Implementation of the WASPLab™ and first year achievements within a university hospital.

In essence, automation can be driven by several of the following incentives: increased processing capacity of the laboratory, better costs control through processes standardization, optimized traceability, or improved workflows to reduce turnaround times (TAT). This project aims at presenting an overview of the project management and change management with a focus on the major challenges addressed by lab staff and laboratory leadership during the different phases of the implementation of the WASPLab™ in a routine clinical bacteriology laboratory. This paper reports our experience and reviews changes in the bacteriology laboratory at Geneva University Hospitals when shifting to the WASPLab™. Practically, the whole automation process was segmented into different packages (specimen type-based segmentation) allowing sequential validation, staff training, and routine implementation. Such process allowed reaching 90% of the identified "automatable" samples within 1 year, including personal training, documentation for accreditation supported by publications, without interrupting routine operations. In addition, we implemented a validated automated solution for antimicrobial disk diffusion susceptibility testing. Structured supervision and accurate monitoring of all the activities related to the automation project including key partners such as IT support, technical committee, and after-sales service guaranteed a swift and timely achievement of the project allowing the improvement of the workflow in routine bacteriology within 1 year.

Involvement of state transitions in the switch between linear and cyclic electron flow in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

The energetic metabolism of photosynthetic organisms is profoundly influenced by state transitions and cyclic electron flow around photosystem I. The former involve a reversible redistribution of the light-harvesting antenna between photosystem I and photosystem II and optimize light energy utilization in photosynthesis whereas the latter process modulates the photosynthetic yield. We have used the wild-type and three mutant strains of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii--locked in state I (stt7), lacking the photosystem II outer antennae (bf4) or accumulating low amounts of cytochrome b6f complex (A-AUU)--and measured electron flow though the cytochrome b6f complex, oxygen evolution rates and fluorescence emission during state transitions. The results demonstrate that the transition from state 1 to state 2 induces a switch from linear to cyclic electron flow in this alga and reveal a strict cause-effect relationship between the redistribution of antenna complexes during state transitions and the onset of cyclic electron flow.