Impact of Hfq on the Intrinsic Drug Resistance of Salmonella Enterica Serovar Typhimurium

Salmonella enterica is an important enteric pathogen, and its various serovars cause both systemic and intestinal diseases in humans and domestic animals. The emergence of multidrug-resistant strains of Salmonella, leading to increased morbidity and mortality, has further complicated its management. Hfq is an RNA chaperon that mediates the binding of small RNAs to mRNA and assists in post-transcriptional gene regulation in bacteria. Although Hfq is related to important phenotypes including virulence in Salmonella, its role in the drug resistance of this organism is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of Hfq in intrinsic drug resistance of S. enterica serovar Typhimurium. hfq Mutant was susceptible to acriflavine. Although there is a relationship between the production of the AcrB multidrug efflux pump and Hfq in Escherichia coli, the deletion of the drug efflux acrB did not impair the effect of hfq deletion on Salmonella susceptibility. In contrast, the deletion of another drug efflux gene, smvA, impaired the effect of hfq deletion on acriflavine susceptibility. These results indicate that Hfq regulates the intrinsic drug resistance, and it may influence drug susceptibility by regulating SmvA in Salmonella

Study of the Large-scale Temperature Structure of the Perseus Cluster with Suzaku

We report on a study of the large-scale temperature structure of the Perseus cluster with Suzaku, using the observational data of four pointings of 30' offset regions, together with the data from the central region. Thanks to the Hard X-ray Detector (HXD-PIN: 10 - 60 keV), Suzaku can determine the temperature of hot galaxy clusters. We performed the spectral analysis, by considering the temperature structure and the collimator response of the PIN correctly. As a result, we found that the upper limit of the temperature in the outer region is $\sim$ 14 keV, and an extremely hot gas, which was reported for RXJ 1347.5-1145 and A 3667, was not found in the Perseus cluster. This indicates that the Perseus cluster has not recently experienced a major merger.Comment: 17 pages, 25 figures, accepted for Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, references adde

Teleparallel Complex Gravity as Foundation for Noncommutative Gravity

We present a teleparallel complex gravity as the foundation for the formulation of noncommutative gravity theory. The negative energy ghosts in the conventional formulation with U(1,3) local Lorentz connection no longer exists, since the local Lorentz invariance is broken down to U(1,3) global Lorentz symmetry. As desired, our teleparallel complex gravity theory also passes the key classical test of perihelion advance of Mercury. Based on this result, we present a lagrangian for the noncommutative teleparallel gravity theory.Comment: 15 pages, latex. a new section 4 for classical test of perihelion advance is added, with other relatively minor rhetorical change

Suzaku view of X-ray Spectral Variability of the Radio Galaxy Centaurus A : Partial Covering Absorber, Reflector, and Possible Jet Component

We observed a nearby radio galaxy, the Centaurus A (Cen A), three times with Suzaku in 2009, and measured the wide-band X-ray spectral variability more accurately than the previous measurements. The Cen A was in the active phase in 2009, and the flux became higher by a factor of 1.5--2.0 and the spectrum became harder than that in 2005. The Fe-K line intensity increased by 20--30% from 2005 to 2009. The correlation of the count rate between the XIS 3--8 keV and PIN 15--40 keV band showed a complex behavior with a deviation from a linear relation. The wide-band X-ray continuum in 2--200 keV can be fitted with an absorbed powerlaw model plus a reflection component, or a powerlaw with a partial covering Compton-thick absorption. The difference spectra between high and low flux periods in each observation were reproduced by a powerlaw with a partial covering Compton-thick absorption. Such a Compton-thick partial covering absorber was for the first time observed for the Cen A. The powerlaw photon index of the difference spectra in 2009 is almost the same as that of the time-averaged spectra in 2005, but steeper by $\sim0.2$ than that of the time-averaged spectra in 2009. This suggests an additional hard powerlaw component with a photon index of $<1.6$ in 2009. This hard component could be a lower part of the inverse-Compton-scattered component from the jet, whose gamma-ray emission has recently been detected with the Fermi/LAT.Comment: 43 pages, 16 figures, will appear in the Ap

