Lab animal allergy surveillance at a private medical school in three dissimilar animal research facilities

Very few studies have described MUP-1 concentrations and measured prevalence of Laboratory Animal Allergy (LAA) at such a diverse institution as the private medical school (MS) that is the focus of this study. Air sampling was performed in three dissimilar animal research facilities at MS and quantitated using a commercially available ELISA. Descriptive data was obtained from an anonymous laboratory animal allergy survey given to both animal facility employees and the researchers who utilize these facilities alike. Logistic regression analysis was then implemented to investigate specific factors that may be predictive of developing LAA as well as factors influencing the reporting of LAA symptoms to the occupational health program. Concentrations of MUP-1 detected ranged from below detectable levels (BDL) to a peak of 22.64 ng/m3 . Overall, 68 employees with symptoms claimed they improved while away from work and only 25 employees reported their symptoms to occupational health. Being Vietnamese, a smoker, not wearing a mask, and working in any facility longer than one year were all significant predictors of having LAA symptoms. This study suggests a LAA monitoring system that relies on self-reporting can be inadequate in estimating LAA problems. In addition, efforts need to be made to target training and educational materials for non-native English speaking employees to overcome language and cultural barriers and address their specific needs. ^

Experiment station research facilities, report to accompany H. R. 12712.

Caption title.

Registered research facilities under Laboratory Animal Welfare Act : list /

Taken from Federal register, vol. 34, no. 159 and vol. 35, no. 130.

Control of foot-and-mouth disease. Report of special subcommittee to the Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate, on study of pernicious effect of foot-and-mouth disease as it exists in Mexico and elsewhere, progress of program to prevent entry of the disease into the United States, the most effective methods of combating and controlling the disease and the proper location for the authorized research facilities.

Kenneth S. Wherry, chairman of subcommittee.

Plant structure and systematics research at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane

This article provides a general overview of some of the plant research being conducted by a number of researchers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Brisbane. Details about student projects and research facilities have been limited to those of relevance to plant structure and systematics. Academics, technicians and research students involved in plant research are in the Faculty of Science and Engineering, mainly in the School of Earth, Environment and Biological Sciences (EEBS), with a few exceptions. Our offices and laboratories are housed in a number of different buildings at the Gardens Point campus (e.g., P, Q, R, S, M Blocks) and we have strong collaborative links with Queensland Herbarium (BRI) and Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens.

TEC4SEA - A Modular Platform for Research, Test and Validation of Technologies Supporting a Sustainable Blue Economy

This paper presents the TEC4SEA research infrastructure created in Portugal to support research, development, and validation of marine technologies. It is a multidisciplinary open platform, capable of supporting research, development, and test of marine robotics, telecommunications, and sensing technologies for monitoring and operating in the ocean environment. Due to the installed research facilities and its privileged geographic location, it allows fast access to deep sea, and can support multidisciplinary research, enabling full validation and evaluation of technological solutions designed for the ocean environment. It is a vertically integrated infrastructure, in the sense that it possesses a set of skills and resources which range from pure conceptual research to field deployment missions, with strong industrial and logistic capacities in the middle tier of prototype production. TEC4SEA is open to the entire scientific and enterprise community, with a free access policy for researchers affiliated with the research units that ensure its maintenance and sustainability. The paper describes the infrastructure in detail, and discusses associated research programs, providing a strategic vision for deep sea research initiatives, within the context of both the Portuguese National Ocean Strategy and European Strategy frameworks.

Guide to library facilities for national defense.

Mode of access: Internet.

Airborne engineered nanoparticles : are they a health problem?

This article focuses on airborne engineered nanoparticles generated in a growing number of commercial and research facilities. Despite their presence in the air of many such facilities, there are currently no established and validated measurement methods to detect them, characterise their properties or quantify their concentrations. In relation to their possible health impacts, the key questions include: (i) Are the particles in the nano-size range are more toxic than larger particles of the same material? (ii) Does the surface chemistry of the lung alters the toxicity of inhaled nanoparticles? (iii) Do nano-fibers pose the same risk as asbestos? and (iv) Are the methods for assessing the health risk are appropriate? This article summarises the state of knowledge in relation to these issues.

