Holomorph of generalized Bol loops II

The notion of the holomorph of a generalized Bol loop (GBL) is characterized afresh. The holomorph of a right inverse property loop (RIPL) is shown to be a GBL if and only if the loop is a GBL and some bijections of the loop are right (middle) regular. The holomorph of a RIPL is shown to be a GBL if and only if the loop is a GBL and some elements of the loop are right (middle) nuclear. Necessary and sufficient condition for the holomorph of a RIPL to be a Bol loop are deduced. Some algebraic properties and commutative diagrams are established for a RIPL whose holomorph is a GBL.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1501.0462

A relevância jurídico penal do testamento vital nos tratamentos e intervenções médicas

As diretivas antecipadas de vontade são instruções elaboradas antecipadamente por um indivíduo relativamente a tratamentos médicos que deseja aceitar ou recusar se, num momento futuro, se encontrar incapaz de decidir por si e para si. O presente manuscrito visa clarificar o regime de eficácia destes mecanismos de manifestação de vontade pessoal e interpretar o ilícito previsto e punido pelo artigo 156.º, do Código Penal referente ao crime de intervenções e tratamentos médico - cirúrgicos arbitrários. Para o efeito, tomar-se-á como guia normativo a lei 25/2012, de 16 de julho e ter-se-á em conta a doutrina do consentimento informado e as soluções encontradas noutros ordenamentos jurídicos.Advance directive wills are instructions prepared in advance regarding medical treatments that a person intends to accept or decline, if they ever became unable to carry out their own decisions. The following manuscript intends to clarify the legal framework of these personal will mechanisms and interpret the crime stipulated on article 156.º, of the Penal Code regarding the arbitrary medical interventions. With these purposes in mind we will follow the law number 25/2012, of the 16th of July, the informed consent doctrine and the legal solutions found in other legal systems

The role of the multiple excitation manifold in a driven quantum simulator of an antenna complex

Biomolecular light-harvesting antennas operate as nanoscale devices in a regime where the coherent interactions of individual light, matter and vibrational quanta are non-perturbatively strong. The complex behaviour arising from this could, if fully understood, be exploited for myriad energy applications. However, non-perturbative dynamics are computationally challenging to simulate, and experiments on biomaterials explore very limited regions of the non-perturbative parameter space. So-called `quantum simulators' of light-harvesting models could provide a solution to this problem, and here we employ the hierarchical equations of motion technique to investigate recent superconducting experiments of Poto{\v{c}}nik $\it{et}$ $\it{al.}$ (Nat. Com. 9, 904 (2018)) used to explore excitonic energy capture. By explicitly including the role of optical driving fields, non-perturbative dephasing noise and the full multi-excitation Hilbert space of a three-qubit quantum circuit, we predict the measureable impact of these factors on transfer efficiency. By analysis of the eigenspectrum of the network, we uncover a structure of energy levels that allows the network to exploit optical `dark' states and excited state absorption for energy transfer. We also confirm that time-resolvable coherent oscillations could be experimentally observed, even under strong, non-additive action of the driving and optical fields

Contribution of Resistance-Nodulation-Cell Division Efflux Systems to Antibiotic Resistance and Biofilm Formation in Acinetobacter baumannii

International audienceABSTRACT : Acinetobacter baumannii is a nosocomial pathogen of increasing importance due to its multiple resistance to antibiotics and ability to survive in the hospital environment linked to its capacity to form biofilms. To fully characterize the contribution of AdeABC, AdeFGH, and AdeIJK resistance-nodulation-cell division (RND)-type efflux systems to acquired and intrinsic resistance, we constructed, from an entirely sequenced susceptible A. baumannii strain, a set of isogenic mutants overexpressing each system following introduction of a point mutation in their cognate regulator or a deletion for the pump by allelic replacement. Pairwise comparison of every derivative with the parental strain indicated that AdeABC and AdeFGH are tightly regulated and contribute to acquisition of antibiotic resistance when overproduced. AdeABC had a broad substrate range, including β-lactams, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines-tigecycline, macrolides-lincosamides, and chloramphenicol, and conferred clinical resistance to aminoglycosides. Importantly, when combined with enzymatic resistance to carbapenems and aminoglycosides, this pump contributed in a synergistic fashion to the level of resistance of the host. In contrast, AdeIJK was expressed constitutively and was responsible for intrinsic resistance to the same major drug classes as AdeABC as well as antifolates and fusidic acid. Surprisingly, overproduction of AdeABC and AdeIJK altered bacterial membrane composition, resulting in decreased biofilm formation but not motility. Natural transformation and plasmid transfer were diminished in recipients overproducing AdeABC. It thus appears that alteration in the expression of efflux systems leads to multiple changes in the relationship between the host and its environment, in addition to antibiotic resistance.IMPORTANCE: Increased expression of chromosomal genes for RND-type efflux systems plays a major role in bacterial multidrug resistance. Acinetobacter baumannii has recently emerged as an important human pathogen responsible for epidemics of hospital-acquired infections. Besides its remarkable ability to horizontally acquire resistance determinants, it has a broad intrinsic resistance due to low membrane permeability, endogenous resistance genes, and antibiotic efflux. The study of isogenic mutants from a susceptible A. baumannii clinical isolate overproducing or deleted for each of the three major RND-type pumps demonstrated their major contribution to intrinsic resistance and to the synergism between overproduction of an efflux system and acquisition of a resistance gene. We have also shown that modulation of expression of the structural genes for the efflux systems results in numerous alterations in membrane-associated cellular functions, in particular, in a decrease in biofilm formation and resistance gene acquisition