The Influence of Latvian Labor Emigration Abroad on Latvia's Competitiveness

Today, as the world is becoming more global, countries are competing against each other on different terms. Country competitiveness depends on different factors that distinguish one nation from another. As labor force is a valuable asset for any nation, the emigration of it can affect the country in many ways, thus affecting the country's competitiveness. This thesis aimed to find out how Latvian labor force emigration to work abroad will affect Latvia and its competitiveness. Moreover, the thesis also strived to answer how competitive is Latvian economy, who are the people who emigrate from Latvia and what are their experiences, what are the possible consequences for this emigration of Latvian workforce, as well as how these consequences might affect Latvia's competitiveness? To be able to answer the above mentioned research questions quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. First, an Internet survey was made to collect data from Latvian emigrants who have gone to work abroad themselves. After that, a structured interview with researchers from Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Latvia's project about emigration was conducted. The research found out that the emigration of Latvian workforce affects Latvian economy and its competitiveness both in positive and negative ways. The research found that the factors regarding emigration that influence Latvia's economy are: leaving of young and educated people, remittances sent back to Latvia, possible brain drain and brain waste, relief of Latvian economy as well as changing level of entrepreneurship and innovation in the country. The results also showed that emigration has a positive influence on the entrepreneurship in the country, thus improving Latvia's competitiveness among other countries.Tänään, koska maailma on yhä maailmanlaajuinen, maat kilpailevat toisiaan vastaan eri ehdoin. Maa kilpailukyky riippuu eri kertoimiin, jotka erottavat yhden kansakunnan toisesta. Koska työvoima on arvokas voimavara kaikille kansakunta, maastamuutto se voi vaikuttaa maan monin tavoin, mikä vaikuttaa maan kilpailukykyä. Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli selvittää, miten Latvian työvoiman maastamuutto työskennellä ulkomailla vaikuttaa Latvian ja sen kilpailukykyä. Lisäksi opinnäytetyön myös pyritty vastaamaan kuinka kilpailukykyinen on Latvian talous, jotka ovat ihmisiä, jotka muuttavat maasta Latvia ja mitkä ovat niiden kokemuksia, mitä mahdollisia seurauksia tälle maastamuuton Latvian työvoiman sekä miten nämä seuraukset voivat vaikuttaa Latvian kilpailukykyyn? Voidakseen vastata edellä mainitun tutkimuksen kysymyksiä määrällisiä ja laadullisia tutkimusmenetelmiä käytettiin. Ensinnäkin, Internet-kysely tehtiin kerätä tietoa Latvian siirtolaisten jotka ovat menneet ulkomaille töihin itse. Sen jälkeen, jäsennelty haastattelu tutkijoiden instituutin filosofian ja sosiologian University of Latvian projekti noin maastamuutto tehtiin. Tutkimuksessa kävi ilmi, että maastamuutto Latvian työvoimasta vaikuttaa Latvian talous ja sen kilpailukyky sekä myönteisiä että kielteisiä keinoja. Tutkimus havaitsi, että tekijät, maastamuutto, jotka vaikuttavat Latvian talous ovat: jätetään nuorten ja koulutettujen ihmisten, rahalähetykset takaisin Latviaan, mahdollinen aivovuoto ja aivotuhlauksen, helpotus Latvian talouden sekä muuttaa tason yrittäjyyden ja innovaatioiden maassa. Tulokset osoittivat myös, että maastamuutto on positiivinen vaikutus yrittäjyyteenyrittäjyyttä maassa, mikä parantaa Latvian kilpailukykyä muun maissa

Giantin Affects Golgi Stack Connection

Golgins are a family of Golgi-localized long coiled-coil proteins. The major golgin function is thought to be the tethering of vesicles, membranes, and cytoskeletal elements to the Golgi. We previously showed that knockdown of one of the longest golgins, Giantin, altered the glycosylation patterns of cell surfaces and the kinetics of cargo transport, suggesting that Giantin maintains correct glycosylation through slowing down transport within the Golgi. Giantin knockdown also altered the sizes and numbers of mini Golgi stacks generated by microtubule de-polymerization, suggesting that it maintains the independence of individual Golgi stacks. Therefore, it is presumed that Golgi stacks lose their independence following Giantin knockdown, allowing easier and possibly increased transport among stacks and abnormal glycosylation. To gain structural insights into the independence of Golgi stacks, we herein performed electron tomography and 3D modeling of Golgi stacks in Giantin knockdown cells. Compared with control cells, Giantin-knockdown cells had fewer and smaller fenestrae within each cisterna. This was supported by data showing that the diffusion rate of Golgi membrane proteins is faster in Giantin-knockdown Golgi, indicating that Giantin knockdown structurally and functionally increases connectivity among Golgi cisternae and stacks. This increased connectivity suggests that contrary to the cis-golgin tether model, Giantin instead inhibits the tether and fusion of nearby Golgi cisternae and stacks, resulting in transport difficulties between stacks that may enable the correct glycosylation of proteins and lipids passing through the Golgi

