Genome sequence of Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague.

The Gram-negative bacterium Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of the systemic invasive infectious disease classically referred to as plague, and has been responsible for three human pandemics: the Justinian plague (sixth to eighth centuries), the Black Death (fourteenth to nineteenth centuries) and modern plague (nineteenth century to the present day). The recent identification of strains resistant to multiple drugs and the potential use of Y. pestis as an agent of biological warfare mean that plague still poses a threat to human health. Here we report the complete genome sequence of Y. pestis strain CO92, consisting of a 4.65-megabase (Mb) chromosome and three plasmids of 96.2 kilobases (kb), 70.3 kb and 9.6 kb. The genome is unusually rich in insertion sequences and displays anomalies in GC base-composition bias, indicating frequent intragenomic recombination. Many genes seem to have been acquired from other bacteria and viruses (including adhesins, secretion systems and insecticidal toxins). The genome contains around 150 pseudogenes, many of which are remnants of a redundant enteropathogenic lifestyle. The evidence of ongoing genome fluidity, expansion and decay suggests Y. pestis is a pathogen that has undergone large-scale genetic flux and provides a unique insight into the ways in which new and highly virulent pathogens evolve

Effect of ketorolac, ketoprofen and nefopam on platelet function

Ketorolac, ketoprofen and nefopam are often used in the treatment of postoperative pain. While nefopam is a non-narcotic, non-opioid central analgesic agent, ketorolac and ketoprofen are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which, due to their prostaglandin-synthetase inhibiting activity, have antiplatelet effects. In this study we investigated the effect of ketorolac, ketoprofen and nefopam on platelet function by performing bleeding time and in vitro platelet aggregation in 30 healthy volunteers (10 for each treatment) before and 3 h after drug administration. Nefopam did not affect bleeding time and platelet aggregation, while ketorolac and ketoprofen significantly prolonged bleeding time without significantly inhibiting platelet aggregation in response to adenosine diphosphate. The prolongation of bleeding time observed after ketorolac and ketoprofen may have clinical relevance and suggests that nefopam could be more safely administered for the treatment of postoperative pain, especially in patients with haemostatic defects or after high bleeding risk surgery

The Death of Great Ships: photography, politics and waste in the global imaginary

The iconic images heralding an age of connectivity are the plane and the trace of digital flows bearing information. However, not far behind has been the cumbrous yet essential 'big box' of containerisation, shipping all manner of goods across the planet on great vessels remorselessly circling the globe. Critiques of global trade have latched upon the counter image of these mighty ships' ruinous carcasses beached and being broken in South Asia. Here then is the antipode of globalisation - ships, once carrying cargoes now themselves sold around the globe for scrap and ending up broken up according to the very logics of cheap locations that their routes made possible. This paper interrogates these counter-images of global capitalism. Looking at the works of various photographers it examines how waste ships are made to work aesthetically. It examines the photodocumentary and traditions of the industrial sublime to find ‘time-images’ that speak to the material and labour worlds of global capital