The Hong Kong SAR Government has hitherto resisted emulating the

The Hong Kong SAR Government has hitherto resisted emulating the mainland Government’s fisheries policy, but slowly the accumulated mass of evidence has convinced it that change is needed. This came to a head in 2006 when a report by the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Science showed that the maximum sustainable yield of Hong Kong waters was 20,500 tonnes and the overall engine power of the local fleet necessary to achieve this was 140,000 kW. However, the actual catch was 26,700 tonnes and the engine power of the

vessels catching this was 270,000 kW. That is, the catch and fishing effort achieving this were 30% and (an incredibly wasteful) 93% higher than desired and necessary, respectively. Too many vessels chasing too few fish. And in waters that were known to represent significant spawning grounds. To Venetoclax molecular weight consider TSA HDAC nmr the Academy of Fisheries Science’s 2006 recommendations, the Hong Kong SAR Government established, in the same year, a Committee on Sustainable Fisheries under the chairmanship of the Director of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, and this delivered its final report in April 2010. In light of this report, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR Government announced in his

2010–2011 Policy Address, entitled ‘Sharing Prosperity for a Caring Society’, to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council on 13 October 2010, the implementation of the Sustainable Fisheries Committee’s principal recommendation

to ban trawling activities in Hong Kong waters during the 2010–2011 legislative session, Diflunisal with the aim of conserving and restoring marine resources. To further protect the marine resources and ecology of Hong Kong’s territorial waters, the Government also intends to implement through legislation a range of other management measures in order to restore the seabed and marine resources as quickly as possible. Accordingly, legislative amendments to the Fisheries Protection Regulations (Cap. 171A) were introduced and passed by the Legislative Council on 18 May 2011. While prohibiting the use of any trawling devices for fishing in Hong Kong waters, the legislation also seeks funds for a trawler buyout scheme before the end of the 2010–2011 legislative session and provide a 1 year transitional period before the trawl ban becomes effective on 31 December 2012. The scheme specifically involves: (i) payment of ex-gratia allowances to trawler owners as compensation for not fishing in local inshore waters; (ii) the introduction of the above voluntary trawler buyout scheme and (iii) payment of a one-off grant to help local deckhands affected by the buyout scheme. In the meantime, training and technical support will be provided for affected fishermen to help them switch to other sustainable fishing operations, including aquaculture and leisure fishing – both growing and profitable industries locally.

The balance between SREM and Rcol in PISCES means that the subsur

The balance between SREM and Rcol in PISCES means that the subsurface ligand concentrations are only slightly higher in PISCES, relative to REcoM ( Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). The concentration of ligands affects the equilibrium distribution of iron between inorganic forms (mainly hydroxides for ferrous iron) and iron bound to the ligands. The high particle reactivity of the inorganic forms drives scavenging, a main loss process for dissolved iron. It is therefore expected that a spatio-temporal variation of ligand concentration has consequences for the distribution of iron in the ocean. This is indeed what is found: A comparison of the (globally averaged) vertical profiles (Fig. 3) of iron in model runs with variable

Ceritinib organic ligands with runs where the ligand concentration was kept fixed at a constant value throughout the ocean shows a general tendency of iron concentrations to increase in the upper 5 FU part of the ocean and to decrease somewhat in the deep part. A notable feature is that both models now show a more nutrient-like profile for dissolved iron than with constant ligand, with an intermediate maximum around 500 m depth, near the depth of the oxygen minimum. This is closer to observations than in the case with constant ligands, where deep iron tends to be too homogeneous compared to observations

(Tagliabue et al., 2012). It is interesting to note that, both with prognostic and with constant ligands, the average iron profile differs in several respects between the two models: PISCES has a local maximum near the

surface, and for constant ligand has a slight secondary maximum at 3000 m depth. Both features are absent in REcoM. This can be traced back to a different treatment of iron sources in the two models: PISCES has a comparatively strong sedimentary source of iron which is strongest on shallow shelves, and includes hydrothermal inputs of iron (Tagliabue et al., 2014), while REcoM has only a weak sediment source and neglects hydrothermalism altogether. Given this difference, it is encouraging that in both models, qualitatively, the introduction of prognostic ligands leads to a more nutrient-like iron profile. Of direct importance for biological productivity are of course mainly the Farnesyltransferase changes in iron concentration through prognostic ligands in the euphotic zone. Fig. 4 shows how near-surface (0–50 m) iron changes in the model runs with prognostic ligands, compared to a model run with constant ligand. Although details of the patterns differ slightly between the two models, the general picture is robust, namely that dissolved iron increases most in the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, while only small changes are seen in the Southern Ocean and the Pacific. This pattern reflects the fact that in the latter regions, production in the models tends to be iron-limited, so that here biological uptake is the main loss process for iron, not scavenging. An increase in ligands therefore does not lead to an increased lifetime in the surface ocean here.

