Immuno-reactive proteins from Mycobacterium immunogenum useful for serodiagnosis of metalworking fluid hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

Metalworking fluid-associated hypersensitivity pneumonitis (MWF-HP) is a pulmonary disease caused by inhaling microorganisms present in the metalworking fluids used in the industrial sector. Mycobacterium immunogenum is the main etiological agent. Among the clinical, radiological and biological tools used for diagnosis, serological tests are important. The aim of this study was to identify immunogenic proteins in M. immunogenum and to use recombinant antigens for serological diagnosis of MWF-HP. Immunogenic proteins were detected by two-dimensional Western blot and candidate proteins were identified by mass spectrometry. Recombinant antigens were expressed in Escherichia coli and tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with the sera of 14 subjects with MWF-HP and 12 asymptomatic controls exposed to M. immunogenum. From the 350 spots visualized by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis with M. immunogenum extract, 6 immunogenic proteins were selected to be expressed as recombinant antigens. Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase antigen allowed for the best discrimination of MWF-HP cases against controls with an area under the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve of 0.930 (95% CI=0.820-1), a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 83% for the optimum threshold. Other recombinant antigens correspond to acyl-CoA dehydrogenase FadE, cytosol aminopeptidase, dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase, serine hydroxymethyltransferase and superoxide dismutase. This is the first time that recombinant antigens have been used for the serodiagnosis of hypersensitivity pneumonitis. The availability of recombinant antigens makes it possible to develop standardized serological tests which in turn could simplify diagnosis, thus making it less invasive.

Occupational exposure to beryllium in Switzerland : exposed workers and occupations at risk

Introduction: Beryllium (Be) is increasingly used in various industrial applications. Occupational exposure to Be may lead to chronic beryllium disease (CBD), a pulmonary granulomatous disorder closely similar to sarcoidosis, which develop in 1 to 15% of exposed workers. Although Switzerland is one of the major Be importers worldwide, little information is available about occurrence of exposure and the number of workers exposed in this country. Objectives: 1) evaluate the number of workers potentially exposed to Be in Switzerland; 2) construct a screening tool to allow potential Be exposure detection in a clinical setting. Methods: After identification of industrial sectors involving beryllium exposure based on expert reports and scientific literature, an estimation of the number of workers employed in these relevant industries was made using data from the Swiss federal population census and registries of economic activities. A second analysis was performed to estimate the fraction of workers really exposed to Be in each industrial sector. This adjustment was made according to the results of a French survey (INRS, Institut National de Recherche et de Sécurité) conducted by questionnaire addressed to 4500 companies in relevant industries on their use of beryllium and other issues such as percentage of employees really exposed. These realistic data were used to develop a self-administrated screening questionnaire allowed to identify patients with possible Be exposure. Results: In Switzerland, the number of workers employed in industries using Be was nearly 150 000. The estimated number of workers exposed to beryllium in these industries ranged from 2000 to 4000. Relevant sectors were: microengineering, precision turning, watchmaking and metal waste treatment and recycling. The validation of the self-administrated questionnaire containing a list of jobs and leisure activities associated with potential Be exposure is in progress within the framework of a national study. Conclusions: The number of workers potentially exposed to Be in Switzerland is rather high compared to estimations for other industrialized countries and might constitute an underestimated occupational health problem. Undetected Be exposure in patients with sarcoidosis may occur and result in misdiagnosis. Once validated, the self-administrated questionnaire could be used by clinicians to screen for Be exposure in patients with granulomatous lung disorders.

Three essays on major trends in a slow clockspeed industry : the case of industrial automation

