Antibiotics were introduced for human therapy few decades ago and their utilization has produced the rapid evolution of bacterial pathogens towards resistance. Before this recent and fast evolution, antibiotics and their resistance genes have evolved for millions of years in environmental microorganisms. Recent results suggest that, besides serving for inhibiting the growth of competitors, ant…
Low-cost hybrid solar cells have made tremendous steps forward during the past decade owing to the implementation of extremely thin inorganic coatings as absorber layers, typically in combination with organic hole transporters. Using only extremely thin fi lms of these absorbers reduces the requirement of single crystalline high-quality materials and paves the way for low-cost solution processi…
Stimuli-responsive structural transformations are emerging as a scaffold to develop a charming class of smart materials. A EuL metal-organic framework (MOF) undergoes a reversible temperature-stimulated single-crystal to single-crystal transformation, showing a specifi c behavior of fast capture/release of free Eu 3+ in the channels at low and room temperatures. At room temperature, compound 1…
Organic carbonyl electrode materials of lithium batteries have shown multifunctional molecule design and high capacity, but have the problems of poor cycling and low rate performance due to their high solubility in traditional carbonate-based electrolytes and low conductivity. High-performance organic lithium batteries with modifi ed ether-based electrolyte (2 M LiN(CF 3 SO 2 ) 2 in 1,3-dioxol…
Since its serendipitous discovery, [ 1,2 ] photoluminescent carbon nanoparticles (or carbon dots, CDs) have aroused intense interests and soon become a star material among a diversity of nanomaterials. [ 3 ] One of the most fascinating properties of CDs is their multicolor luminescence in the visible region. Compared to the widely used cadmium-based semiconductor quantum dots, the CDs are much …
Lactobacillus plantarum BM‐1 isolated from a traditionally fermented Chinese meat product was found to produce a novel bacteriocin that is active against a wide range of gram‐positive and gram‐negative bacteria. Production of the bacteriocin BM‐1 started early in the exponential phase and its maximum activity (5120 AU/mL) was recorded early during the stationary phase (16 hr). Bacter…
Brucellosis is a globally distributed zoonotic disease that causes animal and human diseases. Although effective, the current Brucella vaccines (Rev.1 and M5‐90) have several drawbacks. The first involves residual virulence for animals and humans and the second is the inability to differentiate natural infection from that caused by vaccination. Therefore, Brucella melitensis 16M hfq mutant…
There is a paucity of animal models of pythiosis, a life‐threatening disease of humans and animals, the immunopathogenesis of which is poorly understood. A pythiosis model was developed by injecting Toll (Tl)‐deficient Drosophila melanogaster flies with Pythium insidiosum zoospores. The infected Tl mutant flies had significantly lower survival rates (73.7%) than did control flies. This s…
The pathogen Staphylococcus aureus causes a wide range of serious infections, necessitating urgent development of a vaccine against this organism. However, currently developed vaccines are relatively ineffective because of the limited antigenic component that is contained in the vaccine formulations. To develop an effective S. aureus candidate vaccine, overlapping PCR was used to add the tru…
Outbreaks of ARD associated with HAdV have been reported in military populations in many countries. Here, we report an ARD outbreak caused by HAdV‐7 in a military training camp in Shaanxi Province, China, from February to March of 2012. Epidemic data and samples from the patients were collected, and viral nucleotides from samples and viral isolations were detected and sequenced. IgG and I…
A mouse model of polymicrobial sepsis induced by cecal content injection (CCI) was developed with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the mechanism of sepsis. This model has a similar survival pattern to the conventional model with the added benefits of ability to vary the severity of sepsis and greater consistency. Administration of 1‐methyl‐D‐tryptophan (1‐MT) to inhibit i…
Children with renal diseases are typically treated with immunosuppressive drugs, which place them at high risk of reactivation of the BK virus (BKV). Currently, little is known about the impact of immunosuppressive drugs on the kinetics of urinary shedding of BKV and viral reactivation in pediatric patients with renal diseases. Urine samples were collected monthly for 1 year from 20 childre…
LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 (LNMO) is a derivative of the commercialized spinel LiMn 2 O 4 with Ni 2+ and Mn 4+ occupying two octahedral sites of 4a and 16d, respectively aimed at suppressing the intrinsic defi ciencies such as the Jahn–Teller distortion of Mn 3+with the same theoretical capacity as LiMn 2 O 4 (148 mAh g –1 ). [ 1 ] In addition, since the working mechanism of LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 i…