However, both a single bout of exercise and physical training mob

However, both a single bout of exercise and physical training mobilizes vasodilator prostanoids to participate with NO in a redundant fashion [26] in the Ang II responses in femoral veins are modulated. Assuming that the Ang II responses

in the femoral vein must be constantly modulated to avoid an uncontrolled increase in the resistance of blood flow in the body, prostanoids apparently serve as a backup mechanism during exercise [7]. Vasodilator prostaglandins have also been shown to counteract renal actions of endogenous Ang II in sodium-depleted humans when NO synthesis is inhibited [30]. Other studies suggest that, depending on the vascular territory, prostaglandins are even more important than NO in modulating the hemodynamic responses to Ang II [1], [6] and [36]. In parallel, http://www.selleckchem.com/products/gsk1120212-jtp-74057.html it was suggested that shear stress may reduce the tone of skeletal muscle venules by releasing endothelial NO and buy Nivolumab prostanoids [13]. The influence of exercise-induced shear stress upon the interaction between Ang II, NO and vasodilator prostanoids was also proposed in the rat portal vein [3]. Therefore, exercise-induced shear stress may stimulate the synthesis of vasodilator prostanoids in femoral veins,

thus resulting in reduction of Ang II responses. The participation of ET-1 in femoral vein responses to Ang II was also investigated in the present study. This approach was necessary because the involvement of ET-1 in exercise-induced modifications of Ang II responses was previously proposed in the rat portal vein [3]. Moreover, it Phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase has been reported that Ang II induces the release of ET-1 in rat aorta which, in turn, modulates the contractile responses of this vascular bed to Ang II [28]. Thus, in the present study, the difference in Ang II responses observed between groups in the presence of L-NAME was suppressed by co-treatment with BQ-123. This occurred in part because the Ang II responses in preparations taken from resting-sedentary animals were attenuated in the presence of BQ-123. Therefore, in animals not exposed to exercise, Ang II appears to induce the release of ET-1 in

femoral veins, which enhances the response of Ang II through the activation of ETA. On the other hand, the presence of BQ-123 also increased Ang II responses in preparations taken from exercised-sedentary, resting-trained and exercised-trained animals, suppressing the difference observed in the presence of L-NAME only. These data indicate that, in femoral veins taken from animals subjected to acute or repeated exercise, Ang II promotes release of ET-1 and this, in turn, releases vasodilator substances through ETA, thereby attenuating the Ang II responses. These vasodilator substances are most likely vasodilator prostanoids because BQ-123 failed to reduce Ang II responses when indomethacin was added to the organ bath.

As observed by ELISA (Fig  4), expression of the CF1 kappa Fab be

As observed by ELISA (Fig. 4), expression of the CF1 kappa Fab benefited to a lesser extent (1.7 to 2-fold) from expression of cytFkpA. A tricistronic vector (Fig. 1b) was developed

for co-expressing the ING1 Fd and light chains in the periplasm along with cytFkpA under control of the lac promoter. Western blot analysis confirmed that most of the cytFkpA was expressed in the cytoplasm (data not shown). Accumulation of total and functional Fabs in the periplasm, assessed by expression and target ELISAs, was improved when co-expressed Sirolimus in vivo with cytFkpA ( Fig. 6a), thus establishing the usefulness of incorporating cytFkpA along with Fd and light chains as a tricistronic unit in the expression vector. We also confirmed by SPR that total periplasmic ING1 Fab was increased by co-expressing with cytFkpA from a single vector in the E. coli cytoplasm ( Fig. 6b). Yields of periplasmic soluble Fab ranged from 0.4 to 2.45 μg/ml without cytFkpA

