A rapid, sensitive colorimetric assay for the high-throughput screening of transaminases in liquid or solid-phase

A new colorimetric method has been developed to screen transaminases using an inexpensive amine donor. The assay is sensitive, has a low level of background coloration, and can be used to identify and profile transaminase activities against aldehyde and ketone substrates in a high-throughput format. Significantly it is also amendable to solid phase colony screening

Rapport d'évaluation du programme Nature en ville de la Ville de Neuchâtel

La Direction de l'urbanisme, de l'économie et de l'environnement de la Ville de Neuchâtel a mandaté l'Unité de politiques locales et d'évaluation de l'IDHEAP et le bureau d'études en écologie appliquée L'Azuré pour évaluer le programme Nature en ville de la Ville de Neuchâtel. Le but de l'évaluation est de déterminer si les objectifs visés par le programme ont été atteints et d'améliorer l'ancrage du programme Nature en ville dans le fonctionnement de l'administration communale

Heterogeneity in testing practices for infections during pregnancy: national survey across Switzerland.

QUESTION: Detection and treatment of infections during pregnancy are important for both maternal and child health. The objective of this study was to describe testing practices and adherence to current national guidelines in Switzerland. METHODS: We invited all registered practicing obstetricians and gynaecologists in Switzerland to complete an anonymous web-based questionnaire about strategies for testing for 14 infections during pregnancy. We conducted a descriptive analysis according to demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Of 1138 invited clinicians, 537 (47.2%) responded and 520 (45.6%) were eligible as they are currently caring for pregnant women. Nearly all eligible respondents tested all pregnant women for group B streptococcus (98.0%), hepatitis B virus (HBV) (96.5%) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (94.7%), in accordance with national guidelines. Although testing for toxoplasmosis is not recommended, 24.1% of respondents tested all women and 32.9% tested at the request of the patient. Hospital doctors were more likely not to test for toxoplasmosis than doctors working in private practice (odds ratio [OR] 2.52, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04-6.13, p = 0.04). Only 80.4% of respondents tested all women for syphilis. There were regional differences in testing for some infections. The proportion of clinicians testing all women for HIV, HBV and syphilis was lower in Eastern Switzerland and the Zurich region (69.4% and 61.2%, respectively) than in other regions (range 77.1-88.1%, p <0.001). Most respondents (74.5%) said they would appreciate national guidelines about testing for infections during pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: Testing practices for infections in pregnant women vary widely in Switzerland. More extensive national guidelines could improve consistency of testing practices

Study of supports for the final doublets of ATF2

We investigated supports for the final doublets of ATF2 with vertical relative motion to the floor of final doublets below 10nm. Our calculations of relative motion were done by using data of ATF ground motion. We studied the vibratory behaviour of a steel lightweight honeycomb table as a base for fixing magnets. First, the table was fixed to the floor by four steel feet at its corners. Its first vertical resonance was at 41Hz, which induces a non negligible relative motion (5.7nm) compared to ATF2 tolerances. Modal shape measurements show that the six first resonances of the table (below 150Hz) are rigid body modes in the six degrees of freedom. The conclusion of these measurements is that the table is very rigid and well adapted for ATF2 project but the rigidity of the four steel feet is not sufficient compared to the rigidity of the table. Consequently, the table was fixed to the floor on one entire face to break these six rigid body modes by three large steel plates. The first vertical resonance was then at higher frequencies (92Hz), which show that good boundary conditions were chosen for the table. The relative motion was then low (3.5nm above 0.1Hz) compared to ATF2 tolerances. To finish, we studied the vibratory behaviour of one ATF2 FD sextupole and one ATF2 FD quadrupole with their intermediary supports made at LAPP and used to fix these magnets to the honeycomb table. The measurements showed that the final doublets with their intermediary supports were well designed because the first resonance of sextupoles and quadrupoles was at high frequency (above 100 Hz and at 76Hz respectively), which induced a small relative motion of final doublets to the floor compared to ATF2 tolerances

Protease inhibitor 15, a candidate gene for abdominal aortic internal elastic lamina ruptures in the rat