Nationwide patient registry for GNE myopathy in Japan

BACKGROUND: GNE myopathy is a slowly progressive autosomal recessive myopathy caused by mutations in the GNE (glucosamine (UDP-N-acetyl)-2-epimerase/N-acetylmannosamine kinase) gene. This study aimed to (1) develop a nationwide patient registry for GNE myopathy in order to facilitate the planning of clinical trials and recruitment of candidates, and (2) gain further insight into the disease for the purpose of improving therapy and care. METHODS: Medical records of genetically-confirmed patients with GNE myopathy at the National Center Hospital of the National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP) were retrospectively reviewed in order to obtain data reflecting the severity and progression of the disease. We also referred to items in the datasheet of the nationwide registry of dystrophinopathy patients in the Registry of Muscular Dystrophies (Remudy). Items selected for the registration sheet included age, sex, age at onset, past history and complications, family history, body weight and height, pathological findings of muscle biopsy, grip power, walking ability, respiratory function, cardiac function, willingness to join upcoming clinical trials, and participation in patient associations. A copy of the original genetic analysis report was required of each patient. RESULTS: We successfully established the Remudy-GNE myopathy. Currently, 121 patients are registered nationwide, and 93 physicians from 73 hospitals collaborated to establish the registry. The mean age at onset was 27.7 ± 9.6 years, and 19.8% (24/121) of patients could walk without assistance. Mean presumed durations from onset to use of assistive devices (cane and/or braces) and a wheelchair, and loss of ambulation were 12.4, 15.2, and 21.1 years, respectively. Three patients had a past history and/or complication of idiopathic thrombocytopenia. To share the progress of this study with the community, newsletters were published on a regular basis, and included information regarding new phase I clinical trials for GNE myopathy. The newsletters also served as a medium to bring attention to the importance of respiratory evaluation and care for respiratory insufficiency. CONCLUSION: The Japanese Remudy-GNE myopathy is useful for clarifying the natural history of the disease and recruiting patients with genetically-confirmed GNE myopathy for clinical trials. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13023-014-0150-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

THE EVALUATOR’S ASSESSMENT LEARNING USING STUDENT’S REPORT AT CLASSROOM

In this research, the learner learns from evaluator\u27s assessment for another students report on collaborative evaluation. Our system (evPoints) relate to moodle, that enable to report posting and mutual evaluation. In this paper, we report total design about this research.The Fourth International Conference on e-Learning (ICEL2013), July 8-10, 2013, VSB-Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republi

Interacting Vector-Spinor and Nilpotent Supersymmetry

We formulate an interacting theory of a vector-spinor field that gauges anticommuting spinor charges \{Q_\alpha{}^I, Q_\beta{}^J \} = 0 in arbitrary space-time dimensions. The field content of the system is (\psi_\mu{}^{\alpha I}, \chi^{\alpha I J}, A_\mu{}^I), where \psi_\mu{}^{\alpha I} is a vector-spinor in the adjoint representation of an arbitrary gauge group, and A_\mu{}^I is its gauge field, while \chi^{\alpha I J} is an extra spinor with antisymmetric adjoint indices I J. Amazingly, the consistency of the vector-spinor field equation is maintained, despite its non-trivial interactions.Comment: 10 pages, no figure

Fe-K line probing of material around the AGN central engine with Suzaku

We systematically analyzed the high-quality Suzaku data of 88 Seyfert galaxies. We obtained a clear relation between the absorption column density and the equivalent width of the 6.4 keV line above 10$^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$, suggesting a wide-ranging column density of $10^{23-24.5}$ cm$^{-2}$ with a similar solid and a Fe abundance of 0.7--1.3 solar for Seyfert 2 galaxies. The EW of the 6.4 keV line for Seyfert 1 galaxies are typically 40--120 eV, suggesting the existence of Compton-thick matter like the torus with a column density of $>10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$ and a solid angle of $(0.15-0.4)*4pi$, and no difference of neutral matter is visible between Seyfert 1 and 2 galaxies. An absorber with a lower column density of $10^{21-23}$ cm$^{-2}$ for Compton-thin Seyfert 2 galaxies is suggested to be not a torus but an interstellar medium. These constraints can be understood by the fact that the 6.4 keV line intensity ratio against the 10--50 keV flux is almost identical within a range of 2--3 in many Seyfert galaxies. Interestingly, objects exist with a low EW, 10--30 eV, of the 6.4 keV line, suggesting that those torus subtends only a small solid angle of $<0.2*4pi$. Ionized Fe-K$\alpha$ emission or absorption lines are detected from several percents of AGNs. Considering the ionization state and equivalent width, emitters and absorbers of ionized Fe-K lines can be explained by the same origin, and highly ionized matter is located at the broad line region. The rapid increase in EW of the ionized Fe-K emission lines at $N_{H}>10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$ is found, like that of the cold material. It is found that these features seem to change for brighter objects with more than several $10^{44}$ erg/s such that the Fe-K line features become weak. We discuss this feature, together with the torus structure.Comment: 32 pages, 20 figures, ApJ accepte