“Motherhood has profound effects on physiology, neuronal p


“Motherhood has profound effects on physiology, neuronal plasticity, and behavior. We conducted a series of experiments to test the hypothesis that fatherhood, similarly to motherhood, affects brain plasticity (such as cell proliferation and survival) and various behaviors in the highly social prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster). In Experiment 1, adult males were housed with their same-sex cage mate (control), single-housed (isolation), or housed with a receptive female to mate and produce offspring (father) for 6 weeks. Fatherhood significantly reduced cell

survival (assessed by bromodeoxyuridine labeling), but not cell proliferation (assessed by Ki67-labeling), in the amygdala, dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, and ventromedial hypothalamus, suggesting that fatherhood affects brain plasticity. In Experiment Smoothened Agonist datasheet 2, neither acute (20 min) nor chronic (20 min daily for 10 consecutive days) pup exposure altered cell proliferation or survival in the brain, but chronic pup exposure increased circulating corticosterone levels. These data suggest that reduced Rucaparib research buy cell survival in the brain of prairie vole fathers was unlikely to be due to the level of pup exposure and display of paternal behavior, and may not be mediated by circulating corticosterone. The effects of fatherhood on various behaviors

(including anxiety-like, depression-like, and social behaviors) were examined in Experiment 3. The data indicated that fatherhood increased anxiety- and depression-like behaviors as well as altered aggression from and social recognition memory in male prairie voles. These results warrant further investigation of a possible link between brain plasticity and behavioral changes observed due to fatherhood. “
“Brain trauma can disrupt synaptic connections, and this in turn can prompt axons to sprout and form new

connections. If these new axonal connections are aberrant, hyperexcitability can result. It has been shown that ablating tropomyosin-related kinase B (TrkB), a receptor for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), can reduce axonal sprouting after hippocampal injury. However, it is unknown whether inhibiting BDNF-mediated axonal sprouting will reduce hyperexcitability. Given this, our purpose here was to determine whether pharmacologically blocking BDNF inhibits hyperexcitability after injury-induced axonal sprouting in the hippocampus. To induce injury, we made Schaffer collateral lesions in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures. As reported by others, we observed a 50% reduction in axonal sprouting in cultures treated with a BDNF blocker (TrkB-Fc) 14 days after injury. Furthermore, lesioned cultures treated with TrkB-Fc were less hyperexcitable than lesioned untreated cultures. Using electrophysiology, we observed a two-fold decrease in the number of CA3 neurons that showed bursting responses after lesion with TrkB-Fc treatment, whereas we found no change in intrinsic neuronal firing properties.

60 for 28 days 597120 for 48-week course CrCl > 50 mL/min: Initi

60 for 28 days 5971.20 for 48-week course CrCl > 50 mL/min: Initiate at normal dose CrCl 30–50 mL/min: reduce by 25% CrCl 15–29 mL/min: reduce by 50% CrCl < 15 mL/min: avoid Avoid in combination with ribavirin when CrCl < 50 mL/min None in mild and moderate impairment Avoid in decompensated cirrhosis

638.04 Tamoxifen clinical trial for 28 days 7656.48 for 48-week course (person of average weight 79 kg) Chronic hepatitis C infection in adults without liver decompensation, in combination with peginterferon alpha 2a or 2b. In triple therapy with boceprevir or telaprevir in genotype 1 infection, with compensated liver disease* No dose reduction required in patients with compensated cirrhosis Use with caution with careful monitoring in patients with decompensated liver disease 267.81 to £321.38 for 28 days (Rebetol) 308.31 to £369.98 for 28 days (Copegus) Copegus Genotype 1: <75 kg: 1000 mg; ≥ 75 kg: 1200 mg [off-label] Copegus Genotype 2–4: 800 mg daily Rebetol Genotype 1–4: <65 kg: 800 mg; 65–80 kg: 1000 mg; 81–105 kg: 1200 mg; > 105 kg: 1400 mg 1866.50 for 7 days 22,398 For a 12-week course IL28B genotype has been associated with response to pegylated interferon and ribavirin in monoinfected and coinfected

populations with a similar effect on outcome in both in a recent meta-analysis [82]. The Sprint 2 study demonstrated response rates to PEG-IFN and RBV with boceprevir were 80%, 71% and 59% with CC, CT and TT genotype respectively [83]. Similar data have been reported with telaprevir [84]. In the context of DAA-based therapy the role selleck kinase inhibitor of IL28B testing is unclear. If the very high rate of durable virological success reported with newer PIs and interferon-sparing approaches in monoinfected patients is translated into similar results in the coinfected, the use of IL28B testing will become redundant in the clinical setting. Although some physicians

