Implementation of internal laboratory quality control procedures for the monitoring of ELISA performance at a regional veterinary laboratory.

Quality control (QC) procedures for antigen detection enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for hog cholera (HC) virus, foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus, and an antibody detection ELISA for FMD virus were established at a regional veterinary laboratory in northern Thailand. A recently developed computer software package, QCEL, was used to facilitate management and analysis of QC data. The program was used to assess test performance by producing Shewhart-CUSUM control charts which monitored control data for unacceptable fluctuations or trends. QCEL-generated control charts and analyses are presented and discussed. The use of a simple integrated computerised system for storage and analysis of QC control data provided the laboratory with the opportunity to achieve increased confidence in the results of tests performed

Si-enterobactin from the endophytic Streptomyces sp KT-S1-B5-a potential silicon transporter in Nature?

Si-enterobactin (2a), a hexacoordinated complex of the siderophore enterobactin (2b) with silicon as the central atom, was isolated from an endophytic Streptomyces sp. occurring in Piper guinensis roots. The structure and absolute configuration were determined from NMR and MS data, and by X-ray diffraction. The orientation of the molecule along the pseudo-3-fold axis shows that the coordination environment of the silicon atom complexed with three bidentate ligands is Delta. We assume that 2a or related complexes may be involved in the transport of silicon in plants, diatoms, or other silicon-dependent organisms

Applications of Principles to Case Studies Focusing on Non-Monetary Surveillance Values

International audienceA central aspect of economic evaluations of surveillance components or systems is to estimate the value of the information that is being generated by surveillance. Importantly, the value of information is determined by the user of the information. This value is often realised through decisions on interventions that are implemented to manage disease in populations with the associated reduction of disease costs in human and animal populations including effects on the wider society. The economic efficiency of such processes can be measured within a single sector or across sectors (e.g. animal health surveillance creating benefits streams in human populations) applying standard economic evaluation techniques. Depending on the context, people may have different demands and uses for information expressed in distinct information-seeking behaviour and willingness to pay for information or knowledge. Hence, private and public stakeholders may attribute different values to surveillance depending on their decision needs. Moreover, cultural and socio-economic factors shape not only the value of surveillance, but also people's decisions around their livelihoods, income generation, prevention, and disease management strategies. Therefore it is important to understand behaviours, processes, motives, and justifications around health management and surveillance. A range of case studies are presented that describe wider benefits of surveillance and illustrate how non-monetary benefits can be assessed using stated preference elicitation methods, such as discrete choice experiment. Moreover, they demonstrate how understanding of local value systems and contexts allows appraising wider surveillance attributes that ultimately affect the performance and economic efficiency of surveillance