A linked-acceptor type conjugated polymer is designed and sythesized based on 4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2- b :4,5- b′ ]dithiophene (BDTT) and linked-thieno[3,4- c ]pyrrole-4,6-dione (LTPD). This polymer uses alkyl-substituted thiophene as a bridge. The PBDTT-LTPD includes two TPD units in one repeating unit, which can enhance acceptor density in the polymer backbone and lo…
objective To assesses the safety and rationale of antibacterial fixed-dose combinations in the private sector in Latin America and determine the extent of their use. methods Analysis of FDCs was based on retail sales data for eight Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) between 1999 and 2009. FDCs were classified according to the pre-…
Hepatitis E is an emerging disease with a high incidence globally. Few data are available on hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in Indonesia. To obtain molecular information on HEV infection in two regions of Indonesia with different customs and swine breeding conditions, serum samples from 137 swine farmworkers, 100 blood donors and 100 swine (27 fecal samples also obtained) in Yogyakarta (Cent…
Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the most common cause of bacterial, seafood‐related illness in the USA.Currently, there is a dearth of published reports regarding immunity to infection with this pathogen.Here, production of both pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory cytokines by V. parahaemolyticus‐infected RAW 264.7 murine macrophages was studied. It was determined that this infection results in incre…
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting holds great promise for sustainable energy by harvesting solar energy. In particular,hematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) has been extensively investigated as a photoanode for visible light-driven PEC water splitting due to its availability, stability, and suitable bandgap of 1.9–2.2 eV. [ 1–3 ] Fabricating hematite nanostructures provides an effective way to e…
Plant leaves represent a unique 2D/1D heterostructure for enhanced surface reaction and effi cient mass transport. Inspired by plant leaves, a 2D/1D CoO x heterostructure is developed that is composed of ultrathin CoO x nanosheets further assembled into a nanotube structure. This bio-inspired architecture allows a highly active Co 2+ electronic structure for an effi cient oxygen evolution reac…
Supercapacitors are intermediate devices between conventional batteries and dielectric capacitors that can be used in various electric systems. [ 1] The pseudo-capacitors have drawn great attentions because of their intrinsic properties of fast and reversible surface redox reactions that enable high charge storage capacities greater than double-layer supercapacitors. Besides, a main attraction …
Colonization of epithelium by microorganisms leads to inflammatory responses. In some cases an anti-apoptotic response involving the cellular inhibitor of apoptosis protein-2 (cIAP-2) also occurs.Although strong expression of cIAP-2 has been observed in lesional skin from psoriatic patients and in HaCaT keratinocytes treated with peptidoglycan (PGN) from Staphylococcus aureus, antiapoptotic res…
Mode of action of pesticin and an engineered hybrid protein: (1) The Pesticin molecule consists of a N-terminal “FyuA binding” and a C-terminal lysozyme-like domain. After traversing the outer membrane pesticin degrades the peptidoglycan structural layer present in the periplasm resulting in cell killing. This translocation depends on an outer membrane protein and virulence factor—FyuA—…
The NfxC‐type mutant of Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces the MexEF‐OprN efflux pump and downregulates expression of the quorum‐sensing‐dependent efflux pump MexAB‐OprM and production of virulence factors in the presence of an active transcriptional regulator, MexT. Consequently, these cells are resistant to chloramphenicol and hypersusceptible to b‐lactam antibiotics. An upper neg…
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is one of the most economically important swine pathogens because it is highly infectious and causes economic losses due to decreased pig productivity. In this study, the 603 bp complete major envelope protein encoding gene (ORF5) of 32 field PRRSV isolates from Vietnam collected during 2008–2012 were sequenced and analyzed.Multip…
New technologies rely on the development of new materials, and these may simply be the innovative combination of known components. The structural combination of a polymer hydrogel network with a nanoparticle (metals, nonmetals, metal oxides, and polymeric moieties) holds the promise of providing superior functionality to the composite material with applications in diverse fi elds, including ca…