Growth of Acinetobacter baumannii in Pellicle Enhanced the Expression of Potential Virulence Factors

BACKGROUND: Interestingly, Acinetobacter baumannii presents an enhanced capacity to form biofilms (also named pellicles) at the air-liquid interface as compared to the other Acinetobacter species. This characteristic questions the contribution of this phenotype to an increased risk of clinical infections by this pathogen. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: By a proteomic approach using 2-D gel electrophoresis-LC-MS/MS mass spectrometry, we compared the membrane protein patterns of A. baumannii 77, a pellicle-forming clinical isolate, grown in planktonic and in sessile modes. We identified 52 proteins with a differential expression, including 32 up-regulated and 20 down-regulated in the pellicle state. Several proteins, differentially expressed during pellicle development, were of particular interest. We determined the over-expression of four siderophore iron uptake systems including the acinetobactin and enterobactin receptors and confirmed that the development of this type of biofilm is promoted by ferric ions. Two over-expressed proteins, CarO and an OprD-homologue, putative carbapenem-resistance associated porins, would be involved in the transport of specific compounds, like ornithine, a biosynthesis precursor of a siderophore from the hydroxamate family. We evidenced the overexpression of a lipase and a transporter of LCFA that may be involved in the recycling of lipids inside the pellicle matrix. Finally, we demonstrated both by proteomic and by AFM studies that this particular type of biofilm required multiple pili systems to maintain this cohesive structure at the air-liquid interface; two of these systems have never been described in A. baumannii. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study demonstrated that several proteins, overexpressed at a late state of pellicle development, could be potentially involved in virulence processes. Therefore, regarding the number of potential virulence factors that are over-expressed in this growth mode, the pellicle-forming clinical isolates should be kept under survey

Effect of Monitoring Trap and Mating Disruption Dispenser Application Heights on Captures of Male Grapholita molesta (Busck; Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in Pheromone and Virgin Female-Baited Traps

ABSTRACT Studies were conducted in 0.07-to 0.18-ha peach and apple plots to determine the effects of pheromone trap and hand-applied emulsiÞed wax pheromone dispenser application heights on captures of Grapholita molesta in traps baited with pheromone lures or virgin females. Traps and pheromone dispensers were placed either low (1.2Ð1.8 m) or high (2.7Ð 4 m) within tree canopies. In the majority of cases, equivalent numbers of male G. molesta were caught in traps placed at the low and high positions in both pheromone-treated and untreated plots. Furthermore, pheromone dispensers placed at the low and high positions equally disrupted orientation of male G. molesta to pheromone traps placed at either height and to virgin female traps placed at 1.2Ð1.8 m within canopies season-long at most sites. Our results indicate that for trees Յ3.5 m tall, dispensers with release rates Ն18 mg/ha/h placed at 1.5Ð2.0 m (heights easily reached from the ground) should effectively disrupt mating of G. molesta throughout tree canopies. In trees between 3.5 and 4.5 m tall, the dispensers should be moved to Ϸ1.5 m from the top of the canopy. For trees taller than 4.5 m, we recommend hanging dispensers both in the top and bottom thirds of tree canopies. Most commercial Michigan peach and apple trees are Ͻ3.5 m tall. Eliminating the need to apply dispensers high in the canopy in most orchards will enable growers to reduce application costs, thereby facilitating increased adoption of mating disruption for G. molesta control by growers

DAÑOS CATASTRÓFICOS EN CARRETERAS INSULARES [Material gráfico]

Copia digital. Madrid : Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, 201

Characterisation of pellicles formed by acinetobacter baumannii at the air-liquidi interface

The clinical importance of Acinetobacter baumannii is partly due to its natural ability to survive in the hospital environment. This persistence may be explained by its capacity to form biofilms and, interestingly, A. baumannii can form pellicles at the air-liquid interface more readily than other less pathogenic Acinetobacter species. Pellicles from twenty-six strains were morphologically classified into three groups: I) egg-shaped (27%); II) ball-shaped (50%); and III) irregular pellicles (23%). One strain representative of each group was further analysed by Brewster's Angle Microscopy to follow pellicle development, demonstrating that their formation did not require anchoring to a solid surface. Total carbohydrate analysis of the matrix showed three main components: Glucose, GlcNAc and Kdo. Dispersin B, an enzyme that hydrolyzes poly-N-acetylglucosamine (PNAG) polysaccharide, inhibited A. baumannii pellicle formation, suggesting that this exopolysaccharide contributes to pellicle formation. Also associated with the pellicle matrix were three subunits of pili assembled by chaperon-usher systems: the major CsuA/B, A1S_1510 (presented 45% of identity with the main pilin F17-A from enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli pili) and A1S_2091. The presence of both PNAG polysaccharide and pili systems in matrix of pellicles might contribute to the virulence of this emerging pathogen

Removal of Koos IV acoustic neuroma and auditory brainstem implant in NF2 patient

The authors present the case of removal of a Koos grade IV right acoustic neuroma in a neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) patient, already operated on for left cerebellopontine angle meningioma at 7 years of age and a left acoustic neuroma at 16 years of age. A transpetrosal approach allowed cochlear sensor implantation to detect residual hearing. An enlarged retrosigmoid approach then allowed subtotal microsurgical removal of the lesion; consequently, the authors illustrate the technical nuances of an auditory brainstem implant (ABI). One month after surgery, the ABI was successfully switched on, giving back hearing perception to the patient. The video can be found here: https://stream.cadmore.media/r10.3171/2021.7.FOCVID218