The inbred Brown Norway (BN) rat develops spontaneous ruptures of the internal elastic lamina (RIEL) of the abdominal aorta (AA) and iliac arteries. Prior studies with crosses of the BN/Orl RJ (susceptible) and LOU/M (resistant) showed the presence of a significant QTL on chromosome 5 and the production of congenic rats proved the involvement of this locus. In this study, we further dissected the above-mentioned QTL by creating a new panel of LOU.BN(chr5) congenic and sub-congenic lines and reduced the locus to 5.2 Mb. Then 1002 HS rats were studied, whose phenotyping revealed a low prevalence and high variability for RIEL. High resolution mapping in the HS panel detected the major locus on chromosome 5 (log P>35) and refined it to 1.4Mb. Subsequently, RNA-seq analysis on AA of BN, congenics and LOU revealed expression differences for only protease inhibitor15 (Pi15) gene and a putative long intergenic noncoding RNA (lincRNA) within the linkage region. The high abundance of lincRNA with respect to reduced Pi15 expression, in conjunction with exertion of longitudinal strain, may be related to RIEL, indicating the potential importance of proteases in biological processes related to defective aortic IEL structure. Similar mechanisms may be involved in aneurysm initiation in the human AA

Metagenomic ene-reductases for the bioreduction of sterically challenging enones

Ene-reductases (ERs) of the Old Yellow Enzyme family catalyse asymmetric reduction of activated alkenes providing chiral products. They have become an important method in the synthetic chemists' toolbox offering a sustainable alternative to metal-catalysed asymmetric reduction. Development of new biocatalytic alkene reduction routes, however needs easy access to novel biocatalysts. A sequence-based functional metagenomic approach was used to identify novel ERs from a drain metagenome. From the ten putative ER enzymes initially identified, eight exhibited activities towards widely accepted mono-cyclic substrates with several of the ERs giving high reaction yields and stereoselectivities. Two highly performing enzymes that displayed excellent co-solvent tolerance were used for the stereoselective reduction of sterically challenging bicyclic enones where the reactions proceeded in high yields, which is unprecedented to date with wild-type ERs. On a preparative enzymatic scale, reductions of Hajos–Parish, Wieland–Miescher derivatives and a tricyclic ketone proceeded with good to excellent yields

Active vibration isolation system for CLIC final focus

International audienceWith pinpoint accuracy, the next generation of Linear Collider such as CLIC will collide electron and positron beams at a centre of mass energy of 3 TeV with a desired peak luminosity of 2*1034 cm-2s-1. One of the many challenging features of CLIC is its ability to collide beams at the sub-nanometer scale at the Interaction Point (IP). Such a high level of accuracy could only be achieved by integrating Active Vibration Isolation systems (AVI) upstream of the collision to prevent the main source of vibration: Ground Motion (GM). Complementary control systems downstream of the collision (Interaction Point FeedBack (IPFB), Orbit FeedBack (OFB)) allow low frequency vibration rejection. This paper focuses on a dedicated AVI table designed for the last focusing quadrupole (QD0) where the specifications are the most stringent. Combining FeedForward (FF) and FeedBack (FB) techniques, the prototype is able to reduce GM down to 0.6 nm RMS(4Hz) experimentally without any load. These performances couldn't be achieved without cutting edge-technology such as sub-nanometer piezo actuators, ultra-low noise accelerometers and seismometers and an accurate guidance system. The whole AVI system is described in details. Further developments concern the integration of the final focusing magnet above the AVI table, first as part of the simulation with its dynamical model, and finally, as a realistic prototype

Localization of sucrose synthase in developing seed and siliques of Arabidopsis thaliana reveals diverse roles for SUS during development

This study investigated the roles of sucrose synthase (SUS) in developing seeds and siliques of Arabidopsis thaliana. Enzyme activity assays showed that SUS activity was highest in developing whole siliques and young rosette leaves compared with other tissues including mature leaves, stems, and flowers. Surprisingly, quantitative PCR analyses revealed little correlation between SUS activity and transcript expression, which indicated the importance of examining the role of SUS at the protein level. Therefore, immunolocalization was performed over a developmental time course to determine the previously unreported cellular localization of SUS in Arabidopsis seed and silique tissues. At 3 d and 10 d after flowering (daf), SUS protein localized to the silique wall, seed coat, funiculus, and endosperm. By 13 daf, SUS protein was detected in the embryo and aleurone layer, but was absent from the seed coat and funiculus. Starch grains were also present in the seed coat at 3 and 10 daf, but were absent at 13 daf. Co-localization of SUS protein and starch grains in the seed coat at 3 and 10 daf indicates that SUS may be involved in temporary starch deposition during the early stages of seed development, whilst in the later stages SUS metabolizes sucrose in the embryo and cotyledon. Within the silique wall, SUS localized specifically to the companion cells, indicating that SUS activity may be required to provide energy for phloem transport activities in the silique wall. The results highlight the diverse roles that SUS may play during the development of silique and seed in Arabidopsis