The motivation for this research initiated from the abrupt rise and fall of minicomputers which were initially used both for industrial automation and business applications due to their significantly lower cost than their predecessors, the mainframes. Later industrial automation developed its own vertically integrated hardware and software to address the application needs of uninterrupted operations, real-time control and resilience to harsh environmental conditions. This has led to the creation of an independent industry, namely industrial automation used in PLC, DCS, SCADA and robot control systems. This industry employs today over 200'000 people in a profitable slow clockspeed context in contrast to the two mainstream computing industries of information technology (IT) focused on business applications and telecommunications focused on communications networks and hand-held devices. Already in 1990s it was foreseen that IT and communication would merge into one Information and communication industry (ICT). The fundamental question of the thesis is: Could industrial automation leverage a common technology platform with the newly formed ICT industry? Computer systems dominated by complex instruction set computers (CISC) were challenged during 1990s with higher performance reduced instruction set computers (RISC). RISC started to evolve parallel to the constant advancement of Moore's law. These developments created the high performance and low energy consumption System-on-Chip architecture (SoC). Unlike to the CISC processors RISC processor architecture is a separate industry from the RISC chip manufacturing industry. It also has several hardware independent software platforms consisting of integrated operating system, development environment, user interface and application market which enables customers to have more choices due to hardware independent real time capable software applications. An architecture disruption merged and the smartphone and tablet market were formed with new rules and new key players in the ICT industry. Today there are more RISC computer systems running Linux (or other Unix variants) than any other computer system. The astonishing rise of SoC based technologies and related software platforms in smartphones created in unit terms the largest installed base ever seen in the history of computers and is now being further extended by tablets. An underlying additional element of this transition is the increasing role of open source technologies both in software and hardware. This has driven the microprocessor based personal computer industry with few dominating closed operating system platforms into a steep decline. A significant factor in this process has been the separation of processor architecture and processor chip production and operating systems and application development platforms merger into integrated software platforms with proprietary application markets. Furthermore the pay-by-click marketing has changed the way applications development is compensated: Three essays on major trends in a slow clockspeed industry: The case of industrial automation 2014 freeware, ad based or licensed - all at a lower price and used by a wider customer base than ever before. Moreover, the concept of software maintenance contract is very remote in the app world. However, as a slow clockspeed industry, industrial automation has remained intact during the disruptions based on SoC and related software platforms in the ICT industries. Industrial automation incumbents continue to supply systems based on vertically integrated systems consisting of proprietary software and proprietary mainly microprocessor based hardware. They enjoy admirable profitability levels on a very narrow customer base due to strong technology-enabled customer lock-in and customers' high risk leverage as their production is dependent on fault-free operation of the industrial automation systems. When will this balance of power be disrupted? The thesis suggests how industrial automation could join the mainstream ICT industry and create an information, communication and automation (ICAT) industry. Lately the Internet of Things (loT) and weightless networks, a new standard leveraging frequency channels earlier occupied by TV broadcasting, have gradually started to change the rigid world of Machine to Machine (M2M) interaction. It is foreseeable that enough momentum will be created that the industrial automation market will in due course face an architecture disruption empowered by these new trends. This thesis examines the current state of industrial automation subject to the competition between the incumbents firstly through a research on cost competitiveness efforts in captive outsourcing of engineering, research and development and secondly researching process re- engineering in the case of complex system global software support. Thirdly we investigate the industry actors', namely customers, incumbents and newcomers, views on the future direction of industrial automation and conclude with our assessments of the possible routes industrial automation could advance taking into account the looming rise of the Internet of Things (loT) and weightless networks. Industrial automation is an industry dominated by a handful of global players each of them focusing on maintaining their own proprietary solutions. The rise of de facto standards like IBM PC, Unix and Linux and SoC leveraged by IBM, Compaq, Dell, HP, ARM, Apple, Google, Samsung and others have created new markets of personal computers, smartphone and tablets and will eventually also impact industrial automation through game changing commoditization and related control point and business model changes. This trend will inevitably continue, but the transition to a commoditized industrial automation will not happen in the near future.

Smooth transition or permanent exit? Evidence on job prospects of displaced industrial workers

This article examines the job prospects of displaced industrial workers in Switzerland. Based on a survey of 1,203 workers who were dismissed after their manufacturing plants closed down, we analyse the determinants of re-employment, the sector of re-employment and the change in wages. Two years after displacement, a majority of workers were back in employment: 69% were re-employed, 17% un-employed and 11% retired. Amongst re-employed workers, two thirds found a job in manufacturing and one third in services. Contrary to a common belief, low-end services are not the collecting vessel of redundant industrial workers. Displaced workers aged 55 and older seem particularly vulnerable after a plant closes down: over 30% were long-term unemployed, and those older workers who found a new job suffered disproportionate wage losses. Advanced age-and not low education-appears as the primary handicap after mass redundancy.