and 3.5–14.2 μg/ml in the presence of cytFkpA. Since co-expression of cytFkpA enhances expression in the E. coli periplasm of functional Fabs with kappa (and some lambda) light chains, we examined the effects of co-expressing cytFkpA on selection of antigen-specific Fab or scFv fragments from naïve phage display libraries. Three rounds of phage panning were performed with biotinylated target (kinase) using a large kappa scFv library ( Schwimmer et al., 2013). Following the third round of panning, Vincristine in vitro clones were picked for evaluation of scFv expression in the periplasm. Periplasmic extracts were also tested for binding to kinase. Panning was performed with or without expression of cytFkpA from a separate arabinose-inducible vector (pAR3) containing a p15A origin of replication

which is compatible with the library phagemid vector that carries fantofarone the lac promoter and harbors the ColE1 origin of replication. Ninety three output clones were selected after the third round of phage panning performed with or without cytFkpA expression. While scFv clones selected from panning campaigns without cytFkpA were induced only with IPTG, clones selected from panning with cytFkpA also were induced with l-arabinose to allow cytFkpA expression. The amount of functional scFv in the bacterial periplasmic extracts in the absence and presence of cytFkpA was assessed by ELISA. Overexpression of cytFkpA significantly increased both the frequency and expression levels of sequence-unique clones obtained by panning with a scFv phage display library containing kappa light chains (Table 2). Only 10% of the output clones selected from panning without cytFkpA were sequence-unique and antigen-specific, with an ELISA signal (OD450) greater than 3-fold over the background, compared to 48% of clones selected when cytFkpA was co-expressed. Thus, the diversity of the selected kinase-binding clones, as defined by the number of sequence-unique clones and their expression levels, was greatly improved in the presence of cytFkpA.

After exposure for 6 or 24 h the compound was washed off with cot

After exposure for 6 or 24 h the compound was washed off with cotton swabs and washing fluid. During the experimental period, samples were taken from the stirred (magnetic stirrers, Variomag Telemodul 20C/40C, H + P Labortechnik, Germany) receptor fluid at distinct time points and replaced with fresh receptor fluid by a fraction collector (222 L, Abimed, Germany) and a multi-channel peristaltic

pump (MC 360, Ismatec, Germany). At the end of the run each diffusion cell was dismantled and all parts were processed for balancing. Two to six tape strips (Crystal Clear Tape 600, Scotch, France) were used to remove the upper stratum corneum from the skin samples. The tapes with stratum corneum and the remaining skin were digested with Soluene 350®, lasting a minimum of 24 h; cotton swabs as well as the class devices were extracted with ethanol or water – depending on the solubility of the test www.selleckchem.com/products/LDE225(NVP-LDE225).html compounds. All samples were diluted with LSC-Cocktail Nutlin-3a datasheet and measured by Liquid Scintillation Counting (LSC; TriCab 2800TR, Perkin-Elmer, USA; linear range up to 1,000,000 dpm). Absolute and percentage

amounts in receptor fluid, skin, tape strips and washing fluids were calculated as well as the total recovery. Only a recovery of 100 ± 10% was assumed to be valid for mean calculations. The sum of content in receptor fluid (including receptor chamber washings) and skin was defined as the potentially absorbable dose (AD); if applicable also the amount recovered from the underlying membrane of the reconstructed human skin was assigned to AD. The cumulative absorbed amount was plotted against time. The steepest slope – the maximal absorption rate in μg cm−2 h−1 Bcl-w – divided by the applied concentration in μg cm−3 provides the maximal permeability constant maxKp in cm h−1. The intercept of the elongated steepest slope line with the x-axis represents the lag time (h). Test compound dependent experimental conditions as well as logP and molecular weight are listed in Table 1. All four test compounds were applied to full-thickness and split-thickness human skin, 14C-testosterone, 14C-caffeine and 14C-MCPA

were also applied to rat skin and to reconstructed human skin. Unintentionally damaged skin samples were left in the set up and examined along with the intact samples. Intentionally impaired rat skin samples were used for 14C-MCPA experiments. Besides a visual check at least two of the five following integrity tests were conducted in each experiment, the skin being mounted on the Franz cell. TEER, TEWL and TWF were performed in advance, ISTD concurrently and BLUE at the end of the run. To measure the transepidermal electrical resistance to an alternating current (impedance), the receptor and donor compartment of the diffusion cell were filled with physiological saline (0.9% aqueous NaCl solution). Electrodes were immersed in each compartment and the impedance was measured via a LCR bridge (LCR400, Thurbly Thandar Instruments, Great Britain) at a frequency of 1 kHz.

