Cold region data accessibility portal for Québec (CRDAP-QC): An integrated, multi-variable and multi-scale data repository for studying cold-region hydrological processes in Québec.

We present an integrated data portal and retrieval system for various variable related to hydrology and cryosphere of Québec, named Cold Region Data Accessibility Portal for Québec (CRDAP-QC). The raw data with which this integrated platform is built are pulled from various publicly available data sources. The platform integrates data variables related to climate (maximum, minimum and mean temperature along with total precipitation), snow accumulation (snow cover and depth) as well as Freeze-Thaw characteristics.

Forthcoming 'energy crunch' imminent.

A looming energy crisis will hit the UK within the next five years, energy regulator Ofgem has warned on a number of occasions already this year, and public sector organisations, commercial businesses, and households, can all expect a series of price hikes as demand outstrips local resources. So says Shamir Jiwa, founder and MD of MAXIM Eyes UK, a Surrey-based energy consultancy that serves business and organisations across the UK and Poland. Here he gives his personal view on some of the key short- to medium-term energy and resource management issues facing both hospitals and other healthcare facilities, and the wider UK, in the face of dwindling supplies of some, and especially fossil-fuel derived, forms of energy.

Caspofungin Etest endpoint for Aspergillus isolates shows poor agreement with the reference minimum effective concentration.

The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) M38-A2 reference broth microdilution (BMD) method for the antifungal susceptibility testing of filamentous fungi now includes guidelines for testing echinocandin activity using the minimum effective concentration (MEC) as the endpoint measurement. In this study, we compared the caspofungin Etest MIC on RPMI agar and Mueller-Hinton agar (supplemented with glucose and methylene blue [MGM]) to the BMD MEC for 345 clinical Aspergillus isolates, including A. flavus, A.

Escherichia coli 0157: H7 reservoir, transmission, diagnosis and the African situation: a review.

Objectives: To provide an overview of the current understanding of verotoxigenic Escherichia coli 0157:H7 (VTEC) and to describe clinical picture, reservoir, transmission and diagnosis and African situations of VTEC.

Data Source: A literature review was performed of major published series between 1980 and 2001 inclusive, using the PUB MED and MEDLINE search. Some earlier published series were also reviewed in instances where they directly led to the understanding of current review.

Risk factors associated with the occurrence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania.

A study was conducted in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania to determine the prevalence of bovine tuberculosis and the risk factors associated with the occurrence of the disease in cattle of different categories and in different climatic zones. The overall prevalence of the disease was 13.2%, and 51% of the herds tested contained reactor cattle.