Towards Systems Design for Supporting Enabling Communities

Communities and community support systems should be designed to enable participants to work effectively towards conducting both collective and individual activities and achieving their goals. Such communities are called Enabling Communities. Our focus is the systems that support community members in doing whichever tasks or activities they need or want to. These systems include processes, technology, information and people. This paper provides a framework for Supporting Enabling Communities (SEComm) in two major components: (1) Participant Support Systems (PaSS) and (2) Community Participation Levels (CPaL). Three case studies apply this framework to an emerging virtual community and a community of practice

Estimation of sensitivity and specificty of culture and Danish-mix ELISA for detection of Salmonella in swine using Bayesian methods

Both bacterial culture and serological assays, such as the Danish-mix ELISA for the detection of antibodies, are commonly used as tools for detecting and monitoring Salmonella in swine. The comparison and ultimate interpretation of results are made more difficult due to the absence of a gold standard

New Easter Tide Prayers of the Mass in the Typal Edition of the Roman Missal of 2002.

Autor obrađuje četrnaest novih molitava vazmenoga vremena, koje se nalaze u novom tipskom izdanju Rimskoga misala iz 2002. godine. U prvom dijelu istražio je i naznačio izvore tih molitava, od kojih su tri novosastavljene, a ostalih jedanaest preuzeto je iz drevnih sakramentara. U drugom dijelu razlaže se nauk o Kristovom vazmenom otajstvu po kojem se vjernici spašavaju. Naglašava se "pozitivni" vid vazmenog otajstva: Kristovo uskrsnuće i proslava, a osobito se ističe Kristova velikosvećenička uloga, što u odnosu na prethodni misal predstavlja novinu. Vjernici se spašavaju po tome da uzimaju udjela u Kristovu vazmenom otajstvu. Oni su već zajedno s njime proslavljeni, što će se u potpunosti očitovati u blaženoj vječnosti. Ističe se također otajstvena snaga bogoslužnog slavlja. Ono ima tu moć da Kristovo spasenje učini stvarnim i djelatnim među vjernicima koji u tome slavlju sudjeluju.The author elaborates on fourteen new prayers of the Easter tide that can be found in the new typal edition of the Roman missal from 2002. In the first section the author explores and discovers the sources of the prayers. Three of them have been recently composed, while thirteen have been taken from the old books of sacraments. The second section of the paper explains the doctrine of Christ’s Easter Mystery by which the faithful are saved. The “positive aspect” of the Mystery is emphasised: Christ’s resurrection and His role of the Great High Priest. This is a novelty compared to the previous edition of the missal. The salvation of the faithful is presented in their participation in Christ’s Easter Mystery. His glory is their glory too, which becomes completely obvious in the blessed eternity. The emphasis is also given to the sacramental power of the Eucharist where there is the power which makes Christ’s salvation real and efficient for the faithful who participate in this celebration

Distribution of Salmonella serovars in various pig production categories and risk factors for shedding in ten farrow-to-finish swine farms in western Canada.

In this study, Salmonella prevalence, serovar distribution and risk factors for shedding were investigated in breeding, nursery, and grow-finish pigs on 10 farms in western Canada, purposely selected based on their anticipated Salmonella-status. Overall, 40711143 (36%) of samples were Salmonella positive; within-farm prevalence ranged from 1% to 79%. Sows, nursery and grow-finish pigs accounted for 43%, 29% and 28% of positive samples, respectively. More Salmonella were detected in pooled pen than individual pig samples (P\u3c0.001). The most common serovars were S. Derby, S. Typhimurium, var. Copenhagen, S. Pullen, S. Infantis, and S. Mbandaka. Sows shed more Salmonella than nursery or grow-finisher pigs (OR 2.9, P\u3c0.001). Pelleted feed (OR 8.2, P\u3c0.001) and nose-to-nose pig contact through pens (OR 2.2, P=0.005) were associated with increased Salmonella prevalence. Significant differences in serovar distribution were detected among production phases

An integrated cell-free metabolic platform for protein production and synthetic biology

Cell-free systems offer a unique platform for expanding the capabilities of natural biological systems for useful purposes, i.e. synthetic biology. They reduce complexity, remove structural barriers, and do not require the maintenance of cell viability. Cell-free systems, however, have been limited by their inability to co-activate multiple biochemical networks in a single integrated platform. Here, we report the assessment of biochemical reactions in an Escherichia coli cell-free platform designed to activate natural metabolism, the Cytomim system. We reveal that central catabolism, oxidative phosphorylation, and protein synthesis can be co-activated in a single reaction system. Never before have these complex systems been shown to be simultaneously activated without living cells. The Cytomim system therefore promises to provide the metabolic foundation for diverse ab initio cell-free synthetic biology projects. In addition, we describe an improved Cytomim system with enhanced protein synthesis yields (up to 1200 mg/l in 2 h) and lower costs to facilitate production of protein therapeutics and biochemicals that are difficult to make in vivo because of their toxicity, complexity, or unusual cofactor requirements

