Changing Patterns of Politics in Africa

In an attempt at lining out a framework for the debate on pattern changes in African politics, this articles focuses mainly on the structures of interaction on the «national» level. In this perspective, it points out a series of processes common to all of Africa which have been provoking alterations in the original patterns. It lists a number of problem areas important for future research, but does not propose hypotheses for future patterns. This part is complemented by a critical discussion of the attempts at interpreting the political processes in Africa which have to date been made in the social sciences, denouncing their sometimes flagrant inadequacies.Ao tentar enquadrar o debate sobre mudanças nas configurações dos espaços políticos africanos, este artigo concentra-se na estrutura das práticas a nível «nacional». Nesta perspectiva, aponta para um conjunto de processos comuns a toda a África que têm vindo a alterar as constelações iniciais, enuncia uma série de linhas de indagação para a futura investigação, mas não faz previsões quanto a futuras estruturas e práticas. Esta parte é complementada por uma discussão crítica das tentativas de interpretação  dos processos políticos em África, até hoje ensaiadas nas ciências sociais, denunciando as suas inadequações às vezes flagrantes.Dans une tentative de formuler un cadre pour le débat sur les changements survenus dans les constellations des espaces politiques en Afrique, cet article se concentre sur les structures des pratiques au niveau «national». Dans cette perspective, il met en relief un ensemble de processus communs à toute l'Afrique qui ont conduit à des altérations dans les constellations initiales. Il énumère une série de domaines importants pour la recherche à entreprendre, mais ne fait pas de prévisions quant aux constellations à venir. Cette partie est complétée par une discussion critique des tentatives d'interprétation des processus politiques en Afrique qui ont été faits jusqu'ici en sciences sociales, et dénonce le manque parfois flagrant d'adéquation qui les caractérise

Changing patterns of politics in Africa

Ao tentar enquadrar o debate sobre mudanças nas configurações dos espaços políticos africanos, este artigo concentra-se na estrutura das práticas a nível «nacional». Nesta perspectiva, aponta para um conjunto de processos comuns a toda a África que têm vindo a alterar as constelações iniciais, enuncia uma série de linhas de indagação para a futura investigação, mas não faz previsões quanto a futuras estruturas e práticas. Esta parte é complementada por uma discussão crítica das tentativas de interpretação dos processos políticos em África, até hoje ensaiadas nas ciências sociais, denunciando as suas inadequações às vezes flagrantes.In an attempt at lining out a framework for the debate on pattern changes in African politics, this articles focuses mainly on the structures of interaction on the «national» level. In this perspective, it points out a series of processes common to all of Africa which have been provoking alterations in the original patterns. It lists a number of problem areas important for future research, but does not propose hypotheses for future patterns. This part is complemented by a critical discussion of the attempts at interpreting the political processes in Africa which have to date been made in the social sciences, denouncing their sometimes flagrant inadequacies.Dans une tentative de formuler un cadre pour le débat sur les changements survenus dans les constellations des espaces politiques en Afrique, cet article se concentre sur les structures des pratiques au niveau «national». Dans cette perspective, il met en relief un ensemble de processus communs à toute l'Afrique qui ont conduit à des altérations dans les constellations initiales. Il énumère une série de domaines importants pour la recherche à entreprendre, mais ne fait pas de prévisions quant aux constellations à venir. Cette partie est complétée par une discussion critique des tentatives d'interprétation des processus politiques en Afrique qui ont été faits jusqu'ici en sciences sociales, et dénonce le manque parfois flagrant d'adéquation qui les caractérise

Genome-scale metabolic representation of Amycolatopsis balhimycina

Infection caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an increasing societal problem. Typically, glycopeptide antibiotics are used in the treatment of these infections. The most comprehensively studied glycopeptide antibiotic biosynthetic pathway is that of balhimycin biosynthesis in Amycolatopsis balhimycina. The balhimycin yield obtained by A. balhimycina is, however, low and there is therefore a need to improve balhimycin production. In this study, we performed genome sequencing, assembly and annotation analysis of A. balhimycina and further used these annotated data to reconstruct a genome-scale metabolic model for the organism. Here we generated an almost complete A. balhimycina genome sequence comprising 10,562,587 base pairs assembled into 2,153 contigs. The high GC-genome (similar to 69%) includes 8,585 open reading frames (ORFs). We used our integrative toolbox called SEQTOR for functional annotation and then integrated annotated data with biochemical and physiological information available for this organism to reconstruct a genome-scale metabolic model of A. balhimycina. The resulting metabolic model contains 583 ORFs as protein encoding genes (7% of the predicted 8,585 ORFs), 407 EC numbers, 647 metabolites and 1,363 metabolic reactions. During the analysis of the metabolic model, linear, quadratic and evolutionary programming algorithms using flux balance analysis (FBA), minimization of metabolic adjustment (MOMA), and OptGene, respectively were applied as well as phenotypic behavior and improved balhimycin production were simulated. The A. balhimycina model shows a good agreement between in silico data and experimental data and also identifies key reactions associated with increased balhimycin production. The reconstruction of the genome-scale metabolic model of A. balhimycina serves as a basis for physiological characterization. The model allows a rational design of engineering strategies for increasing balhimycin production in A. balhimycina and glycopeptide production in general