No abstract

Six azole-derivative antifungal compounds affected several aspects of Candida albicans hyphal development with only a relatively small degree of inhibition of growth rate, measured in terms of ATP concentration, whereas amphotericin B and 5-fluorocytosine affected morphology only when they also substantially inhibited fungal growth rate. At 10(-8) M, all the azoles tested inhibited branch formation by C. albicans hyphae. At 10(-7) M and higher concentrations, clotrimazole and miconazole strongly suppressed emergence of new hyphal outgrowths from parent yeast cells, whereas ICI 153066 and itraconazole had little effect on this phenomenon and ketoconazole and tioconazole had intermediate effects. At the highest concentrations tested (10(-5) M) hyphal development was ultimately arrested by the azole compounds and the fungus grew predominantly in the form of budding yeast cells; however, none of the azole antifungals prevented initial emergence of an apparently normal germ tube. The antifungals only exerted their morphological effects when they were present in the culture medium: removal of the compounds after exposure of C. albicans to them led to reversion to normal growth.

No abstract

The market dynamics, and their impact on a future circular economy for lithium-ion batteries (LIB), are presented in this roadmap, with safety as an integral consideration throughout the life cycle. At the point of end-of-life, there is a range of potential options – remanufacturing, reuse and recycling. Diagnostics play a significant role in evaluating the state of health and condition of batteries, and improvements to diagnostic techniques are evaluated. At present, manual disassembly dominates end-of-life disposal, however, given the volumes of future batteries that are to be anticipated, automated approaches to the dismantling of end-of-life battery packs will be key. The first stage in recycling after the removal of the cells is the initial cell-breaking or opening step. Approaches to this are reviewed, contrasting shredding and cell disassembly as two alternative approaches. Design for recycling is one approach that could assist in easier disassembly of cells, and new approaches to cell design that could enable the circular economy of LIBs are reviewed. After disassembly, subsequent separation of the black mass is performed before further concentration of components. There are a plethora of alternative approaches for recovering materials; this roadmap sets out the future directions for a range of approaches including pyrometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, short-loop, direct, and the biological recovery of LIB materials. Furthermore, anode, lithium, electrolyte, binder and plastics recovery are considered in the range of approaches in order to maximise the proportion of materials recovered, minimise waste and point the way towards zero-waste recycling. The life-cycle implications of a circular economy are discussed considering the overall system of LIB recycling, and also directly investigating the different recycling methods. The legal and regulatory perspectives are also considered. Finally, with a view to the future, approaches for next-generation battery chemistries and recycling are evaluated, identifying gaps for research.

Nine new antifungal agents were tested for their activity in vitro in terms of relative inhibition factors (RIFs) against 26 isolates of Candida species, eight isolates of Aspergillus species and six isolates of dermatophyte fungi. Eight of the new compounds were azole antifungals, the ninth was a phenylmorpholine derivative. Against Candida species, all the novel compounds gave RIFs that were of a similar order to RIFs for established imidazole compounds. Two topical antifungals, butoconazole and terconazole, and two systemic antifungals, itraconazole and vibunazole, gave mean RIFs less than 60% in tests with Candida species, and therefore matched clotrimazole, ketoconazole and tioconazole in terms of RIF. However, none of the new compounds gave RIFs as low as amphotericin B against the Candida isolates. Against Aspergillus isolates, itraconazole, with a mean RIF of 25%, was even more active in vitro than amphotericin B. Vibunazole was as active as ketoconazole against Aspergillus isolates. All the new antifungals except Bay l-9139 gave very low RIFs against dermatophyte isolates, and thus matched established imidazole antifungals for inhibitory effects in vitro. In terms of RIF data, all the nine new compounds tested appear to offer reasonable potential for antifungal chemotherapy in vivo. A similar conclusion would not have been drawn from minimal inhibitory concentration data, which tended to show most of the new antifungals in a very poor light. Tests with amphotericin B, 5-fluorocytosine and ketoconazole showed that RIF can vary substantially with the pH of the test medium. For amphotericin B and ketoconazole the best activity was seen at neutral pH values; for 5-fluorocytosine the greatest inhibitory activity was found at lower pH values.