Potential of genetics for aquaculture development in Africa

Aquaculture in Africa is fairly insignificant by world standards and accounts for a mere 0.4 per cent of global aquaculture production. The application of genetics can play an important role in efforts to increase aquaculture production in Africa through methods such as selective breeding, hybridization, chromosome manipulation and use of YY “supermales”. Other issues that need to be addressed are limited genetic research facilities, funding, human capacity and suitable species for aquaculture.

When the library is located in prime real estate: a case study on the loss of space from the Duke University Medical Center Library and Archives.

The Duke University Medical Center Library and Archives is located in the heart of the Duke Medicine campus, surrounded by Duke Hospital, ambulatory clinics, and numerous research facilities. Its location is considered prime real estate, given its adjacency to patient care, research, and educational activities. In 2005, the Duke University Library Space Planning Committee had recommended creating a learning center in the library that would support a variety of educational activities. However, the health system needed to convert the library's top floor into office space to make way for expansion of the hospital and cancer center. The library had only five months to plan the storage and consolidation of its journal and book collections, while working with the facilities design office and architect on the replacement of key user spaces on the top floor. Library staff worked together to develop plans for storing, weeding, and consolidating the collections and provided input into renovation plans for users spaces on its mezzanine level. The library lost 15,238 square feet (29%) of its net assignable square footage and a total of 16,897 (30%) gross square feet. This included 50% of the total space allotted to collections and over 15% of user spaces. The top-floor space now houses offices for Duke Medicine oncology faculty and staff. By storing a large portion of its collection off-site, the library was able to remove more stacks on the remaining stack level and convert them to user spaces, a long-term goal for the library. Additional space on the mezzanine level had to be converted to replace lost study and conference room spaces. While this project did not match the recommended space plans for the library, it underscored the need for the library to think creatively about the future of its facility and to work toward a more cohesive master plan.

Les déterminants de l’intégration pédagogique des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (TIC) par les enseignants à l’Université de Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

L’objectif général de cette recherche doctorale est l’étude des déterminants de l’intégration pédagogique des technologies de l’information et de la communication (TIC) par les professeurs à l’Université de Ouagadougou (UO). Cela nous a conduit à étudier respectivement les compétences technologiques des professeurs, les facteurs de résistance contraignant l’intégration pédagogique des TIC par ces professeurs, l’acceptation et les usages spécifiques des TIC par les professeurs. Ce travail s’est bâti autour des concepts théoriques sur les usages éducatifs des TIC, les compétences technopédagogiques, les facteurs de résistance, l’acceptation des TIC et l’intégration pédagogique des TIC. Ces concepts se sont inscrits dans les cadres d’analyses des modèles d’intégration des TIC par les professeurs et des modèles d’acceptation et d’utilisation d’une nouvelle technologie. La stratégie d’analyse des données s’est construite autour des approches descriptives et analytiques notamment au moyen de l’utilisation de la psychométrie et/ou de l’économétrie des modèles à variables dépendantes limitées. Utilisant la recherche quantitative, le recrutement de 82 professeurs par avis de consentement à participer, a permis de collecter les données sur la base de questionnaires dont la majeure partie est bâtie autour de questions à échelle de Likert. L’étude des compétences technologiques des professeurs a permis d’une part, de dresser un portrait des usages des TIC par les professeurs. En effet, les usages les plus répandus des TIC dans cette université sont les logiciels de bureautique, les logiciels de messagerie électronique et de navigation dans Internet. Elle a aussi permis de faire un portrait des compétences technologiques des professeurs. Ceux-ci utilisent à la fois plusieurs logiciels et reconnaissent l’importance des TIC pour leurs tâches pédagogiques et de recherche même si leur degré de maîtrise perçue sur certaines des applications télématiques reste à des niveaux très bas. Par rapport à certaines compétences comme celles destinées à exploiter les TIC dans des situations de communication et de collaboration et celles destinée à rechercher et à traiter des informations à l’aide des TIC, les niveaux de maîtrise par les professeurs de ces compétences ont été très élevés. Les professeurs ont eu des niveaux de maîtrise très faibles sur les compétences destinées à créer des situations d’apprentissage à l’aide des TIC et sur celles destinées à développer et à diffuser des ressources d’apprentissage à l’aide des TIC malgré la grande importance que ceux-ci ont accordée à ces compétences avancées essentielles pour une intégration efficace et efficiente des TIC à leurs pratiques pédagogiques. L’étude des facteurs de résistance a permis d’ériger une typologie de ces facteurs. Ces facteurs vont des contraintes matérielles et infrastructurelles à celles liées aux compétences informatiques et à des contraintes liées à la motivation et à l’engagement personnel des professeurs, facteurs pouvant susciter des comportements de refus de la technologie. Ces facteurs sont entre autres, la compatibilité des TIC d’avec les tâches pédagogiques et de recherche des professeurs, l’utilité perçue des TIC pour les activités pédagogiques et de recherche, les facilités d’utilisation des TIC et la motivation ou l’engagement personnel des professeurs aux usages des TIC. Il y a aussi les coûts engendrés par l’accès aux TIC et le manque de soutien et d’assistance technique au plan institutionnel qui se sont révelés enfreindre le développement de ces usages parmi les professeurs. Les estimations des déterminants de l’acceptation et des usages éducatifs des TIC par les professeurs ont montré que c’est surtout « l’intention comportementale » d’aller aux TIC des professeurs, « l’expérience d’Internet » qui affectent positivement les usages éducatifs des TIC. Les « conditions de facilitation » qui représentent non seulement la qualité de l’infrastructure technologique, mais aussi l’existence d’un soutien institutionnel aux usages des TIC, ont affecté négativement ces usages. Des éléments de recommandation issus de ce travail s’orientent vers la formation des professeurs sur des compétences précises identifiées, l’amélioration de la qualité de l’infrastructure technologique existante, la création d’un logithèque, la mise en œuvre d’incitations institutionnelles adéquates telles que l’assistance technique régulière aux professeurs, l’allègement des volumes horaires statutaires des professeurs novateurs, la reconnaissance des efforts déjà réalisés par ces novateurs en matière d’usages éducatifs des TIC dans leur institution.

