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Treatment failure in pneumococcal meningitis due to antibiotic resistance is an increasing clinical challenge and alternatives to antibiotics warrant investigation. Phage-derived endolysins efficiently kill gram-positive bacteria including multi-drug resistant strains, making them attractive therapeutic candidates. The current study assessed the therapeutic potential of the novel endolysin PlyAZ3aT in an infant rat model of ceftriaxone-resistant pneumococcal meningitis. Efficacy of PlyAZ3aT was assessed in a randomized, blinded and controlled experimental study in infant Wistar rats. Meningitis was induced by intracisternal infection with 5 x 107 CFU/ml of a ceftriaxone-resistant clinical strain of S. pneumoniae, serotype 19A. Seventeen hours post infection (hpi), animals were randomized into 3 treatment groups and received either (i) placebo (phosphate buffered saline [PBS], n = 8), (ii) 50 mg/kg vancomycin (n = 10) or (iii) 400 mg/kg PlyAZ3aT (n = 8) via intraperitoneal injection. Treatments were repeated after 12 h. Survival at 42 hpi was the primary outcome; bacterial loads in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood were secondary outcomes. Additionally, pharmacokinetics of PlyAZ3aT in serum and CSF was assessed. PlyAZ3aT did not improve survival compared to PBS, while survival for vancomycin treated animals was 70% which is a significant improvement when compared to PBS or PlyAZ3aT (p

International audience

This document describes the data underlying the modelling works for Deliverable 8.2 Market uptake of concentrating solar power in Europe: model-based analysis of drivers and policy trade-offs (Resch et al., 2020). They were conducted using the Green-X model (TU Wien) and the Enertile model (Fraunhofer ISI). Sufficiently high climate ambitions are another enabler of CSP development, because they hinder the use of fossil power plants as a backup of fluctuating renewables and supply of electricity demand exceeding the realizable potential of other renewables. Hence, CSP with its additional advantage of dispatchability becomes more important under such conditions.

We conducted a model-based analysis evaluating the role of CSP in the EU electricity system up to 2050. In particular, we analysed how cooperation, sector coupling, electricity demand levels, underlying RES policy concepts and pathways, and infrastructural developments/prerequisites impact the market uptake of CSP in the EU. Our results show, that cooperation among European countries leads to higher expansions of CSP power plants than the pathway following national preferences. Sufficiently high climate ambitions are another enabler of CSP development, because they hinder the use of fossil power plants as a backup of fluctuating renewables and supply of electricity demand exceeding the realizable potential of other renewables. Hence, CSP with its additional advantage of dispatchability becomes more important under such conditions.

Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) offers flexible and decarbonised power generation and is - as a solar power-based balancing opportunity – able to contribute to the transition towards sustainable and stable future electricity systems. To have this technology available for the generation portfolio in Europe when it will be needed, certain conditions in the electricity systems have to be met. In this report, we shed a light on key factors and pivotal decisions for successful CSP deployment in Europe. From the wide range of factors that are relevant for CSP deployment in Europe’s future electricity system, we elaborate in particular on the effect of cooperation, demand-side management, electricity grid expansion, decarbonisation ambition, technology cost developments of CSP and competing technologies, sector coupling, and increasing shares of fluctuating renewables and nuclear phase-out on CSP deployment. This assessment condenses many different outcomes of the MUSTEC project so far and is based on the policy pathway elaboration (WP7) and the core findings from the integrated model-based assessment (WP8). Compiled from these MUSTEC research activities, we present in this report the key drivers and policy decisions that are needed for effective CSP deployment in Europe in the coming years up to 2050.

Phage therapy is increasingly put forward as a "new" potential tool in the fight against antibiotic resistant infections. During the "Centennial Celebration of Bacteriophage Research" conference in Tbilisi, Georgia on 26-29 June 2017, an international group of phage researchers committed to elaborate an expert opinion on three contentious phage therapy related issues that are hampering clinical progress in the field of phage therapy. This paper explores and discusses bacterial phage resistance, phage training and the presence of prophages in bacterial production strains while reviewing relevant research findings and experiences. Our purpose is to inform phage therapy stakeholders such as policy makers, officials of the competent authorities for medicines, phage researchers and phage producers, and members of the pharmaceutical industry. This brief also points out potential avenues for future phage therapy research and development as it specifically addresses those overarching questions that currently call for attention whenever phages go into purification processes for application.