and patients may find IL28B testing of use in making a decision selleck inhibitor to initiate or defer therapy, IL28B testing is not routinely recommended. In a potentially rapidly changing landscape of treatment it is essential that all individuals with chronic HCV undergo adequate liver disease staging prior to a decision being made on whether anti-HCV therapy should be deferred or initiated. If deferred, restaging should occur at least annually (Section 4). An accurate assessment of alcohol and injecting drug use should be sought. Alcohol use should be minimised as this not only accelerates disease progression but also may reduce treatment efficacy through non-compliance; ongoing injecting drug use has previously been considered a relative contraindication for anti-HCV therapy, but there is now a growing body of experience of treatment in this group. Those continuing to inject should be warned about the potential for re-infection and receive education to prevent this.

If animal performance did not meet these criteria the spatial fre

If animal performance did not meet these criteria the spatial frequency of the stimulus was reduced. A preliminary threshold was attained for rats when they failed to achieve 70% accuracy at a spatial frequency. In

order to ensure the accuracy of this estimate, spatial frequencies around the threshold were retested until a clear pattern of performance was generated. The highest spatial frequency achieved consistently was recorded as the acuity threshold. Sessions in which the animal was obviously not performing the task were excluded from acuity threshold assessment. Behavioral testing was performed during the light phase of the cycle. Statistical analysis was performed using Sigma Stat 3.1 (Systat Software, Chicago, IL, USA). Multiple groups were compared by anova followed by post hoc comparisons applying Bonferroni’s correction or the Holm–Sidak test. When two groups were compared Src inhibitor a t-test was applied. Normality and omoschedasticity

of the data were checked. Data not normally distributed were compared using the nonparametric Kruskal–Wallis anova or rank-sum test. Significance level was equal to 0.05. To assess whether adult long-term MD rats can recover normal visual acuity with treatments with HDAC inhibitors, we analyzed rats monocularly deprived from P21 until P120-130. These ages are temporally located in correspondence with the beginning of rat

SP for MD and well after its closure, respectively (Fagiolini et al., 1994; Guire et al., 1999). This MD protocol is known to cause a strong selleck inhibitor and spontaneously irreversible amblyopia in rats (Pizzorusso et al., 2006). Long-term MD rats were subjected to RS and, after 5 days, they were treated for 25 days with daily intraperitoneal administration of valproic acid (300 mg/kg; n = 8), sodium butyrate (1.2 g/kg; n = 6) or vehicle (0.9% saline; n = 4) as a control. Y27632 Finally, visual acuity of the deprived and the nondeprived eye was assessed by means of VEP recordings from the primary visual cortex contralateral to the stimulated eye. Fig. 1 shows the average VEP curve obtained in the three experimental groups. In control rats treated with saline we found a significantly lower VEP acuity for the long-term deprived eye than for the fellow eye (paired t-test, t3 = 4.002, P = 0.028), indicating that the deprived eye remained amblyopic after RS and control treatment. By contrast, both in the group treated with valproic acid and in the group treated with sodium butyrate, VEP acuity of the two eyes did not differ (paired t-test: t7 = −0.739, P = 0.48 for valproic acid; t5 = 1.123, P = 0.31 for sodium butyrate). The recovery of visual acuity induced by HDAC inhibitors was also evident comparing VEP acuity of the deprived eye between the different experimental groups (Fig. 1D).

2B) which were each followed by a large mAHP (Fig 2C), as previo

2B) which were each followed by a large mAHP (Fig. 2C), as previously described (Beck et al., 2004; Scuvee-Moreau et al., 2004). No AHP was observed at the end of positive current injection, contrary to what is seen in cortical pyramidal neurons. Action potentials were broad (duration at half-amplitude was 1.13 ± 0.25 ms; n = 90), with a typical shoulder on the

falling phase (Fig. 2B). It has been suggested that this shoulder is due to an influx of Ca2+ (Aghajanian & Vandermaelen, 1982; Vandermaelen & Aghajanian, 1983; Penington et al., 1992). The amplitude of the spikes as measured from the threshold was 67 ± 6 mV (n = 90). In intracellular experiments, presumed 5-HT neurons were PCI32765 defined according to the following criteria: they were either silent, with a resting membrane potential between −55 and −70 mV, or had a slow spontaneous firing rate. The action potential and mAHP were strictly similar to those recorded in young animals. Their input resistance was 280 ± 41 MΩ and the membrane time constant, τ, was 35 ± 3 ms (n = 22). These neurons were depolarized by the α1 agonist phenylephrine (3–10 μm; not shown), as already described (Vandermaelen

