[en] As Danish gas companies receive a large number of complaints related to the installation and operation of gas installations it was suggested that a course for personnel should be established in order to raise the standard of services and installation requirements. The first phase of the described project was to evaluate the quality of the gas installers' services so as to determine which aspects of installation and services should be emphasized during such a course. Interviews were carried out and questionnaires (illustrated within the document) sent out to installaters etc. Recommendations include that the level of information given to customers should be raised, also in relation to maintenance, and that installation should be improved. Analyses of the degree of customers' satisfaction, of the nature of the quality of services etc. expected, subjects for further training in this area and details of the training system are dealt with

[en] Full text: MiAMP1 is a recently discovered 76 amino acid, highly basic protein from the nut kernel of Macadamia integrifolia which possesses no sequence homology to any known protein. A study of its antimicrobial activity revealed that it inhibited the growth of several microbial plant pathogens in vitro but had no effect on mammalian or plant cells. For these reasons, MiAMP1 is considered to be a potentially useful tool for the genetic engineering of disease resistance in transgenic crop plants and for the design of new fungicides. The three-dimensional structure of MiAMP1 was determined through homonuclear and heteronuclear (¹⁵N) 2D NMR spectroscopy and subsequent simulated annealing calculations. MiAMP1 is made up of eight β-strands which are arranged in two Greek key motifs. These Greek key motifs associate to form a Greek key β-barrel. This structure is unique amongst plant antimicrobial proteins and forms a new class which we term the β-Barrelins. Interestingly, the structure of MiAMP1 bears remarkable similarity to a yeast killer toxin from Williopsis mrakii. The structural similarity of MiAMP1 and WmKT, which originate from plant and fungal phyla respectively, may reflect a similar mode of action

[en] Full text: ω-Conotoxins selective for N-type voltage-sensitive calcium channels have promising therapeutic applications in conditions such as pain and neurodegeneration following cerebral ischaemia. Here we report the discovery of novel conotoxins from the piscivorous snail Conus carus using ¹²⁵I-GVIA binding to rat brain membrane to guide fractionation of crude venom, and cloning to identify the expressed gene products from the venom duct tissue. Four peptides were isolated and named ω-conotoxins CVIA-D (CVIA-D) on the basis of their pharmacology and structure. CVIA-D had varying extents of homology to other ω-conotoxins, with loop 4 of CVID showing significant sequence divergence. From binding studies in rat brain, the rank order of potency to displace ¹²⁵I-GVIA from N-type calcium channel (CVID = GVIA=MVIIA > CVIA > CVIC = CVIB > MVIIC) was reversed at the P/Q-type calcium channel (defined by ¹²⁵I-MVIIC). CVID was most selective for N-type vs P/Q-type calcium channels, being 1.5 to 2-orders of magnitude more selective than GVIA and MVIIA, respectively. CVIA-D each inhibited neurally-evoked contractions in rat vas deferens in a reversible manner, with potencies that correlated with their ability to inhibit ¹²⁵I-GVIA binding. Compared with GVIA, CVID was a more potent inhibitor of central N-type calcium channels (α_1,B-dexpressed in Xenopus oocytes) than of peripheral N-type calcium channels (rat vas deferens). ¹H NMR studies revealed that CVID adopts a similar 3D fold to other ω-conotoxins. However, in contrast to GVIA, MVIIA or MVIIC, CVID has two hydrogen bonds that hold loops 2 and 4 proximal, a factor that may contribute to the enhanced ability of CVID to discriminate among neuronal calcium channels