admitted to an intensive care unit versus 23% and 21% with influenza. Obesity was a risk factor for the 2017-2018 influenza period, smoking and heart failure for the 2018-2019 period. Among COVID-19 patients with asthma, smoking and obesity were risk factors for the severe form., Conclusions: In this study, patients with an asthma ICD-10 code were less represented among COVID-19 patients than among influenza-infected ones. However, outcomes were poorer for COVID-19 than influenza patients, both with asthma. These data highlight the importance of protective shields and vaccination against influenza and COVID-19 in this population., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Lockdown measures during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in France led to serious public health concerns over people who use illicit drugs, especially in terms of mental health. We assessed changes in cannabis use during the first lockdown in France among daily cannabis users and associated correlates., Methods: CANNAVID is a French, national, cross-sectional web-based survey, conducted from 17 April to 11 May 2020. Daily cannabis users aged ≥ 18 years and living in France were invited to participate through advertisements. Respondents completed an ad hoc questionnaire on a dedicated online platform. We analyzed changes in cannabis use during the first lockdown (i.e., stopped, decreased, unchanged, or increased) and performed a multinomial logistic regression analysis to evaluate correlates of these changes., Results: Of the 4019 participants, 74.0% were men. Median age was 27 years (interquartile range: 22-37). With regard to cannabis use, 293 (7.3%) persons stopped, 1153 (28.7%) decreased, 1146 (28.5%) did not change, and 1427 (35.5%) increased their use during the lockdown. A multinomial logistic regression model revealed several sociodemographic, behavioral and health-related factors associated with changes in cannabis use. Compared with participants with an unchanged level of cannabis use during the lockdown, those who increased and those who stopped cannabis use were more likely to have increased tobacco and alcohol use and to have experienced depression and sleep disorders intensification. Those who stopped cannabis use were also more likely to have increased benzodiazepine use and to have experienced pain increase during lockdown., Conclusions: France's first COVID-19-related lockdown had a differential impact on daily cannabis users' consumption patterns. Most study respondents reported changes to their cannabis consumption pattern. Those who reported a stable cannabis use were more likely to report fewer negative changes. Specific interventions are needed for this population, as well as research to assess the long-term impacts of these changes., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Members of the pathogenic Legionella genus encounter suitable growth conditions in nuclear power plant cooling circuits. To limit its proliferation and ensure that levels remain below regulatory thresholds, chemical treatment with monochloramine can be used in continuous or sequential conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of monochloramine on L. pneumophila subpopulations in the cooling circuits of a nuclear power plant. The chosen procedure involved monitoring the diversity and dynamics of L. pneumophila subpopulations every month over the course of a year in a nuclear power plant cooling circuit, which was treated for 2 months during the period under study. This study confirmed the effectiveness of monochloramine to limit L. pneumophila concentrations in cooling circuits. The culturable L. pneumophila community was strongly affected by the injection of monochloramine. Several subpopulations persisted during treatment at low concentrations (below the detection limit of standard methods), suggesting that the susceptibility of L. pneumophila is strain dependent. Although the composition of the subpopulations was not similar, the resilience of the community structure was observed. Indeed, the community eventually returned to its initial structure and presented a similar pattern of richness, diversity and uniformity to that seen before treatment., (© 2013 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Members of the Legionella genus find suitable conditions for their growth and survival in nuclear power plant cooling circuits. To limit the proliferation of Legionella pathogenic bacteria in nuclear power plant cooling circuits, and ensure that levels remain below regulatory thresholds, monochloramine treatment can be used. Although the treatment is highly effective, i.e. it reduces Legionella numbers by over 99%, Legionella bacteria can still be detected at low concentrations and rapid re-colonisation of circuits can occur after the treatment has ceased. The aim of this study was to develop an in vitro methodology for determining the intrinsic susceptibility of L. pneumophila strains, collected from various nuclear power plant cooling circuits subjected to different treatment conditions. The methodology was developed by using an original approach based on response surface methodology (RSM) combined with a multifactorial experimental design. The susceptibility was evaluated by the Ct factor. The susceptibility of environmental strains varies widely and is, for some strains, greater than that of known tolerant species; however, strain susceptibility was not related to treatment conditions. Selection pressure induced by monochloramine use did not result in the selection of more tolerant Legionella strains and did not explain the detection of Legionella during treatment or the rapid re-colonisation of cooling circuits after disinfection has ceased.

A new method for the rapid and sensitive detection of Legionella pneumophila in hot water systems has been developed. The method is based on an IF assay combined with detection by solid-phase cytometry. This method allowed the enumeration of L. pneumophila serogroup 1 and L. pneumophila serogroups 2 to 6, 8 to 10, and 12 to 15 in tap water samples within 3 to 4 h. The sensitivity of the method was between 10 and 100 bacteria per liter and was principally limited by the filtration capacity of membranes. The specificity of the antibody was evaluated against 15 non-Legionella strains, and no cross-reactivity was observed. When the method was applied to natural waters, direct counts of L. pneumophila were compared with the number of CFU obtained by the standard culture method. Direct counts were always higher than culturable counts, and the ratio between the two methods ranged from 1.4 to 325. Solid-phase cytometry offers a fast and sensitive alternative to the culture method for L. pneumophila screening in hot water systems.