& Aghajanian, 1983). Taken together, these features identify them as presumed 5-HT neurons. Phenylephrine (10 μm) was added to the superfusion solution in all extracellular recordings. Under these conditions, presumed 5-HT neurons had a slow, regular firing rate of 0.4–3 spikes/s consisting of broad (> 2 ms) triphasic action potentials. These neurons were most probably serotonergic because their firing was inhibited by the 5HT1A Lumacaftor molecular weight agonist 8-OH-DPAT (30 nm) and this effect was blocked by the 5HT1A antagonist WAY100635 (100 nm; not shown). We have previously

shown that the potency of WAY100635 as an antagonist of 5HT1A receptors in these neurons (pKB, 9.57) is similar to its affinity at identified 5HT1A receptors (Defraiteur et al., 2007). In order to prevent any effect of the activation of 5HT1A receptors in the extracellular recordings reported in this paper, 100 nm WAY100635 was superfused together with the blockers mentioned above. In order to characterize the outward current underlying the mAHP observed in current clamp, we performed voltage-clamp experiments. As a first step, we used the same protocol as the one used previously in dopaminergic and other neurons Coproporphyrinogen III oxidase (Wolfart & Roeper, 2002). Neurons were held at −60 mV and 20-ms depolarizing pulses (referred to below as long pulses) were given to a range of voltages between −10 and +100 mV. This type of voltage step induced a subsequent outward current peaking immediately and lasting ~400 ms (Fig. 3A). In order to isolate the SK current from voltage-dependent K+ currents and/or synaptic currents, we used synaptic blockers and 5 mm TEA (Fig. 3A), as explained in detail in ‘Materials and methods’. The remaining outward current had a peak amplitude of 47 ± 21 pA (n = 69). Its mean time to peak was 75 ± 15 ms.

[14] Typically in other risk research findings, “accidents” and s

[14] Typically in other risk research findings, “accidents” and sexually transmitted infections (“STIs”) are perceived as more familiar and less dreaded risks,[15-18] whereas “terrorist attacks” and vaccine-related GSK2118436 adverse events (“VAEs”) may be perceived as less familiar and more dreaded risks.[19, 20] Even if an individual has a greater affiliation

with familiar risks (eg, “accidents”), the person may also feel less concern about such a risk because it is perceived as less dreaded compared with exotic risks.[11] In Figure 3 of the Zimmermann article, the general trend of results from the PRISM’s “self-risk separation” or SRS (ie, stated as a proxy for risk perception) appears to be increasing for both the traveler and the expert, ABT 888 from more familiar and less dreaded risks (eg, “accidents,” “mosquitoes,” and “STIs”) to less familiar and more dreaded risks (eg, “terrorist attacks,” “epidemic outbreaks,” and “VAEs”). If the SRS was a valid measure for risk perceptions,

one would expect the SRS to measure this trend in the opposite direction, as per established risk research within other fields.[3, 11, 13] For example, injury prevention programs typically find low “outrage” or perceived risk for common accidents, such as motor vehicle collisions[15] and sporting injuries.[16] The problem here may partly be related to the PRISM having solely been validated for “self-illness separation” (ie, the distance between “self” and the patient’s illness), which is inversely proportional to the perceived importance of a chronic illness and not a travel-related risk.[6, 7] The authors have made an untested assumption that the PRISM will also measure perceived risk, as it does for subjective suffering.[1] This last point is important if we want to use any specific psychometric tool to make observations and corresponding conclusions about pre-travel risk management and risk PLEKHB2 communication strategies. Are we really measuring risk perceptions

among travelers and experts, or are we measuring something else? In the case of PRISM, we may simply be measuring a person’s affiliation with a given risk in the same manner as it is used to measure a person’s affiliation with an illness or chronic symptom that is part of their ongoing suffering.[6-10] If so, then the SRS may not be measuring the important characteristics of risk perception that motivate people to take preventive action or inhibit them from addressing travel-related risks (eg, dreaded vs not dreaded, imposed vs voluntary, man-made vs natural, etc.).[3, 11, 13] Some of the results[1] may also be affected by unidentified heuristics (ie, mental shortcuts) leading to observable cognitive biases as described in the “heuristics-and-biases” approach.[11, 21] For example, some differences in SRS scores between the experts and traveler for certain risk categories may be partially explained by unrealistic optimism or “optimistic bias.

