Review of Efflux Pump Overexpression Resistance Mechanisms for Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The complexities of infectious diseases are not limited to one specialty, but rather encompass all types of physician care. One of the many present difficulties is the prevention, management, and treatment of microorganism resistance. In this review article, one method of acquired resistance possible to many bacteria, in particular Pseudomonas aeruginosa is described. This gram negative bacterium is able to induce an overexpression of efflux pumps that can eject intracellular antibiotics into the extracellular space, thereby avoiding cellular death. In P. aeruginosa four efflux pumps have been studied, which all have the ability to extrude specific classes of antibiotics. This has important clinical considerations, in particular for the hospitalized or convalescent patient, where P. aeruginosa is highly prevalent. Treatment modalities are progressively requiring combinations of antibiotics to circumvent this and other resistance mechanisms. Additionally, recognizing that patients usually have other comorbidities that can affect medication dosing, metabolism, and excretion, make the effective eradication of P. aeruginosa all the more difficult

I\u27m Telling: A Quantitative Analysis of Reporting Cyberbullying versus Reporting of Traditional Bullying in a School Setting

Bullying is a widely used, familiar term for aggressive behavior traditionally perceived as a customary rite of passage, particularly during a child\u27s early middle school and high school years (Lusk, 2012). The old adage, kids will be kids, is a common misperception based on lack of knowledge about the impact of bullying exhibited by parents, educators, and community members. Bullying in all forms has become a larger issue for law enforcement, educators, and society as a whole. An increasingly growing phenomenon, cyberbullying, has become a new form of this aggressive behavior in society. Bullies have essentially moved beyond the school\u27s hallways, classrooms, and playgrounds and into cyberspace. Cyberbullying is a trend of deviancy in which juveniles use technology, such as cellphones, tablets, computers, and electronic devices as a means to target peers for harassment. It is expected that the incidence of cyberbullying will continue to significantly increase over the next few years, thereby creating a completely unique social problem similar to that of cyberstalking and other crimes of the Internet (Dooley, Pyzalski, & Cross, 2009)

Strategic Ambiguity: A Barrier On The Road To Knowledge Creation

The current view of knowledge, the constructivist view, holds a subjective perspective of knowledge that relies heavily upon the context within which knowledge is presented and interpreted. The use of strategic ambiguity in communicatio

Genetic Structure of Amblyomma Cajennense (Acari: Ixodidae) Populations Based on Mitochondrial Gene Sequences

Amblyomma cajennense (Fabricius, 1787) (Acari: Ixodidae) is a common tick species that has a large geographic distribution from the southern regions of the United States (Texas), to the Caribbean Islands, Central, and South America. This tick is a vector of the agent of Brazilian spotted fever, an often fatal disease in South America. Throughout its geographic range, populations of A. cajennense have shown differences in ecological adaptation while feeding on a variety of hosts ranging from livestock, birds, and humans. In order to examine the taxonomic status and phylogeographic evolution of this species, we analyzed mitochondrial 12S rDNA, control region (d-loop), and cytochrome oxidase II gene sequences of A. cajennense specimens collected in eight different localities. The results showed that our samples are grouped in five strongly supported monophyletic lineages, each corresponding to geographically or ecologically distinct populations. The strong phylogenetic structure indicates that A. cajennense may actually be a species complex in need of thorough morphological reassessment

Gophish: Implementing a Real-World Phishing Exercise to Teach Social Engineering

Social engineering is a large problem in our modern technological world, but while conceptually understood, it is harder to teach compared to traditional pen testing techniques. This research details a class project where students implemented a phishing exercise against real-world targets. Through cooperation with an external corporate partner, students learned the legal, technical, behavioral, analysis, and reporting aspects of social engineering. The outcome provided both usable data for a real-world corporation as well as valuable educational experience for the students

Wearables in the Workplace: Examination Using a Privacy Boundary Model

Wearable technologies have become a popular consumer product for health, entertainment, etc., but the use of such wearables in the workplace is still somewhat new. Wearables also offer the potential to provide benefits for both employer and employee in the workplace but the implementation of such technologies creates privacy implications that may affect worker attitudes. Wearable types can take many forms but this study focuses on RFID wearables due to their low cost, proven durability and reusability (Zhu & Hou, 2020). This research investigates the use of RFID wearables in the context of a corporate environment. Utilizing privacy boundary research, findings show that while being monitored negatively impacts employee satisfaction, this satisfaction further varies based on the voluntary nature of the implementation and the gender of the employee. Findings suggest that greater transparency in implementation may alleviate some of the negative aspects of implanting such technologies in the workplace

Safely Using Real-World Data for Teaching Statistics: A Comparison of Student Performance and Perceived Realism between Dataset Types

Academics strive to bring real-world experiences and examples into the classroom thereby creating a richer experience for the instructor and student. This goal of relevance is particularly challenging in the instruction of statistics where the instructor often must choose between “canned” simulated datasets that lack richness and relevance versus using their own research data. Real-world research datasets offer familiarity, storytelling opportunities, and an intimate understanding of the dataset providing a fuller understanding for the student; however, the public release of research data could be problematic. This article examines a solution that offers the richness and relevance of real-world datasets while safeguarding the integrity of the data and research. Experimental results support the use of these derived datasets

Using Visual Representations of Data to Enhance Sensemaking in Data Exploration Tasks

This paper explains how visual representations of data enable individual sensemaking in data exploration tasks. We build upon theories of human perception and cognition, including Cognitive Fit Theory, to explain what aspects of visual representations facilitate sensemaking for the viewer. We make three primary contributions. First, we give a general characterization of visual representations that would be used for data exploration tasks. These representations consist of a scene, objects within the scene, and the characteristics of those objects. Second, we extend Cognitive Fit Theory into the data exploration task domain. We explain that the data exploration task has a number of spatial subtasks including observing data points, looking for patterns or outliers, making inferences, comparing observed facts or patterns to one’s own knowledge, generating hypotheses about the data, and drawing analogies from the context being observed to another context. Third, we offer a set of theoretical propositions about how visual representations of data can serve the sensemaking goal. Specifically, visual representations best facilitate sensemaking in data exploration tasks when they (1) support the four basic human visual perceptual approaches of association, differentiation, ordered perception, and quantitative perception, (2) have strong Gestalt properties, (3) are consistent with the viewer’s stored knowledge, and (4) support analogical reasoning. We propose that visual representations should possess several of these four aspects to make them well-suited for the task of data exploration