Modulation of Symbiont Lipid A Signaling by Host Alkaline Phosphatases in the Squid-Vibrio Symbiosis

ABSTRACTThe synergistic activity of Vibrio fischeri lipid A and the peptidoglycan monomer (tracheal cytotoxin [TCT]) induces apoptosis in the superficial cells of the juvenile Euprymna scolopes light organ during the onset of the squid-vibrio symbiosis. Once the association is established in the epithelium-lined crypts of the light organ, the host degrades the symbiont’s constitutively produced TCT by the amidase activity of a peptidoglycan recognition protein (E. scolopes peptidoglycan recognition protein 2 [EsPGRP2]). In the present study, we explored the role of alkaline phosphatases in transforming the lipid A of the symbiont into a form that changes its signaling properties to host tissues. We obtained full-length open reading frames for two E. scolopes alkaline phosphatase (EsAP) mRNAs (esap1 and esap2); transcript levels suggested that the dominant light organ isoform is EsAP1. Levels of total EsAP activity increased with symbiosis, but only after the lipid A-dependent morphogenetic induction at 12h, and were regulated over the day-night cycle. Inhibition of total EsAP activity impaired normal colonization and persistence by the symbiont. EsAP activity localized to the internal regions of the symbiotic juvenile light organ, including the lumina of the crypt spaces where the symbiont resides. These data provide evidence that EsAPs work in concert with EsPGRPs to change the signaling properties of bacterial products and thereby promote persistent colonization by the mutualistic symbiont.IMPORTANCEThe potential for microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) to compromise host-tissue health is reflected in the often-used nomenclature for these molecules: lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is also called “endotoxin” and the peptidoglycan monomer is also called “tracheal cytotoxin” (TCT). With constant presentation of MAMPs by the normal microbiota, mechanisms to tolerate their effects have developed. The results of this contribution provide evidence that host alkaline phosphatases (APs) dephosphorylate and inactivate the symbiont MAMP lipid A. As such, APs work in synergy with a peptidoglycan recognition protein, which inactivates symbiont-exported TCT, to alter the symbiont MAMPs and promote persistence of the partnership. Not only may these activities serve to “tame” the MAMPs, but also the resulting products may themselves be important signals in persistent mutualisms. The finding of lipid A modification by APs in an invertebrate mutualism provides evidence that this specific strategy for dealing with symbiotic partners is conserved across the animal kingdom

Environmental cues and symbiont microbe-associated molecular patterns function in concert to drive the daily remodelling of the crypt-cell brush border of the Euprymna scolopes light organ: Inducers of daily brush-border remodelling

Recent research has shown that the microbiota affects the biology of associated host epithelial tissues, including their circadian rhythms, although few data are available on how such influences shape the microarchitecture of the brush border. The squid-vibrio system exhibits two modifications of the brush border that supports the symbionts: effacement and repolarization. Together these occur on a daily rhythm in adult animals, at the dawn expulsion of symbionts into the environment, and symbiont colonization of the juvenile host induces an increase in microvillar density. Here we sought to define how these processes are related and the roles of both symbiont colonization and environmental cues. Ultrastructural analyses showed that the juvenile-organ brush borders also efface concomitantly with daily dawn-cued expulsion of symbionts. Manipulation of the environmental light cue and juvenile symbiotic state demonstrated that this behaviour requires the light cue, but not colonization. In contrast, symbionts were required for the observed increase in microvillar density that accompanies post dawn brush-border repolarization; this increase was induced solely by host exposure to phosphorylated lipid A of symbiont cells. These data demonstrate that a partnering of environmental and symbiont cues shapes the brush border and that microbe-associated molecular patterns play a role in the regulation of brush-border microarchitecture

Comparison of bacterial culture, PCR and a mix-ELISA for the detection of Salmonella status in nursery and grow-to-finish pigs in Western Canada using a Bayesian approach

Bayesian and traditional statistical methods were used to estimate accuracy of bacterial culture, broth-enriched real-time-PCR for feces and a mix-ELISA (Svanovir®) for serum to detect Salmonella in nursery and grow-finish pigs on 10 fanns in western Canada. In nursery pigs, one pooled pen fecal sample and one blood sample were taken from each of 30 randomly selected pens. In grow-finish pigs, samples were similarly collected; an individual fecal sample was also taken from each pig bled. Only 8/247 ELISA-positive nursery pigs were detected; 80/247 pens were culture positive. Since there was no agreement between pen culture and ELISA results in the nursery pigs, further evaluation of test accuracy was not possible at this level. Among grow-to-finish pigs, agreement between culture and ELISA was fair (K=0.26-0.38). Agreement between culture and the RT-PCR was nearly perfect ( K=0.92-0.97)