Exploring critical risks associated with enterprise cloud computing

While cloud computing has become an increasingly hot topic in the industry, risks associated with the adoption of cloud services have also received growing attention from researchers and practitioners. This paper reports the results of a study that aimed to identify and explore potential risks that organisations may encounter when adopting cloud computing, as well as to assess and prioritise the identified risks. The study adopted a deductive research method based on a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was distributed to a group of 295 carefully selected and highly experienced IT professionals, of which 39 (13.2 %) responses were collected and analysed. The research findings identified a set of 39 cloud computing risks, which concentrated around diverse operational, organisational, technical, and legal areas. It was identified that the most critical risks were caused by current legal and technical complexity and deficiencies associated with cloud computing, as well as by a lack of preparation and planning of user companies

Updates in Rhea - an expert curated resource of biochemical reactions.

Rhea (http://www.rhea-db.org) is a comprehensive and non-redundant resource of expert-curated biochemical reactions designed for the functional annotation of enzymes and the description of metabolic networks. Rhea describes enzyme-catalyzed reactions covering the IUBMB Enzyme Nomenclature list as well as additional reactions, including spontaneously occurring reactions, using entities from the ChEBI (Chemical Entities of Biological Interest) ontology of small molecules. Here we describe developments in Rhea since our last report in the database issue of Nucleic Acids Research. These include the first implementation of a simple hierarchical classification of reactions, improved coverage of the IUBMB Enzyme Nomenclature list and additional reactions through continuing expert curation, and the development of a new website to serve this improved dataset

Increase in serotype 19A prevalence and amoxicillin non-susceptibility among paediatric Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates from middle ear fluid in a passive laboratory-based surveillance in Spain, 1997-2009

BACKGROUND: Conjugate vaccines, such as the 7-valent conjugate vaccine (PCV7), alter serotype nasopharyngeal carriage, potentially increasing cases of otitis media by non-vaccine serotypes. METHODS: All paediatric middle ear fluid (MEF) isolates received in the Spanish Reference Laboratory for Pneumococci through a passive, laboratory-based surveillance system from January 1997 to June 2009 were analysed. Data from 1997 to 2000 were pooled as pre-vaccination period. Trends over time were explored by linear regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 2,077 isolates were analysed: 855 belonging to PCV7 serotypes, 466 to serotype 19A, 215 to serotype 3, 89 to serotype 6A and 452 to other serotypes ( 35% isolates) since PCV7 strains represented < 11% of total clinical isolates. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to reports on invasive pneumococcal strains, in MEF isolates the reduction in the prevalence of PCV7 serotypes was not associated with decreases in penicillin/erythromycin non-susceptibility. The high prevalence of serotype 19A among paediatric MEF isolates and the amoxicillin non-susceptibility found in this serotype are worrisome since amoxicillin is the most common antibiotic used in the treatment of acute otitis media. These data suggest that non-PCV7 serotypes (mainly serotype 19A followed by serotypes 3 and 6A) are important etiological agents of acute otitis media and support the added value of the broader coverage of the new 13-valent conjugate vaccine.This study was supported in part by an unrestricted grant from Pfizer S.A., Madrid, Spain and PRISM-AG, Madrid, Spain. O.R. belongs to the Spanish Network for the Research in Infectious Diseases (REIPI).S

Grand Challenges in global eye health: a global prioritisation process using Delphi method

Background We undertook a Grand Challenges in Global Eye Health prioritisation exercise to identify the key issues that must be addressed to improve eye health in the context of an ageing population, to eliminate persistent inequities in health-care access, and to mitigate widespread resource limitations. Methods Drawing on methods used in previous Grand Challenges studies, we used a multi-step recruitment strategy to assemble a diverse panel of individuals from a range of disciplines relevant to global eye health from all regions globally to participate in a three-round, online, Delphi-like, prioritisation process to nominate and rank challenges in global eye health. Through this process, we developed both global and regional priority lists. Findings Between Sept 1 and Dec 12, 2019, 470 individuals complete round 1 of the process, of whom 336 completed all three rounds (round 2 between Feb 26 and March 18, 2020, and round 3 between April 2 and April 25, 2020) 156 (46%) of 336 were women, 180 (54%) were men. The proportion of participants who worked in each region ranged from 104 (31%) in sub-Saharan Africa to 21 (6%) in central Europe, eastern Europe, and in central Asia. Of 85 unique challenges identified after round 1, 16 challenges were prioritised at the global level; six focused on detection and treatment of conditions (cataract, refractive error, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, services for children and screening for early detection), two focused on addressing shortages in human resource capacity, five on other health service and policy factors (including strengthening policies, integration, health information systems, and budget allocation), and three on improving access to care and promoting equity. Interpretation This list of Grand Challenges serves as a starting point for immediate action by funders to guide investment in research and innovation in eye health. It challenges researchers, clinicians, and policy makers to build collaborations to address specific challenge

Activities of aspartate (E.C. 2.6.1.1) and alanine (E.C.. 2.6.1.2) transaminases, and alkaline phosphatase (E.C. 3.1.3.1) in human erythrocytes of different genotypes

The activities of aspartate (E.C. 2.6.1.1) and alanine (E.C. 2.6.1.2) transaminases (AST and ALT, respectively), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (E.C. 3.1.3.1) were determined in erythrocytes obtained from 20 HbAA, 15 HbAS and 12 HbSS human subjects. The results showed that the three enzymes had different levels of activity in these genotypes. The mean ( + SD) activity levels of the enzymes, expressed in U/g Hb, obtained for HbAA, HbAS and HbSS samples were: 6.75 + 0.99, 7.48 + 1.19 and 13.37 + 1.78 for AST; 4.26 + 0.24, 4.33 + 0.44 and 7.24 + 1.49 for ALT; and, 69.24 + 8.94, 64.26 + 9.17 and 48.49 + 4.35 for ALP. However, the activity levels of the different enzymes in HbAA were not significantly different (p>0.05) from that observed in HbAS erythrocytes. The activity levels of AST and ALT in HbSS erythrocytes were significantly higher (