Some further characteristics of endogenous proteinase inhibitors.

Leucocytes and spleen contain four different types of protein proteinase inhibitors. Two of them can be inactivated by cathepsin D. In this work biochemical and immunological studies of the inactivation of I-2 by cathepsin D are presented. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic examinations indicate that cathepsin D inactivates I-2 by hydrolysis of the inhibitor molecule. The conversion of the active inhibitor into inactive protein proceeds catalytically. The studies on the inhibitor mechanism of the isoinhibitors of I-1 type explain the unusual inhibitor property of this type of inhibitor to inhibit two different types of proteinases, cysteine and serine. The evidence suggests that the inhibitory mechanism is based on an active sulfhydryl group of the inhibitor which may interact with the disulfide bridge of the inhibited proteinase

FlexNet wide area monitoring system

This paper presents the results of collaborative research from the SUPERGEN FlexNet Consortium into Wide Area Monitoring, Protection and Control (WAMPAC). The focus of the research addresses the design and development of an optimal WAMPAC architecture, communication infrastructure and real-time WAMPAC applications which will play an important role in future GB power network operation and understanding. The article concludes with an assessment of inter-area oscillations based on data records captured by the wide area monitoring system (WAMS) established as part of the FlexNet project

Selecting appropriate empirical antibiotic regimens for paediatric bloodstream infections : Application of a Bayesian decision model to local and pooled antimicrobial resistance surveillance data

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the ability of weighted-incidence syndromic combination antibiograms (WISCAs) to inform the selection of empirical antibiotic regimens for suspected paediatric bloodstream infections (BSIs) by comparing WISCAs derived using data from single hospitals and from a multicentre surveillance dataset. Methods: WISCAs were developed by estimating the coverage of five empirical antibiotic regimens for childhood BSI using a Bayesian decision tree. The study used microbiological data on ~2000 bloodstream isolates collected over 2 years from 19 European hospitals. We evaluated the ability of a WISCA to show differences in regimen coverage at two exemplar hospitals. For each, a WISCA was first calculated using only their local data; a second WISCA was calculated using pooled data from all 19 hospitals. Results: The estimated coverage of the five regimens was 72%-86% for Hospital 1 and 79%-94% for Hospital 2, based on their own data. In both cases, the best regimens could not be definitively identified because the differences in coverage were not statistically significant. For Hospital 1, coverage estimates derived using pooled data gave sufficient precision to reveal clinically important differences among regimens, including high coverage provided by a narrow-spectrum antibiotic combination. For Hospital 2, the hospital and pooled data showed signs of heterogeneity and the use of pooled data was judged not to be appropriate. Conclusions: The Bayesian WISCA provides a useful approach to pooling information from different sources to guide empirical therapy and could increase confidence in the selection of narrow-spectrum regimens