A gestão das compras públicas dos estados brasileiros: a experiência do Rio de Janeiro com a opção pela descentralização

A partir da década de 2000, no contexto das reformas de gestão do Estado, os estados brasileiros iniciaram um processo contínuo de aperfeiçoamento gerencial nas compras, em decorrência da necessidade de racionalizar os processos e o uso dos recursos financeiros visando melhorar a qualidade do seu gasto e atender às prerrogativas da Lei de Responsabilidade Fiscal. A possibilidade de reduzir os preços pela economia de escala, monitorar melhor os processos de contratação, padronizar os itens adquiridos e gerir com mais eficiência suas atividades de compras e contratações, levou alguns estados a optarem por centralizar, em maior ou menor grau, suas compras em um órgão gerenciador. No entanto, em outros estados predominou a ideia de centralizar apenas a normatização e a padronização dos procedimentos ou no máximo o controle de alguns processos, mantendo a execução das compras, descentralizada. Este trabalho teve por objetivo identificar os fatores que influenciaram o Estado do Rio de Janeiro a manter suas compras descentralizadas, a despeito de possíveis ganhos com a centralização.Metodologicamente, a pesquisa teve uma abordagem qualitativa, que levou à interpretação de elementos detectados na pesquisa de campo, alinhando-os ao material teórico pesquisado. Os meios de investigação foram o estudo de caso, a pesquisa bibliográfica e a investigação documental. Os instrumentos utilizados na pesquisa de campo foram a observação e as entrevistas. Concluiu-seque a não adoção de uma política de centralização das compras pelos estados após a década de 2000, como ocorreu no caso do Rio de Janeiro, se explica pelo seu alto índice populacional, pela sua dimensão econômica e, principalmente, pelas características descentralizadoras das reformas de gestão implantadas a partir de 2007. Aparentemente, esta opção pela descentralização acabou não trazendo maiores perdas em termos de escala, transparência e controle.

