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In 2005, researchers and policymakers gathered in Istanbul, Turkey for a conference, Delivery Systems for Substance Abuse Treatment, to address the internationally shared problem of substance use disorders. The conference included participants from the United States, Israel, and neighboring Middle Eastern countries and territories and was structured to create conditions that behavioral scientists have identified as key factors in facilitating successful intergroup contact. At the conclusion of the meeting, attendees reported being more likely to work with people from other countries or territories in their region as a result of the conference. Five years later, surveyed attendees reported having engaged in cooperative activities that the participants attributed at least in part to the conference. A number of concrete and verifiable examples of joint efforts between participants from the United States, Israel, and other Middle Eastern countries and territories were provided, suggesting the conference had a meaningful and lasting impact. This occurred despite a generally poor and declining environment for cooperation during this same period. These outcomes suggest that psychological principles can be successfully applied to real-world meetings, and that this may be a useful method for reaching participants who would not otherwise be reached by meetings explicitly promoted as peace-related. Limitations of this study include its descriptive nature and lack of a comparison group, which prevents conclusions regarding causality or magnitude of effect. This is a first step; in the future, controlled studies are needed to provide a stronger test of the effect of such structured meetings on outcomes. © 2014 American Psychological Association.

Kaori Kurata,1 Michi Onuki,2 Kazuki Yoshizumi,3 Eitaro Taniai,3 Akira Dobashi11Education and Research Institute of Information Science, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan; 2Insurance Pharmacy Division, Yakuju Co. Ltd, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan; 3Information Headquarters, Yakuju Co. Ltd., Yamato-shi, Kanagawa, JapanAim: Our study aimed to clarify how long outpatients with chronic diseases such as hypertension continuously fill prescriptions for the same medications as those prescribed initially and how many medications they take over the long term.Methods: Medication records from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017 with total days between initial and final dispensation date ≥330 days and total days of medication supplies ≥180 days were extracted from an electronic database in a Japanese community pharmacy chain. The continuity of refilling medications over 1 year (ie, medication fill adherence) was measured using the medication possession ratio (MPR).Results: A total of 34,549 outpatients received long-term medications under the above conditions (4.4% of all patients in the database). Mean age was 66.0±17.4 years; 63.1% were ≥65 years. The mean number of medications prescribed per patient was 3.2±2.3. More than one-fifth of patients (22.6%) were taking ≥5 medications. The mean MPR for patients overall was 93.6±11.2%; 87.2% of patients had an MPR ≥80% but 90% for around 3 medications. It can be reasonably assumed that these patients could receive a longer-term medication supply with the partial fills based on a physician’s instruction (“Bunkatu Chozai” in Japanese). This longer-term supply would be similar to a basic prescription refill, but would require a physician’s signature allowing for partial refills rather than a new prescription for each refill.Keywords: outpatient, partial fill, long-term medication, medication possession ratio, chronic disease, refill prescription

Aims: To develop a rapid and simple method for quantifying viral DNA concentrations and determining viral quantities in activated sludge. Methods and Results: Activated sludge samples were obtained from three full-scale and one laboratory-scale process. They were centrifuged and the supernatant was filtered through a 0·2-μm membrane filter. Free DNA was removed by DNase-I treatment; any DNA within the viral capsid was liberated by heat treatment and proteinase K, and viral DNA concentrations were determined using the dye PicoGreen®. To validate the method, we assessed the recovery of T4 phage added to filtered samples, which was 99% of those added. Viral DNA concentrations in samples from full-scale plants ranged from 69 to 157 ng ml−1. Monitoring of laboratory-scale reactor samples revealed that viral DNA concentrations varied with time. Our method involves a simple sample treatment protocol and allow rapid analysis of many samples. Conclusions: A simple, rapid and sensitive method was developed and successfully used to determine the viral DNA concentrations in activated sludge. Significance and Impact of the Study: This method provides a way to investigate impact of bacteriophages on the performance of wastewater treatment processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microbial community in a biological phosphorus removal process under different electron acceptor conditions was estimated by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) assay and principal-component analysis (PCA). For this purpose, a lab-scale sequencing batch reactor (SBR) fed with municipal wastewater was operated under anaerobic-aerobic, anaerobicanoxic-aerobic and anaerobic-anoxic conditions. The results of PCR-DGGE targeting the 16S rRNA gene indicated a significant shift in the microbial community with electron acceptor conditions. From the 16S rRNA-based PCA, the microbial shift implies that little oxygen supply caused the deterioration of aerobic bacteria, including aerobic polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs). Moreover, it also reflects the existence of nitrate-utilizing denitrifiers. On the other hand, although the band patterns of DGGE targeting a functional gene of denitrification (nirS) also showed the microbial shift, the result of PCA differed from that of 16S rRNA-based analysis. There is no conclusive proof that the bacteria represented as the dominant bands detected in the present study are denitrifying-PAOs so far, it should be worthwhile to identify the detected bacteria and to examine their traits as new denitrifying-PAO candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]