IncF and IncI1 type plasmids have been frequently reported worldw

IncF and IncI1 type plasmids have been frequently reported worldwide in clinical www.selleckchem.com/products/SB-203580.html Enterobacteriaceae, associated with the spread of resistance genes towards extended-spectrum beta-lactams, aminoglycosides and quinolones (Carattoli, 2009). In addition, the presence of IncI1 replicons has also been reported in bacteria isolated from domestic and wild animals, as well as food products (Carattoli, 2009). The presence of IncF-type and IncI1 plasmids in Aeromonas strains again highlights the importance of members of this genus as hosts of mobile genetic elements (Rhodes et al., 2000;

Sørum et al., 2003; Moura et al., 2007, 2012; Cattoir et al., 2008; Picão et al., 2008; Verner-Jeffreys et al., 2009; Kadlec et al., 2011). In addition, the common association of F-type replicons to virulence traits, such as colonization factors and toxins in E. coli (Johnson & Nolan, 2009b), as well as their presence in treated effluents, raises concern regarding the possible dissemination of

such traits to natural environments, agriculture fields and the food chain. Despite the diversity of replicons found among donor strains, 50% of plasmids remained unknown, possibly due to the type of approach used, which relied on the classification of plasmids belonging to classic Inc groups, thus failing to identify novel or divergent replicons (Carattoli, 2009). In total, plasmids from approximately 73% (41 out of 56) of the donor strains with tetracycline and/or streptomycin intermediate or resistance phenotypes transferred Crizotinib concentration successfully to recipient strains under the conditions tested (Table 1). Among Aeromonas spp., plasmids from 70% (28 out of 40) of donor strains transferred successfully to at least one recipient strain, of which 10% (four out of 40) generated transconjugants Selleckchem Verteporfin with both recipient strains. Among Enterobacteriaceae, plasmids from 81.3% (13 out of 16) transferred to at least one recipient

strain, of which 18.8% (three out of 16) transferred to both recipient strains. In previous studies, transfer efficiencies ranged between 10−5 and 10−6 transconjugants per recipient cell for these Aeromonas donors, whereas among Enterobacteriaceae rates were 10−5 transconjugants per recipient cell (Moura et al., 2007, 2012). Although plasmids of narrow host range have difficulty replicating in distantly related hosts, both Aeromonas and Enterobacteriaceae strains from all stages of the treatment process, including final effluent, have generated transconjugants using E. coli and P. putida as recipient strains (Table 1). Accessory genetic modules, such as integrons, are known to be integrated among functional plasmid backbone modules. Overall, 15% (10 out of 66) of donor strains analysed using this methodology harboured plasmid-borne integrons. A similar prevalence was reported by Tennstedt et al. (2003), who detected the presence of class 1 integrons in 12.4% of resistance plasmids obtained by exogenous isolation from an urban WWTP.

IncF and IncI1 type plasmids have been frequently reported worldw

IncF and IncI1 type plasmids have been frequently reported worldwide in clinical CP-868596 in vivo Enterobacteriaceae, associated with the spread of resistance genes towards extended-spectrum beta-lactams, aminoglycosides and quinolones (Carattoli, 2009). In addition, the presence of IncI1 replicons has also been reported in bacteria isolated from domestic and wild animals, as well as food products (Carattoli, 2009). The presence of IncF-type and IncI1 plasmids in Aeromonas strains again highlights the importance of members of this genus as hosts of mobile genetic elements (Rhodes et al., 2000;

Sørum et al., 2003; Moura et al., 2007, 2012; Cattoir et al., 2008; Picão et al., 2008; Verner-Jeffreys et al., 2009; Kadlec et al., 2011). In addition, the common association of F-type replicons to virulence traits, such as colonization factors and toxins in E. coli (Johnson & Nolan, 2009b), as well as their presence in treated effluents, raises concern regarding the possible dissemination of

such traits to natural environments, agriculture fields and the food chain. Despite the diversity of replicons found among donor strains, 50% of plasmids remained unknown, possibly due to the type of approach used, which relied on the classification of plasmids belonging to classic Inc groups, thus failing to identify novel or divergent replicons (Carattoli, 2009). In total, plasmids from approximately 73% (41 out of 56) of the donor strains with tetracycline and/or streptomycin intermediate or resistance phenotypes transferred APO866 research buy successfully to recipient strains under the conditions tested (Table 1). Among Aeromonas spp., plasmids from 70% (28 out of 40) of donor strains transferred successfully to at least one recipient strain, of which 10% (four out of 40) generated transconjugants Loperamide with both recipient strains. Among Enterobacteriaceae, plasmids from 81.3% (13 out of 16) transferred to at least one recipient

