The Effect of Alternative Graphical Displays Used to Present the Benefits of Antibiotics for Sore Throat on Decisions about Whether to Seek Treatment: A Randomized Trial

In a randomized trial, Cheryl Carling and colleagues evaluate how people respond to different statistical presentations regarding the consequences of taking antibiotic treatment for sore throat

Characterization of D108 Ner and its Escherichia coli homolog Nlp

Mu and D108 are temperate bacteriophages which can follow two possible modes of growth after infection of Escherichia coli. The bacteriophages can follow the lytic cycle, in which the bacteriophage genome is replicated and progeny phages are produced, or the lysogenic cycle, in which the bacteriophage remains dormant in the E. coli genome. In this case, the bacteriophage's DNA is replicated along with the host chromosome. Central to the lytic/lysogenic switch, is the Ner protein. Ner is a small, basic, DNA-binding protein. To better understand the mechanism by which bacteriophage D108 regulates its lytic/lysogenic switch, a plasmid containing the D108 left end was mutagenized by hydroxylamine treatment or by transformation into a mutator strain of E. coli, in order to isolate Ner proteins which would be deficient in repressor activity.The 3-dimensional structure of the Ner protein from bacteriophage Mu has been resolved by NMR spectroscopy.Homologs of the Ner proteins have been identified in the Enterobacteriaceae and in humans. (Abstract shortened by UMI.

Les notions d’autodétermination et d’autonomie dans la Déclaration des Nations Unies sur les droits des peuples autochtones

Cet article vise à poser quelques jalons pour mieux comprendre le droit à l’autodétermination et le droit à l’autonomie des peuples autochtones dans ses dimensions juridiques, politiques et économiques. Il s’attache à explorer leur signification respective de même qu’à mettre en lumière la diversité de leur manifestation concrète. Il aborde enfin le cadre et les limites de leur mise en oeuvre dans le contexte précis de la Déclaration des Nations Unies sur les droits des peuples autochtones

Distinct Endocytic Pathways Control the Rate and Extent of Synaptic Vesicle Protein Recycling

SummarySynaptic vesicles have been proposed to form through two mechanisms: one directly from the plasma membrane involving clathrin-dependent endocytosis and the adaptor protein AP2, and the other from an endosomal intermediate mediated by the adaptor AP3. However, the relative role of these two mechanisms in synaptic vesicle recycling has remained unclear. We now find that vesicular glutamate transporter VGLUT1 interacts directly with endophilin, a component of the clathrin-dependent endocytic machinery. In the absence of its interaction with endophilin, VGLUT1 recycles more slowly during prolonged, high-frequency stimulation. Inhibition of the AP3 pathway with brefeldin A rescues the rate of recycling, suggesting a competition between AP2 and -3 pathways, with endophilin recruiting VGLUT1 toward the faster AP2 pathway. After stimulation, however, inhibition of the AP3 pathway prevents the full recovery of VGLUT1 by endocytosis, implicating the AP3 pathway specifically in compensatory endocytosis

An Integrated CDIO-EQF Framework for Europe

The paper describes the results of a recent project entitled “DOCET - EQF CDIO Correspondence Model for the Recognition and Enhancement of Engineering Degrees”. In Europe, the recent changes in the educational systems, as well as in the international macroeconomic contexts, bring about the need of enhancing engineering curricula as well as increasing their transparency. In this scenario, any tool able to help Universities revise “in real time” their programs and transfer innovation into courses will be an important support. A first prerequisite of such a tool is to be based on a “common language”, shared by the higher education national systems and stakeholders (both within Europe and globally). The new European Qualifications Framework (EQF) aims to provide a common reference system to build qualifications readable across Europe, and not linked to any specific disciplinary areas of engineering. The CDIO Syllabus already represents a world-wide reference for the design of engineering programs and for their evaluation. Its development involved stakeholders from industry and so it could speed up the mutual transfer of innovation between Universities and businesses. Both the EQF and CDIO Syllabus are based on the same learning outcomes (objectives) based approach. Accordingly, the DOCET project aimed to build a correspondence model between CDIO syllabus and the EQF, mapping the CDIO outcomes onto the 8 EQF levels. The learning outcome - based descriptors the EQF provides for Knowledge, Skills and Competence at different levels (and its other qualifiers such as autonomy and responsibility, context, action verbs) have been combined with the engineering content provided by a set of tools that can help the negotiation and definition of shared and transparent goals for engineering education