Furthermore, the lower levels of 5-HT levels were shown in the pe

Furthermore, the lower levels of 5-HT levels were shown in the peripheral and central nervous tissue of vincristine-treated 5-HTT−/− mice (Hansen et al., 2011). The requirement of PKC activity in supra-spinal brain regions for induction of chronic administration of oxaliplatin-induced mechanical hyperalgesia has been demonstrated by showing the attenuation of pain with supra-spinal administration of selective PKC inhibitor calphostin C. Oxaliplatin treatment induces specific up-regulation of gamma isoforms of PKC and increase phosphorylation of gamma/epsilon PKC isoforms within

thalamus and periaqueductal area (Norcini et al., 2009 and Galeotti et al., 2010). Furthermore, St. John’s Wort also attenuates oxaliplatin-induced IWR-1 cell line pain through a hypericin-mediated inhibition of the protein kinase Cgamma and epsilon activity (Galeotti et al., 2010). Very recently, it has been reported that paclitaxel-induced mechanical allodynia/hyperalgesia is associated with reduction in l-serine concentration in the DRG but not in the sciatic nerve or spinal cord. Paclitaxel was also shown to decrease expression of phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase (3PGDH, localized in satellite cells), a biosynthetic enzyme of l-serine, in the DRG. Furthermore, intraperitoneal administration of l-serine was reported to improve paclitaxel-induced

pain behavior. Therefore, it has been proposed that satellite cell-derived l-serine in the DRG plays an important role in Cell Cycle inhibitor paclitaxel-induced painful peripheral neuropathy (Kiya et al., 2011). The above explained mechanisms involved in neuropathic pain are not independent and all these pathways may actually be inter-related to one other (Fig. 1). It may be postulated that anticancer agents trigger the changes in the sodium channel expression/functional characteristics of DRG and dorsal horn sensory neurons to increase its opening frequency/duration to increase intracellular sodium ion levels which is in turn may cause increased opening of calcium channels. An increased expression of α2δ subunit of

calcium channels may also be responsible for increased entry of extracellular calcium. Furthermore, an enhanced entry of extracellular calcium may also be contributed via pronounced activation of NMDA Tangeritin receptors in response to increased pre-synaptic glutamate release. Increased cytosolic calcium acts as a trigger to release more calcium from intracellular stores particularly mitochondria. Increased calcium may trigger number of other secondary changes including activation of protein kinase C leading to phosphorylation and activation of TRPV that directly produce hyper-responsiveness changes in sensory neurons along with generation of nitric oxide and oxygen free radicals to produce cytotoxicity of axonal terminals and neuronal cell bodies.

Hardness was calculated as CaCO3 equivalent based on calcium and

Hardness was calculated as CaCO3 equivalent based on calcium and magnesium concentrations. Analysis of anions (NO3−, NO2−, SO42−, Cl−, HCO3−/CO32−) was performed on a Dionex

ICS-2000 Ion Chromatograph with IonPac AS-18 analytical column, 25 μL sample loop, and 21 mM KOH eluent. Due to the high pH of the mobile phase, carbonate species were analyzed as CO32−. selleck screening library Since the speciation cannot be resolved with this method, results are represented as ‘HCO3− + CO32−’. Bromide data were not available due to interference from the end of the carbonate peak, which occurred with this chromatographic method. This issue was unable to be resolved at the time of analysis. Carbonate data were considered usable based on consistently Olaparib good calibration curves (R2 > 0.98) using peak height rather than peak area to deal with the interference with the bromide peak. The unfiltered remainder from the amber collection bottle was analyzed within seven days for specific conductance and total suspended solids (TSS). Specific conductance was measured using a Fisher Scientific bench-top meter. TSS was determined by filtering 450 mL of sample through standard 934-AH glass fiber filters and determining the difference

of oven-dry mass before and after filtration. Water samples for dissolved gas extraction were stored at 4 °C until analysis, which occurred within two days of original sampling. The initial step was to remove a subsample of water to allow for sampling of headspace gas according to the phase equilibration technique (Davidson and Firestone,