strain, of which 18.8% (three out of 16) transferred to both recipient strains. In previous studies, transfer efficiencies ranged between 10−5 and 10−6 transconjugants per recipient cell for these Aeromonas donors, whereas among Enterobacteriaceae rates were 10−5 transconjugants per recipient cell (Moura et al., 2007, 2012). Although plasmids of narrow host range have difficulty replicating in distantly related hosts, both Aeromonas and Enterobacteriaceae strains from all stages of the treatment process, including final effluent, have generated transconjugants using E. coli and P. putida as recipient strains (Table 1). Accessory genetic modules, such as integrons, are known to be integrated among functional plasmid backbone modules. Overall, 15% (10 out of 66) of donor strains analysed using this methodology harboured plasmid-borne integrons. A similar prevalence was reported by Tennstedt et al. (2003), who detected the presence of class 1 integrons in 12.4% of resistance plasmids obtained by exogenous isolation from an urban WWTP.

The horse’s forage-based diet is rich in fiber, a molecule indige

The horse’s forage-based diet is rich in fiber, a molecule indigestible by host enzymes. Hindgut bacteria, especially those with fibrolytic metabolism, enable herbivores to thrive on a high-fiber forage-based diet by slowly fermenting these fibers in the hindgut. The horse’s hindgut serves as an ideal anaerobic environment for fiber fermentation. The cecum and colon make up the majority (∼70%) of the equine gastrointestinal tract, and 75% of the mean transit time (23–48 h) is spent in the hindgut (Argenzio, 1975;

Van Weyenberg et al., 2006). Ruminant herbivores obtain up to 80% of total daily calories from microbial fermentation with a mean forage retention time of 57 h (Bergman et al., 1965; Uden et al., 1982). The horse obtains more than 50% of its daily energy requirements from volatile fatty Ferroptosis mutation acids that are the microbial products of fiber selleck screening library fermentation (Argenzio et al., 1974; Glinsky et al., 1976; Vermorel & MartinRosset,

1997). In contrast, humans obtain only 10% of total daily calories through fermentation despite having similar mean retention times (Kelsay et al., 1978; Wrick et al., 1983). Species differences could be due to the fact that larger percentages of the gastrointestinal tract of horses and cattle (69% and 76%, respectively) accommodate microbial fermenters in comparison with humans (17%) (Parra, 1978). Furthermore, the differences in the location of microbial fermentation in the horse (hindgut) vs. the ruminant (pregastric/foregut) may also influence members and Chorioepithelioma functions of these communities. Differences in diet between horses and other species

likely also influence the members and function of the microbial communities. Compared to the rumen microbiota, the equine hindgut microbiota has received little attention; furthermore, few studies have characterized the equine hindgut bacterial community using culture-independent methods (Daly et al., 2001; Daly & Shirazi-Beechey, 2003; Hastie et al., 2008; Yamano et al., 2008). No studies to date have evaluated the fecal bacterial community in adult horses on a controlled forage diet by the use of pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. The objective of this study was to characterize the fecal bacterial community of horses fed grass hay using pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. We propose that the use of high-throughput sequencing will provide an evaluation of the equine fecal microbiome, which may be used to increase the understanding of the relationship between the microorganisms and the host. Fecal samples for this study were taken from two adult Arabian geldings during a companion study (Shepherd et al., 2011). The protocol was approved by the Virginia Tech Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (#08-217-CVM).

Furthermore, strains carrying mutations

in the genes requ

Furthermore, strains carrying mutations

in the genes required for the formation of uroporphyrinogen III (UroIII) contain an additional auxotrophy for methionine because of the lack of sirohaem formation (Gollub et al., 1977). Sirohaem is a haem-like prosthetic group required for sulphite and nitrite reductases, which are essential for assimilation of sulphur and nitrogen into all life forms (Crane & Getzoff, 1996; Schubert GSK1120212 et al., 2002; Raux et al., 2003). The highly conserved haem biosynthesis pathway is also responsible for the synthesis of Vitamin B12, chlorophyll, factor F430 and sirohaem (Warren & Scott, 1990) but only sirohaem is also synthesized in fungi (Murphy & Siegel, 1973; Crane & Getzoff, 1996; Raux et al., 1999). As S. cerevisiae is unable to assimilate nitrate, lack of the sirohaem pathway has no additional effects on N-metabolism. Unlike the yeast haem-deficient mutants, growth of a 5′-aminolevulinic acid synthase (ALAS)-deficient strain of Aspergillus oryzae (ΔhemA) could not be restored by hemin supplementation (Elrod et al., 2000). Also, additional supplementation with ergosterol and/or vitamin B12 was also unsuccessful, and

