Plasmid mediated resistance in multidrug resistant bacteria isolated from children with suspected septicaemia in Zaria, Nigeria

Septicaemia is a common cause of morbidity and mortality among children in the  developing world. The knowledge of the  epidemiological and antimicrobial pattern of common pathogens that cause septicaemia is useful for prompt treatment of patients. Fifty-five (55) clinical isolates from children with suspected septicaemia were used for the study. The isolates include Coagulase negative Staphylococcus, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella spp., Klebsiella spp., Citrobacter spp., Proteus spp and  Pseudomonas spp. The antibiotic susceptibility testing of isolated bacteria associated with septicaemia in children were carried out using standard  microbiological protocol. The MAR index for the test bacterial isolates was  determined and the bacterial isolates that displayed multiple antibiotic resistance were investigated for the presence of resistant factor such as plasmids. The sizes of the plasmid observed in the bacterial isolates were determined using agarose gel electrophoresis. Observations made from the agarose gel electrophoresis showed that majority of the multiple antibiotic resistant isolates haboured plasmids DNA of different sizes viz: 10.00 Kb, 8.71 Kb, 7.08 Kb, 1.02 Kb, 1.00 Kb, 0. 98 Kb and 0.87 Kb. The plasmid analysis of the results obtained in this study showed that the  predominant plasmid molecular size was 977bp which occurred frequently among  the Citrobacter spp and Staph aureus. These findings suggest an increased  resistance to the antibiotics commonly used for the treatment of septicaemia, and the observed presence of plasmids in some of the test bacteria isolated shows that they could have been acquired from multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria in the community under investigation.Key words: Children, Multiple antibiotic resistance, Plasmids, Septicaemi

Expression and bioinformatic analysis of snake venom metalloproteinase (svmp) from Naja nigricollis snake venom gland

Elapid snake venom is highly valuable and also a source of medically important peptides. The venom of Naja nigricollis is unique among elapids in that it contains mainly cytotoxins, but also with other components. Naja nigricollis metalloproteinase was partially purified by two step purification process. Gel filtration on Sephadex G-75 column (yield 32.0) and gradient ion exchange chromatography on  diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) cellulose column (yield 18.10) to apparent homogeneity. The protease activity was studied according to modified Kunitz method and the enzyme was found to be active at optimum pH and temperature of 7.0 and 40°C respectively. The effect of the enzyme on casein was found to be highest at 1.5% concentration. The kinetic parameters, Km and Vmax were found to be 0.27787 mg/ml and 2.3175µmol/min respectively. The enzyme was stable at pH 7.0 ̶ 9.0 and at a temperature range of 30 ̶ 60°C. The snake venom metalloproteinase cDNA from N. nigricollis venom gland was sequenced and was found to contain 132 nucleotides sequence which codes a polypeptide of 44 amino acids with estimated molecular mass of 50 KD. The deduced novel amino acid sequence had a similarity with Najaatra metalloproteinase atrase B (91%), N. atra K-like metalloproteinase precursor (91%) and N. atra atragin precursor (83%). The sequenced cDNA was found to have the disintegrin-like domain of the metalloproteinase enzyme of Naja nigricollis snake specie. Keyword: Elapid, Naja nigricollis. Metalloproteinas

Future integrated factories: a system of systems engineering perspective

The manufacturing sector has gone through tremendous change in the last decade. We have witnessed the transformation from stand alone, manual processes to smart and integrated systems, from hand written reports to interactive computer-based dashboards. Future integrated factories will operate as a system of systems through intelligent machines, human factors integration, and integrated supply chains. To effectively operate and manage these emerging enterprises, a systems science approach is required. Modelling and simulation is recognised as a key enabling technology, with application from stakeholder engagement and knowledge elicitation to operational decision support through self-tuning and self-assembling simulations. Our research has led to the introduction of effective modelling and simulation methods and tools to enable real time planning, dynamic risk analysis and effective visualisation for production processes, resources and systems. This paper discusses industrial applicable concepts for real-time simulation and decision support, and the implications to future integrated factories, or factories of the future, are explored through relevant case studies from aerospace manufacturing to mining and materials processing enterprises

Agile Development in Automotive Software Development: Challenges and Opportunities

In modern cars, most of the functionalities are controlled by software. The increased significance of software-based functionality has resulted in various challenges for automotive industry, which is slowly transitioning towards being a software centric industry. Challenges include the definition of key competencies, processes, methods, tools, and organization settings to accommodate combined development of software and hardware. Based on qualitative research, this paper aims at understanding the applicability of agile methods to automotive software development. Our explorative case study with one of the development sections at Volvo Car Cooperation identified challenges in their software development process related to process perception and reactive mode, multi-tasking and frequent task switching, individualism and lack of complete knowledge, as well as long communication chains and low cross-function mind set. Moreover it prepares a transition of software development at this multinational automotive company towards agile by relating agile principles and practices to automotive software process challenges

A Multi-agent Framework for Agile Outsourced Supply Chains

The primary goal of an agile supply chain is to meet the varying demand of customers. Therefore, the supply chain nowadays involves coordination among partners, and this has raised issues of effective networking and logistics. The present chapter proposes a reconfigurable multi-agent architecture framework that can assist in selecting outsourcing partners and develop effective coordination among the partners and between manufacturing units. The proposed multi-agent architecture is inspired by the human self-healing mechanism and is capable of managing disruptions that occur during manufacturing operations. When a new production order is introduced, or during the disruptions, this agent framework uses a string matching algorithm to generate a better plan. The proposed agent architecture also learns continuously from its past experiences. This framework will also help to manufacture better quality products at minimum cost and within the due date.Department of Industrial and Systems Engineerin