To investigate the antifungal drug susceptibility of fungi responsible for dermatomycoses, minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) tests were performed in 44 strains of dermatophytes, including Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton verrucosum, Trichophyton tonsurans, Microsporum canis, Microsporum gypseum and Epidermophyton floccosum, with six antifungal drugs (amoro…
Since 1992, many neonates in neonatal intensive care units in Japan have been developing fever and systemic exanthema. Immunological analyses of neonates with these symptoms has revealed that the bacterial superantigen, toxic shock syndrome toxin‐1 (TSST‐1) is the cause. The name neonatal TSS‐like exanthematous disease (NTED) has been applied to this condition. The most striking clinic…
Cholesterol-dependent cytolysins (CDCs) are bacterial pore-forming toxins secreted mainly by pathogenic Gram-positive bacteria. CDCs generally recognize and bind to membrane cholesterol to create pores and lyse target cells. However, in contrast to typical CDCs such as streptolysin O, several atypical CDCs have been reported. The first of these was intermedilysin, which is secreted by Strep…
Immunological responses to influenza vaccination administered to liver transplantation recipients are not fully elucidated. To compare inactivated influenza vaccine's immunogenicity between adult and pediatric recipients, 16 adult and 15 pediatric living donor liver transplantation recipients in the 2010–11 influenza season, and 53 adult and 21 pediatric recipients in the 2011–12 season, we…
Neutralizing antibodies induced by dengue virus (DENV) infection show viral infection-enhancing activities at sub-neutralizing doses. On the other hand, preimmunity against Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), a congener of DENV, does not increase the severity of DENV infection. Several studies have demonstrated that neutralizing epitopes in the genus Flavivirus are mainly located in domain III (…
objectives To obtain an overview of the quality of care for children in Indonesia, by assessing hospitals with a view to proceed to a quality improvement mechanism for child care. methods Stratified two-stage random sampling in six regions identified 18 hospitals (provinces Jambi, East Java, Central Kalimantan, South–East Sulawesi, East Nusa Tenggara, North Maluku). Three randomly selected ho…
Morbillivirus infection is a severe threat to marine mammals.Mass die‐offs caused by this infection have repeatedly occurred in bottlenose dolphins (Turiops truncatus) and striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba), both of which belong to the family Delphinidae, but not in other cetaceans. However, it is unknown whether sensitivity to the virus varies among cetacean species. The signaling l…
GB virus C (GBV‐C), a human virus of the Flaviviridae family that is structurally and epidemiologically closest to hepatitis C virus (HCV), has been reported to confer beneficial outcomes in HIV‐positive patients.However, the prevalence of GBV‐C in HIV‐positive individuals in Indonesia is unknown. Since GBV‐C is more prevalent in anti‐HCV positive patients than in anti‐HCV negativ…
The fabrication of substrates and superstrates prepared by scalable roll-toroll methods is reviewed. The substrates and superstrates that act as the fl exible carrier for the processing of functional organic electronic devices are an essential component, and proposals are made about how the general availability of various forms of these materials is needed to accelerate the development of the f…
Data quality is an important and costly topic in modern society, and data quality and contextual data quality are important components of the human-computer relationship. As a long-term design imperative, the user interface needs to be improved to support better data quality. To design for better data quality, this exploratory study characterizes physicians’ opinions on their own data and the…
The purpose of this paper is to explain which evidence-based interventions in study strategies have been successful in helping soldiers and veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) return to the classroom. Military leaders have specifically identified TBI as one of the signature injuries of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq with over a quarter of a million service members diagnosed with a TBI…
we explore ethical issues faced by investigators as they conduct research as part of a peer-delivered HIV/AIDS risk reduction program for injection drug users (IDUs). Staff and participant experiences in peer-delivered interventions among IDUs have come under scrutiny by ethics researchers because of their potential to inadvertently and negatively impact participant rehabilitation due to contin…