1988 and Kampbell and Vandegrift, 1998). In order to be able to remove water from the full glass sampling bottle without contacting ambient air, a Tedlar bag filled with high purity helium was attached to tubing and a 21 gauge syringe needle, and the needle was inserted in the bottle stopper. A syringe was then ID-8 inserted in the stopper and 20 mL of water sample was removed. The 20 mL water sample was injected into a pre-evacuated 125 mL serum bottle capped with a rubber septum. The headspace in this bottle was filled with high purity helium to equalize the internal pressure. The bottles were kept at 4 °C for 24 h, at which point they were removed and shaken vigorously for ten seconds to ensure gas equilibration. A gas sample was then removed from the headspace via syringe and injected into a pre-evacuated 12 mL Labco Exetainer. Gas samples were then sent to the UC Davis Stable Isotope Laboratory for analysis of methane concentration and δ13C-CH4 using a Thermo Scientific GasBench-PreCon trace gas system interfaced to a Delta V Plus IRMS (Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer).

The respective interval widths are 0 025 and 0 125 in the case of

The respective interval widths are 0.025 and 0.125 in the case of the frequency distributions of the aerosol optical thickness and the Ångström

exponent. Histograms of AOT(500) vary from a sharp distribution ( Figure 3c) with a modal value of 0.050 for autumn to broader distributions with a modal value of 0.075 for the spring and summer seasons ( Figures 3a, 3b). The distributions are skewed towards higher values (right-skewed). All histograms of α(440, 870) are selleck chemical skewed towards lower values (left-skewed) ( Figures 3d–3f). The most probable respective values for spring, summer and autumn seasons are 1.375, 1.750 and 1.625. The distribution of α(440, 870) for summer is sharper than during spring and autumn conditions. Saracatinib Many papers relate aerosol optical properties, e.g. the Ångström exponent, to a type of aerosol. However, the threshold for α(440, 870) usually used to distinguish marine aerosols varies depending on the author. Kuśmierczyk-Michulec et al., 2001 and Kuśmierczyk-Michulec et al., 2002 adopted a threshold of 0.26 (i.e. α(400, 865) ≤ 0.26) for those instances when sea salt controls aerosol optical thickness, whereas Smirnov et al. (2003) applied a much higher value of the Ångström exponent (α(440, 870) ≤ 1.0) and AOT(500) ≤ 0.15 to describe pure marine aerosols. Kuśmierczyk-Michulec (2009) concluded

that an Ångström exponent < 0.5 indicates the marine aerosol type, values of α(440, 870) between 1.0 and 1.5 represent the continental aerosol type, and values > 1.5 the industrial aerosol

type. Over Gotland, α(440, 870) ≤ 1.0 only make up 20%, 8% and 32% of observations in spring, summer and autumn respectively. In autumn, Ångström exponents DAPT nmr < 1 are more frequently observed (32%) than in the other seasons, which indicates a higher contribution of marine aerosols. Even though the thresholds given above are approximate, the seasonal frequency distributions of the Ångström exponent with modal values ranging from 1.375 to 1.750 ( Figure 3) clearly indicate the high contribution of the mixed continental-industrial type of aerosols in the Baltic atmosphere throughout the year, but especially in summer. On the basis of the same Gotland AERONET station dataset from the period 1999–2001, Carlund et al. (2005) concluded that normally, the atmosphere over Gotland could be considered clear, with a daily median value of AOT(500) of about 0.08. The median value of α(440, 870) was 1.37, indicating that the dominant aerosol was more of a continental than of a pure marine type. Means of the seasonal distributions of AOT(500) and α(440, 870) are given in Table 2. The histograms of AOT(500) and α(440, 870) are skewed. Their longer tails contain extreme cases, with AOT(500) several times higher and α(440, 870) several times lower than the respective modal values.

