A Broad-spectrum mer Operon in a Multi-drug Resistant Strain of the Fish Pathogen, Aeromonas salmonicida.

Aeromonas salmonicida AS03, a potential fish pathogen, was isolated from Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, in 2003. This strain was found to be resistant to ≥1000 mM HgCl2 and ≥32 mM phenylmercuric acetate as well as multiple antimicrobials. Mercury (Hg) and antibiotic resistance genes are often located on the same mobile genetic elements, so the genetic determinants of both resistances and the possibility of horizontal gene transfer were examined. Specific PCR primers were used to amplify and sequence distinctive regions of the mer operon. A. salmonicida AS03 was found to have a pDU1358-like broad-spectrum mer operon, containing merB as well as merA, merD, merP, merR and merT, most similar to Klebsiella pneumonaie plasmid pRMH760. To our knowledge, the mer operon has never before been documented in Aeromonas spp. PCR and gene sequencing were used to identify class 1 integron associated antibiotic resistance determinants and the Tet A tetracycline resistance gene. The transposase and resolvase genes of Tn1696 were identified through PCR and sequencing with Tn21 specific PCR primers. We provide phenotypic and genotypic evidence that the mer operon, the aforementioned antibiotic resistances, and the Tn1696 transposition module are located on a single plasmid or conjugative transposon that can be transferred to E. coli DH5α through conjugation in the presence of low level Hg and absence of any antibiotic selective pressure. Additionally, the presence of low-level Hg or chloramphenicol in the mating media was found to stimulate conjugation, significantly increasing the transfer frequency of conjugation above the transfer frequency measured with mating media lacking both antibiotics and Hg. This research demonstrates that mercury indirectly selects for the dissemination of the antibiotic resistance genes of A. salmonicida AS03.

A broad-spectrum mer operon in a multi-drug resistant strain of the fish pathogen, Aeromonas salmonicida

Aeromonas salmonicida AS03, a potential fish pathogen, was isolated from Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, in 2003. This strain was found to be resistant to ≥1000 mM HgCl2 and ≥32 mM phenylmercuric acetate as well as multiple antimicrobials. Mercury (Hg) and antibiotic resistance genes are often located on the same mobile genetic elements, so the genetic determinants of both resistances and the possibility of horizontal gene transfer were examined. Specific PCR primers were used to amplify and sequence distinctive regions of the mer operon. A. salmonicida AS03 was found to have a pDU1358-like broad-spectrum mer operon, containing merB as well as merA, merD, merP, merR and merT, most similar to Klebsiella pneumonaie plasmid pRMH760. To our knowledge, the mer operon has never before been documented in Aeromonas spp. PCR and gene sequencing were used to identify class 1 integron associated antibiotic resistance determinants and the Tet A tetracycline resistance gene. The transposase and resolvase genes of Tn1696 were identified through PCR and sequencing with Tn21 specific PCR primers. We provide phenotypic and genotypic evidence that the mer operon, the aforementioned antibiotic resistances, and the Tn1696 transposition module are located on a single plasmid or conjugative transposon that can be transferred to E. coli DH5α through conjugation in the presence of low level Hg and absence of any antibiotic selective pressure. Additionally, the presence of low-level Hg or chloramphenicol in the mating media was found to stimulate conjugation, significantly increasing the transfer frequency of conjugation above the transfer frequency measured with mating media lacking both antibiotics and Hg. This research demonstrates that mercury indirectly selects for the dissemination of the antibiotic resistance genes of A. salmonicida AS03.

Musilian Concept of Modern Man

German-Austrian Robert Musil (1880-1942) is considered an artist with an extremely unorthodox conception of art to a basic human problem. In his time, there existed a dissociation of substance from social values. Musil actually started with this foundation in considering the taunting dilemma that the accelerating technology of the century is overstepping each day the ability of the human mind to adjust to it. Musil maintained that social organization, patterns of thought and cherished ideals correspond to a reality that no longer exists

The diversity of diversity: further methodological considerations on the use of the concept in cultural economics

The implications of diversity still raise confusion in the cultural debate. We address them from both a formal and conceptual viewpoints, putting in check the validity of some arguments. We conclude that: measuring diversity demands key decisions and careful statistical procedures; ignorance on optimal diversity levels and on ways to generate them is widespread in the cultural field; there is no support for cultural diversity as something associated to fair economic and political systems; restriction to sheer economics requires the establishment of links between diversity and measurable properties – something rather incipient. Diversity, as a social choice, should be distinguished from it as an economic value.

Um caso de aprendizagem organizacional: exame conceitual e de aplicabilidade no contexto público

This research has a practice-oriented focus on the concept of Organizational Learning. The basic approach is a learning organization perspective, and some references to the concepts and concerns of organizational learning were included whenever necessary and proper. Organizational Learning is researched mainly from a management techniques and strategy point of view, with a smaller emphasis on the innovation and accumulation of technological capabilities and theoretical research points of view. A broad approach has been used, based mainly on the study of a successful case using action research in a private telecommunication company operating nationwide in Brazil. This study involved a small group, as it is common with pilot groups for learning organizations. The main purpose of this research is to provide a broad and updated survey about the idea of Organizational Learning. Results presented in the related literature are compared with findings from the field, and that literature is cited throughout the text. The interactions of Organizational Learning with the Brazilian context and with the public administration context are analyzed; important data, ranging from the historical origins and bases of the concept, to details of the activities in a real life learning organization, are shown. Some essential aspects, that should be considered or used when applying this type of management, are analyzed. The action research has shown a close proximity between Organizational Learning and a phenomenological perspective, servant leadership, and managerial model, respectively in the fields of philosophical approach, leadership, and management models.

Motivação para o trabalho como fator de produtividade e criatividade em empresas de médio porte - o caso ACEPLAC

O propósito primeiro desta dissertação foi o de mostrar, por meio de um estudo de caso, o da ACEPLAC, a aplicação do conceito de motivação como fator de criatividade e incremento de produção, em empresas de médio porte, sustentado por um modelo de gestão e de projetos de recompensa. Buscou-se justificar tal modelo pela observação sistemática dos esforços de trabalho, que se mostraram capazes de manter a motivação organizacional, apesar de sua volatilidade e voluntariedade. O método visava a trazer a experiência no campo concreto para o campo do conhecimento. Para isto, dividiu-se o longo processo em passos distintos, em que a obtenção de um arcabouço teórico sobre o complexo fenômeno que representa a motivação para o trabalho revelou-se o inequívoco ponto de partida. O estudo das várias características desse fenômeno e das inúmeras contribuições apresentadas desde Elton Mayo e Mary Follet até os dias atuais permitiu a construção de instrumental seguro para a análise crítica da realidade observada. Fez-se a opção de desenvolver a análise por meio do estudo de caso selecionado, uma vez que se pretendia ligar as abordagens teóricas à prática de modelos eficazes. O objetivo foi sinalizar para executivos e gerentes de empresas de médio porte aspectos relevantes para sua constituição e operacionalização, criando, assim, um panorama sobre a temática capaz de gerar novas alternativas para a tomada de decisão relativa ao assunto. Esse modelo é significativo porque conseguiu reduzir os aspectos voláteis e maximizar a voluntariedade dos empregados. O referido caso é rico em experiências, decisões e exemplos que podem ser adaptados e levados a outras empresas do mesmo porte. A análise criteriosa de todo o material de pesquisa levantado possibilitou a confirmação da afirmativa inicial, a qual priorizava a motivação como fator de criatividade e incremento de produção nas empresas de médio porte. Essas conclusões culminaram com a implantação do referido modelo, em maio de 1994, na Acesita Placas S/A - ACEPLAC.