Reconstructing rare soil microbial genomes using in situ enrichments and metagenomics.

Despite extensive direct sequencing efforts and advanced analytical tools, reconstructing microbial genomes from soil using metagenomics have been challenging due to the tremendous diversity and relatively uniform distribution of genomes found in this system. Here we used enrichment techniques in an attempt to decrease the complexity of a soil microbiome prior to sequencing by submitting it to a range of physical and chemical stresses in 23 separate microcosms for 4 months. The metagenomic analysis of these microcosms at the end of the treatment yielded 540 Mb of assembly using standard de novo assembly techniques (a total of 559,555 genes and 29,176 functions), from which we could recover novel bacterial genomes, plasmids and phages.

[French national survey on remifentanil utilisation for obstetrical peridural analgesia].

Objectives: The last French survey on alternatives to neuraxial anaesthesia for labour pain was published in 1997. However, intravenous remifentanil has become increasingly used as an option for labour analgesia. We evaluated the use of remifentanil as an alternative to epidural analgesia in level 2 and 3 French maternities in 2009.

Definition of the fine specificity of the monoclonal antibody 81D4: its reactivity with lysine and polyamine isopeptide cross-links.

The 81D1C2 monoclonal antibody (Mab) directed against the Nepsilon-(gamma-L-glutamyl)-L-lysine isopeptide was found to cross-react on Enzyme Immuno Assay (EIA) with acylated lysines. Using a differential screening EIA procedure, a new Mab 81D4 was selected, which did not cross-react with acylated lysines but exhibited strong reactivity with Nepsilon-(gamma-L-glutamyl)-L-lysine formed by covalently coupling the gamma-carboxyl of NalphaCBZ OtBu glutamic acid to epsilon-NH2 derivatized microtiter plates. When Nepsilon-(gamma-L-glutamyl)-L-lysine isopeptides were generated on gamma-carboxyl derivatized plates, only lysine isopeptides with blocked alpha-amines were reactive, regardless of whether the bond formed by the amine blocking agent was a carbamate with carbobenzyloxychloride or an amide with acetic anhydride.

[Professional satisfaction of American physicians in the Managed Care context].

The objective of this article is to shed a light on the satisfaction of physicians (both primary care physicians and specialists) in the Managed Care context. Most surveys have brought in negative results. The article also analyzes the resources and the means used by physicians to express their discontent in this new era.