In this paper, we report on a recent interface design and evaluation process for a new knee and hip automatic physiotherapy assistant and rehabilitation system (ARS). Interface design was concurrent with the development of ARS. The ARS has the potential to improve the automation of rehabilitation treatments, by providing quantitative measures of a patient’s motion. However, the complexity of …
BALB/c mice inoculated intraperitoneally with coxsackievirus group B type 3 (CVB3) were allocated to five groups; namely, a viral myocarditis group infected with CVB3 alone (control group), an antibody intervention group that received intracardiac anti-MCP-1, an antibody intervention control group that received goat IgG, a tMCP-1 intervention group that received plasmid pVMt expressing tMCP-1, …
objectives To determine whether the detection of human IgG bound to Schistosoma haematobium eggs from filtered urine could be used as a rapid diagnostic test (RDT-Sh). methods We filtered 160 urine samples from children in the Kwale District of Kenya to isolate S. haematobium eggs and used anti-human IgG antibody conjugated to horseradish peroxidase to bind to the human IgG attached to the eggs…
Pyriproxyfen is a juvenile hormone mimic of vital importance for insect development with little risk to humans. This study was performed to investigate whether large doses of pyriproxyfen affect the immune response in mammals. Mice were immunized thrice with ovalbumin in 5% ethanol, with or without pyriproxyfen or alum. Large doses of pyriproxyfen (9 or 15 mM) significantly enhanced specific to…
Switchable materials have been attracting great attention because of their potential applications as switches, sensors, and memory devices. [ 1–4 ] Upon external stimuli, these materials can show switch-like behaviors between two (or more) states. Taking magnetic materials for example, spin crossover compounds can be switched between high- and low-spin states via spin unparing and paring (e.g…
A major goal of molecular electronics is the development and implementation of devices such as single-molecular switches. Here, measurements are presented that show the controlled in situ switching of diarylethene molecules from their nonconductive to conductive state in contact to gold nanoelectrodes via controlled light irradiation. Both the conductance and the quantum yield for switching of…
In this paper, we review recent developments that aim to achieve further understanding of the structure of atomic nuclei, by capitalizing on exact symmetries as well as approximate symmetries found to dominate low-lying nuclear states. The findings confirm the essential role played by the Sp(3, R) symplectic symmetry to inform the interaction and the relevant model spaces in nuclear modeling. T…
In this work we investigate a phase field model for damage processes in two-dimensional viscoelastic media with non-homogeneous Neumann data describing external boundary forces. In the first part we establish global-in-time existence, uniqueness, a priori estimates and continuous dependence of strong solutions on the data. The main difficulty is caused by the irreversibility of the phase field …
We present a mathematical model for linear magneto-electro-thermo-elastic continua, as sensors and actuators can be thought of, and prove the well-posedness of the dynamic and quasi-static problems. The two proofs are accomplished, respectively, by means of the Hille–Yosida theory and of the Faedo–Galerkin method. A validation of the quasi-static hypothesis is provided by a nondimensionali…
We study the dynamics of interacting lattice fermions with random hopping amplitudes and random static potentials, in presence of time-dependent electromagnetic fields. The interparticle interaction is short-range and translation invariant. Electromagnetic fields are compactly supported in time and space. In the limit of infinite space supports (macroscopic limit) of electromagnetic fields,…
We study a reaction–diffusion equation with a nonlocal reaction term that models a population with variable motility. We establish a global supremum bound for solutions of the equation. We investigate the asymptotic (long-time and long-range) behavior of the population. We perform a certain rescaling and prove that solutions of the rescaled problem converge locally uniformly to zero in a cer…
under no-flux boundary conditions in a bounded planar convex domain with smooth boundary, where f and S are given parameter functions on Ω × [0,∞)2 with values in [0,∞) and R2×2, respectively, which are assumed to satisfy certain regularity assumptions and growth restrictions. Systems of type (), in the special case S ≡“1 0 0 1 ” reducing to a version of the standard Keller–Seg…
Colorectal cancers are the third most common type of cancer. They originate from intestinal crypts, glands that descend from the intestinal lumen into the underlying connective tissue. Normal crypts are thought to exist in a dynamic equilibrium where the rate of cell production at the base of a crypt is matched by that of loss at the top. Understanding how genetic alterations accumulate and pr…