Geospatial analysis of household spread of Ebola virus in a quarantined village - Sierra Leone, 2014.

We performed a spatial-temporal analysis to assess household risk factors for Ebola virus disease (Ebola) in a remote, severely-affected village. We defined a household as a family's shared living space and a case-household as a household with at least one resident who became a suspect, probable, or confirmed Ebola case from 1 August 2014 to 10 October 2014. We used Geographic Information System (GIS) software to calculate inter-household distances, performed space-time cluster analyses, and developed Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE). Village X consisted of 64 households; 42% of households became case-households over the observation period. Two significant space-time clusters occurred among households in the village; temporal effects outweighed spatial effects. GEE demonstrated that the odds of becoming a case-household increased by 4·0% for each additional person per household (P < 0·02) and 2·6% per day (P < 0·07). An increasing number of persons per household, and to a lesser extent, the passage of time after onset of the outbreak were risk factors for household Ebola acquisition, emphasizing the importance of prompt public health interventions that prioritize the most populated households. Using GIS with GEE can reveal complex spatial-temporal risk factors, which can inform prioritization of response activities in future outbreaks.

Initial events of light-dependent ATP synthesis in spinach subchloroplast particles.

The kinetics of 32Pi incorporation into adenine nucleotides by subchloroplast particles in the light is studied with a continuous flow apparatus allowing measurements between 3 and 200 ms. After a short lag time from 1 to 3 ms ATP synthesis proceeds with a constant rate. During the first few milliseconds a faster labelling of ADP is detected. This labelling of ADP reaches a constant level up to 1 molecule ADP labelled per molecule of coupling factor present. The labelling pattern in ATP indicates that the labelled ADP does not equilibrate with free ADP. The addition of 32Pi to a phosphorylating system during the light phase (32Pi pulse) exhibits unchanged kinetic characteristics for labelling of ATP and ADP. These results indicate a phosphorylation of AMP to ADP being an intermediate step in photophosphorylation. In experiments carried out in the dark no label is found in ATP within the time analysed. However the labelling of ADP occurs in the same way as in the light.

Control strategies of continuous bioprocesses based on biological activities.

Based on the material balance principle applied to microbial reactions in continuous bioprocesses, the concept of reaction rate control has been developed theoretically. This concept provides a more direct way of controlling biological activities than the control of physical or chemical parameters in practice today. From an analysis of dynamic and steady-state experiments, two control systems for carbon dioxide production rate control during the continuous culture of baker's yeast have been designed and evaluated experimentally. In these control methods, intracellular NADH concentration is used as an immediate indication of the onset of glucose repression. A more sophisticated master controller based on the respiratory quotient can be combined with these control methods. The resulting control system provides a means to indirectly optimize biomass production while preventing ethanol formation in the continuous culture of baker's yeast.

Automation of industrial bioprocesses.

The dramatic development of new electronic devices within the last 25 years has had a substantial influence on the control and automation of industrial bioprocesses. Within this short period of time the method of controlling industrial bioprocesses has changed completely. In this paper, the authors will use a practical approach focusing on the industrial applications of automation systems. From the early attempts to use computers for the automation of biotechnological processes up to the modern process automation systems some milestones are highlighted. Special attention is given to the influence of Standards and Guidelines on the development of automation systems.

Possible role of firmly bound ATP in the energy transduction of photosynthetic membranes.

Chromatophores of Rhodospirillum rubrum and spinach chloroplasts contain firmly bound ATP that is rapidly labeled along with ADP in the presence of 32Pi and endogenous nucleotides. The labeling is not entirely dependent on light. In chloroplasts three types of bound ATP can be defined methodologically by their extraction properties: buffer-soluble; acid-soluble; and SDS-soluble or firmly bound ATP. Extensive washing of the chloroplasts does reduce buffer-soluble but not acid-soluble and firmly bound ATP. Buffer-soluble [32P] ATP is almost exclusively gamma labeled while acid-soluble and firmly bound ATP are labeled in the beta and gamma position equally. CCCP, desaspidin, and phlorizin do not inhibit the labeling of firmly bound ATP, whereas the phosphorylation is almost abolished. However, EDTA and NEM pretreatments of the chloroplasts affect both reactions similarly. The postillumination [32P] ATP synthesis with chromatophores can be inhibited by adding ATP to the incubation mixture after illumination if 32Pi is included only during the dark incubation, but is without effect if 32Pi is present only during illumination. On the other hand, ADP added after illumination inhibits post-illumination [32P] ATP formation in both chromatophores and chloroplasts only if 32Pi is present during illumination. The data can be explained by a coupling factor having two sites, as proposed previously on the basis that firmly bound ATP does not transfer its phosphoryl group but seems to drive a synthesis of acid-soluble ATP which incorporates free phosphate.