Endosymbiosis in trypanosomatids: the genomic cooperation between bacterium and host in the synthesis of essential amino acids is heavily influenced by multiple horizontal gene transfers

Background Trypanosomatids of the genera Angomonas and Strigomonas live in a mutualistic association characterized by extensive metabolic cooperation with obligate endosymbiotic Betaproteobacteria. However, the role played by the symbiont has been more guessed by indirect means than evidenced. Symbiont-harboring trypanosomatids, in contrast to their counterparts lacking symbionts, exhibit lower nutritional requirements and are autotrophic for essential amino acids. To evidence the symbiont’s contributions to this autotrophy, entire genomes of symbionts and trypanosomatids with and without symbionts were sequenced here. Results Analyses of the essential amino acid pathways revealed that most biosynthetic routes are in the symbiont genome. By contrast, the host trypanosomatid genome contains fewer genes, about half of which originated from different bacterial groups, perhaps only one of which (ornithine cyclodeaminase, EC:4.3.1.12) derived from the symbiont. Nutritional, enzymatic, and genomic data were jointly analyzed to construct an integrated view of essential amino acid metabolism in symbiont-harboring trypanosomatids. This comprehensive analysis showed perfect concordance among all these data, and revealed that the symbiont contains genes for enzymes that complete essential biosynthetic routes for the host amino acid production, thus explaining the low requirement for these elements in symbiont-harboring trypanosomatids. Phylogenetic analyses show that the cooperation between symbionts and their hosts is complemented by multiple horizontal gene transfers, from bacterial lineages to trypanosomatids, that occurred several times in the course of their evolution. Transfers occur preferentially in parts of the pathways that are missing from other eukaryotes. Conclusion We have herein uncovered the genetic and evolutionary bases of essential amino acid biosynthesis in several trypanosomatids with and without endosymbionts, explaining and complementing decades of experimental results. We uncovered the remarkable plasticity in essential amino acid biosynthesis pathway evolution in these protozoans, demonstrating heavy influence of horizontal gene transfer events, from Bacteria to trypanosomatid nuclei, in the evolution of these pathways.

Die psychologische Kampfführung

Nach dem Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs wurden auf dem Gebiet der Bundesrepublik Deutschland zahlreiche Organisationen gegründet, die es sich zur Aufgabe machten, auf die Meinungsbildung im Osten und Westen Einfluss zu nehmen. Dazu zählte von 1957 bis 1990 die Psychologische Kampfführung / Psychologische Verteidigung der Bundeswehr (PSK/PSV). Ihr primäres Ziel war es, das Staats- und Gesellschaftssystem der Bundesrepublik nach innen und außen zu konsolidieren. Der Dissertationsschrift liegt ein interdisziplinärer Ansatz zugrunde: Zum einen wird die PSK/PSV im Kontext der Propagandageschichte und -theorie dargestellt und untersucht – von diesem Standpunkt aus betrachtet handelt es sich um eine publizistikwissenschaftliche Untersuchung. Zum anderen wird die Wirklichkeit der PSK/PSV mit erziehungswissenschaftlichen Begriffen beschrieben, analysiert und unter pädagogischen Gesichtspunkten diskutiert – aus dieser Sichtweise liegt hier eine erziehungswissenschaftliche Untersuchung vor. Die PSK/PSV stand historisch betrachtet keineswegs im wertfreien Raum. Vor allem die Ausprägungen von Propaganda im Dritten Reich – aber auch in der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik – spielten für die PSK/PSV eine bedeutende Rolle. Sie waren gewissermaßen stets zu meidende (politische) rechte und linke Grenze in dem Unterfangen, eine eigene Form von Propaganda zu entwickeln und zu betreiben. Die PSK/PSV wirkte unter politischer Zielsetzung auf Einstellungen und Verhalten von Personen beiderseits des Eisernen Vorhangs ein. Ihre Aktivitäten weisen in auffälliger Weise Schnittmengen zu Feldern der Erziehung auf. Die unterschiedlichen pädagogischen Programme und Strategien der vier PSK/PSV-Bereiche – (1) Lehr- und Forschungsstätten, (2) PSK/PSV-Truppe, (3) Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sozialbeziehungen e.V. und (4) Studiengesellschaft für Zeitprobleme e.V. – werden in der Dissertationsschrift dargestellt, analysiert und bewertet. In den Schlussbetrachtungen wird unter pädagogischen Gesichtspunkten diskutiert, ob der in Presse und Politik geäußerte Vorwurf einer Nähe der PSK/PSV zur Propaganda und Erziehung im Dritten Reich haltbar ist.