We have analyzed the transcriptome of frontal tissue, subcuticula

We have analyzed the transcriptome of frontal tissue, subcuticular tissue, gut, ovary and testes of adult louse using a 44 K oligo microarray containing 11,100 genes. buy Carfilzomib For each tissue we have used four pools of tissue from 3 to 6 animals. To study the transcriptomic differences between tissues, we analyzed the differential expressed genes by SAM. Here each tissue was compared to all other samples to find differentially expressed genes (Fig. 3 and Table 1). A cut-off at 0.05 was set, and with 98% of the genes had a fold change

of more than 1.5. The lists of genes differentially expressed found from SAM were investigated using KEGG. The overall trend observed, was that many of the pathways upregulated in ovaries were also upregulated in testes indicating a number of parallel processes in these two tissue types. However, it should also be noted that testis was the only male tissue in this study thus differential expression of genes in testis can both be a function of male specific or tissue specific expression. Metabolic pathways indicative of high cellular activity were up regulated in testis and ovaries. These include genes involved in the production and processing of proteins such as components of the spliceosome,

RNA transport and for ovary biogenesis of ribosomes. For protein degradation, differences between the testis and the ovary could be detected. Regulatory and core particles of the proteasome were only upregulated in testis, whereas genes involved in ubiquitin mediated proteolysis were transcribed at high levels in both tissues. Expression Selleckchem Regorafenib in the ovary and testis was also characterized by expression of many components of the cell cycle. In ovaries, these included Cdk4 (cyclin dependent kinase 4), Cdc6 (cell division cycle 6) and originating recognition Ketotifen complex. Several genes involved in meiosis were upregulated in ovaries and testis including Cdc20 and Plk1 (polo-like kinase). Components of signaling pathways controlling

cell proliferation and differentiation were upregulated in ovaries. This included cell surface receptors TGFBR2 (transforming growth factor, beta receptor II), and Flt1 (fms-related tyrosine kinase 1) and central protein kinases such as erk1/2 (extracellular-signal-regulated kinases), and p38 (P38 mitogen-activated protein kinases). Components from the phosphatidylinositol pathway such as PI3K (phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase) and Akt (Protein Kinase B) were similarly up-regulated. Mannosyltransferase and glucosidases involved in synthesis of N-glycans were also up-regulated in ovaries. Also for downregulation there are some clear differences between testis and ovary. For example the upstream part of the glycolysis leading from glucose to glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate is clearly downregulated in ovary only.

Sono-lysis is a promising method of treatment of acute IS This i

Sono-lysis is a promising method of treatment of acute IS. This is a relatively safe treatment with a high efficacy in the acceleration of cerebral arteries recanalization. A good availability and a low price are the advantages of transcranial sono-lysis, but

its use is limited by the quality of the temporal bone window and the availability of an experienced sonographer. Also endovascular sono-lysis seems to be safe and effective. It is not dependent on the bone window quality, but it is limited by the availability of interventional radiologist. Further double-blind randomized studies are needed to confirm the safety and efficacy of sono-lysis, and especially to determine the optimal frequency, intensity and character of the ultrasonic waves. The study was supported by grant of the selleck kinase inhibitor Internal Grant Agency of the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic number NT/11386-5/2010. “
“The burden of stroke is high due to its high incidence, mortality and morbidity [1], [2], [3] and [4]. In order to reduce this burden, the Helsingborg Declaration has postulated the present and future European goals of stroke care. As a major component of the chain of care, stroke unit treatment was considered essential, and was therefore nominated the “backbone” of integrated stroke services. This is Venetoclax clear scientific evidence that outcomes in stroke patients

managed in dedicated stroke units are better than those managed in general medical wards [5]. Within one year, stroke unit care leads to significantly reduced death or poor outcome [6]. As a logical consequence, basic requirements BCKDHA were defined for successful stroke unit care, which are multi-professional team approach, acute treatment combined with early mobilization and rehabilitation, as well as an exclusive admission of patients with stroke syndromes to that ward [6]. Moreover, the continuum of stroke care was considered as the key for best outcome consisting of prehospital, intrahospital and posthospital

organization of stroke services, also considering secondary prevention, as well as step down rehabilitation after stroke, including measures for evaluation of stroke outcome and dedicated quality assessment [5]. However, there are still striking disparities in organized stroke unit care all over Europe [7], [8], [9] and [10], and no generally accepted definition of a stroke unit in terms of state-of-the-art requirements of facilities, personal and processes does exist. In order to solve this problem, there are constraints in the European Stroke Organization to define a terminology and shared requirements on a European stroke unit (Ringelstein, personal communication). Hospitals should be encouraged to compete for the best solution, and the most engaged ones should serve as guides and frontiers for stroke unit development.