Cloud Computing - værd at overveje

OCLC, LibLime og DuraSpace er eksempler på biblioteksaktører, som er længst fremme med Cloud Computing. Læs her hvorfor konceptet har et stort potentiale, og hvorfor alle biblioteker bør overveje det i forhold til økonomi og samarbejde

Mapping of the spontaneous deletion in the Ap3d1 gene of mocha mice: fast and reliable genotyping

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The <it>mocha </it>mouse carries a spontaneous deletion in the <it>Ap3d1 </it>gene, encoding the delta 1 subunit of the adaptor related protein complex 3, (Ap3d1), and subsequently lack the expression of functional AP-3. This leads to a deficiency in vesicle transport and storage, which affects neurotransmitter vesicle turnover and release in the central nervous system. Since the genomic sequence of the <it>Ap3d1 </it>gene of <it>mocha </it>mouse is not known, precise mapping of the deletion as well as reliable genotyping protocols are lacking.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>We sequenced the <it>Ap3d1 </it>gene (HGNC GeneID: 8943) around the deletion site in the <it>mocha </it>mouse and revealed a 10639 bp deletion covering exon 2 to 6. Subsequently, new PCR primers were designed yielding a reliable genotyping protocol of both newborn and adult tissue. To examine the genotypes further, hippocampal neurons were cultured from <it>mocha </it>and control mice. Patch-clamp recordings showed that <it>mocha </it>neurons had a higher input resistance, and that autaptic EPSC in <it>mocha </it>cultures depressed faster and stronger as compared with control cultures.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our study reports the sequence of the deleted part of the <it>Ap3d1 </it>gene in <it>mocha </it>mice, as well as a reliable PCR-based genotyping protocol. We cultured hippocampal neurons from control and <it>mocha </it>mice, and found a difference in input resistance of the neurons, and in the synaptic short-term plasticity of glutamatergic autapses showing a larger synaptic depression than controls. The described procedures may be useful for the future utilization of the <it>mocha </it>mouse as a model of defective vesicle biogenesis. Importantly, as genotyping by eye color is complicated in newborn mice, the designed protocol is so fast and reliable that newborn mice could rapidly be genotyped and hippocampal neurons dissociated and cultured, which is normally best done at P0-P2.</p

Molecular recognition of lipopolysaccaride by the lantibiotic nisin

Nisin is a lanthionine antimicrobial effective against diverse Gram-positive bacteria and is used as a food preservative worldwide. Its action is mediated by pyrophosphate recognition of the bacterial cell wall receptors lipid II and undecaprenyl pyrophosphate. Nisin/receptor complexes disrupt cytoplasmic membranes, inhibit cell wall synthesis and dysregulate bacterial cell division. Gram-negative bacteria are much more tolerant to antimicrobials including nisin. In contrast to Gram-positives, Gram-negative bacteria possess an outer membrane, the major constituent of which is lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This contains surface exposed phosphate and pyrophosphate groups and hence can be targeted by nisin. Here we describe the impact of LPS on membrane stability in response to nisin and the molecular interactions occurring between nisin and membrane-embedded LPS from different Gram-negative bacteria. Dye release from liposomes shows enhanced susceptibility to nisin in the presence of LPS, particularly rough LPS chemotypes that lack an O-antigen whereas LPS from microorganisms sharing similar ecological niches with antimicrobial producers provides only modest enhancement. Increased susceptibility was observed with LPS from pathogenic Klebsiella pneumoniae compared to LPS from enteropathogenic Salmonella enterica and gut commensal Escherichia coli. LPS from Brucella melitensis, an intra-cellular pathogen which is adapted to invade professional and non-professional phagocytes, appears to be refractory to nisin. Molecular complex formation between nisin and LPS was studied by solid state MAS NMR and revealed complex formation between nisin and LPS from most organisms investigated except B. melitensis. LPS/nisin complex formation was confirmed in outer membrane extracts from E. coli

Implementation of the integrated management of childhood illnesses strategy in Peru and its association with health indicators: an ecological analysis

Objetivos: 1) Documentar las tendencias en la implementación de la atención integrada a las enfermedades prevalentes de la infancia (Aiepi) en los 24 departamentos del país, de 1996 al 2000. 2) Documentar las tendencias en los indicadores de cobertura de servicios de salud y en los de impacto (mortalidad y estado nutricional) para el mismo período. 3) Correlacionar los cambios en estos dos grupos de indicadores. Y, 4) intentar descartar factores contextuales que puedan afectar las tendencias y las correlaciones observadas. Materiales y Métodos: Se realizó un análisis ecológico en el que las unidades de estudio fueron los 24 departamentos. Resultados: Para el 2000, 10,2% de trabajadores clínicos (médicos y enfermeras) fueron capacitados en Aiepi, pero solo algunos departamentos mostraron tasas considerablemente mayores. No hubo asociaciones significativas entre la cobertura de capacitación clínica en Aiepi y los indicadores de utilización de consultas externas, cobertura de vacunas, mortalidad o desnutrición. La falta de asociación persistió luego de haber realizado el ajuste de varios factores contextuales incluyendo indicadores socioeconómicos y ambientales y la presencia de otros proyectos de salud del niño. Los agentes comunitarios de salud también fueron capacitados en Aiepi y la cobertura de capacitación no estuvo asociada con ninguno de los indicadores de proceso o de impacto, excepto una correlación positiva y significativa con el promedio de talla para edad. De acuerdo al modelo de impacto de la Evaluación Multi-País del Impacto, Costo y Efectividad de Aiepi (EMP), la implementación de Aiepi debe ser lo suficientemente fuerte para llevar a un impacto en la salud y la nutrición. Conclusiones: El soporte de los sistemas de salud para la implementación de Aiepi en el Perú estuvo lejos de ser adecuada, y esto, así como coberturas de capacitación relativamente bajas, pueden explicar porqué no se documentó el impacto esperado. Sin embargo, incluso los departamentos con altos niveles de cobertura de capacitación no mostraron un impacto. Se discute estos resultados en el contexto de otros dos estudios de la EMP, realizados en Tanzania y Bangladesh, en los que se constató un impacto positivo de Aiepi fuertemente implementado, y se propone posibles explicaciones para estas discrepancias.Objectives: (1) To document trends in integrated management of childhood illnesses (IMCI) implementation in the 24 departments of Peru from 1996 to 2000. (2) To documenttrends in indicators of health services coverage and impact(mortality and nutritional status) for the same period. (3) To correlate changes in these two sets of indicators. And (4)to attempt to rule out contextual factors that may affect the observed trends and correlations. Materials and Methods: An ecological analysis was performed in which the units of study were the 24 departments.Results: By 2000, 10,2% of clinical health workers were trained in IMCI,but some districts showed considerably higher rates. There were no significant associations between clinical IMCI training coverageand indicators of outpatient utilization, vaccine coverage, mortality or malnutrition. The lack of association persisted after adjustment for several contextual factors including socioeconomic and environmental indicators and the presence of other childhealth projects. Community health workers were also trainedin IMCI, and training coverage was not associated with any of the process or impact indicators, except for a significant positivecorrelation with mean height for age. According to the MCE impactmodel, IMCI implementation must be sufficiently strong to leadto an impact on health and nutrition. Conclusions: Health systems supportfor IMCI implementation in Peru was far from adequate. Thisfinding along with low training coverage level and a relativelylow child mortality rate may explain why the expected impactwas not documented. Nevertheless, even districts with high levels of training coverage failed to show an impact. Further national effectiveness studies of IMCI and other child interventions are warranted as these interventions are scaled up