additional methionine supplementation was not examined. Therefore, it remains unclear whether Aspergillus spp. are unable to use the external haem sources or that other metabolic processes are disturbed. To generate more insight into the haem biosynthesis pathway and its regulation in filamentous fungi, pathway-specific gene expression was studied, and an A. niger ΔhemA mutant strain was analysed. Our results demonstrate A. niger is capable of haem uptake from its environment Ibrutinib molecular weight and suggest a role of the sirohaem biosynthesis pathway in growth defects

observed in strains deficient in the haem biosynthesis pathway. Northern analysis furthermore suggests a limiting role for hemA and a regulatory mechanism to Glutathione peroxidase direct early intermediates either to haem or to sirohaem synthesis. Aspergillus niger N402 [cspA1 derivative of ATCC9029 (Bos et al., 1988)] and its pyrG- derivative, AB4.1 (van Hartingsveldt et al., 1987), were used during this study. Strains were grown on minimal medium (MM) (Bennet & Lasure, 1991) or complete medium (CM) consisting of MM with yeast extract (10 g L−1) and casamino acids (5 g L−1) containing sodium nitrate (70 mM) as nitrogen source. Wherever indicated, nitrate may be omitted or replaced by ammonium chloride (10 mM). Growth medium was supplemented with 10 mM uridine when required. Escherichia coli DH5α was used for the amplification of recombinant DNA as previously described (Inoue et al., 1990). Aspergillus niger transformations were performed according to Meyer et al. (2010). 50 μM ALA (Sigma-Aldrich) was supplemented in transformation experiments to generate hemA deletion mutants (ΔhemA). Chromosomal DNA of A. niger was isolated as described by Kolar et al. (1988).

By June 2010, 227 pharmacists in Alberta had applied for this aut

By June 2010, 227 pharmacists in Alberta had applied for this authority. Additional impacts on stakeholders are described in Table 6[23] and progress of expanded scopes of practice in other jurisdictions in Canada is indicated in Table 7.[24] Bill 22 addresses, very directly, several

of the concerns of the Alberta public that were raised during government consultation in the process of creating the HPA and through the Mazankowski Report. The ACP was fortunate that the ‘policy window’ opened at a time when so many important influences were present. These influences included independent research into pharmacist value, ACP council willingness to invest resources, pharmacist leaders taking risks (acting under implicit policy) to Selleck ABT-199 showcase pharmacist ability and value as well as the public of Alberta asking for greater access to and flexibility within health care were all essential to the successful outcome. The work

by ACP, in response to the opportunity which included: seeking out and listening to stakeholder input, developing communication plans to address or forestall stakeholder issues and concerns, investing time and money in gathering legal advice and research to fill information gaps along with persistence and patience in navigating the governmental Akt molecular weight waters was instrumental in achieving the successful outcome for pharmacists in Alberta. The Author(s) declare(s) that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose. This review received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. “
“Objectives  To design and evaluate a national web-based dispensing error reporting

system for all Swedish pharmacies, replacing the currently used paper-based system. Methods  A working group designed the new system. The number of reports before (1999–2003) and after (2004–2005) introduction was studied in a descriptive analysis. The completeness of reports was evaluated through the study of 100 randomly selected reports from the third quarter Glutathione peroxidase of 2003 and 2004 from each system. Evaluation was done by chi-square analysis; P > 0.05. Perceptions on introduction were collected in semi-structured interviews (working group and one assistant) and subjected to descriptive analysis. Key findings  Reported error rate per 100 000 dispensed items was 12.9 pre- and 21.4 post implementation. Completeness-analysis revealed that information was more comprehensively reported in the new system. A significant difference existed in the extent to which incidents were described as well as details provided of the medicine and the patient. According to the interviewees, users initially found the web-based system difficult to handle. It took more than 6 months to change this perception. Conclusions  Introducing a web-based system for reporting dispensing errors had an impact on quantity of reports and completeness. Time and patience was needed to implement the changes.