High levels of cyclic di-GMP in Klebsiella pneumoniae attenuate virulence in the lung

ABSTRACT The bacterial second messenger bis-(3′-5′)-cyclic dimeric GMP (c-di-GMP) has been shown to influence the expression of virulence factors in certain pathogenic bacteria, but little is known about its activity in the increasingly antibiotic-resistant pathogen Klebsiella pneumoniae . Here, the expression in K. pneumoniae of a heterologous diguanylate cyclase increased the bacterial c-di-GMP concentration and attenuated pathogenesis in murine pneumonia. This attenuation remained evident in mice lacking the c-di-GMP sensor STING, indicating that the high c-di-GMP concentration exerted its influence not on host responses but on bacterial physiology. While serum resistance and capsule expression were unaffected by the increased c-di-GMP concentration, both type 3 and type 1 pili were strongly upregulated. Importantly, attenuation of K. pneumoniae virulence by high c-di-GMP levels was abrogated when type 1 pilus expression was silenced. We conclude that increased type 1 piliation may hamper K. pneumoniae virulence in the respiratory tract and that c-di-GMP signaling represents a potential therapeutic target for antibiotic-resistant K. pneumoniae in this niche. </jats:p

Sling Complications

https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/wrin_briefs/1003/thumbnail.jp

A History of Malayalam Horror Cinema and the Use of Christian Iconography

The research provides an introduction to Malayalam horror cinema. Malayalam is the language spoken at the region of Kerala located on the south western part of India. The Malayalam horror genre uses narratives that are closely connected with religion. In this doctoral thesis I discuss the use of Christian iconography in Malayalam horror cinema. This thesis analysed various Malayalam horror films portraying elements of Christian imagery and show how Christianity in Kerala is othered using the horror genre. I argued that the shifts in south Indian society and Indian politics over the past three decades are to blame for the rise of Christian iconography in Malayalam horror films and the alterations in how Christianity is viewed. Christianity has historically served as a haven from Hindutva's restrictions and caste, religion, class and gender-based oppression in India. As a result, Christianity is frequently both positively and adversely associated with moderate libertarianism regarding women and class in Indian films. Chapter 3 addresses the questions I aimed to answer for this research that is, the Indian political repression that othered the Christian community and its influence on Malayalam cinema using the horror genre. I used film analysis techniques within mis-en-scene, dialogue, cinematography, sound, editing, costumes, characters and the making of selected films to demonstrate how Christianity is consistently positioned as the ‘other.’ The Malayalam film industry have significantly changed due to various reasons that will be elaborated in the thesis, some being associated with the western film making culture and practices. This thesis demonstrated inspirations used by Malayalam film makers by comparison and assessment of different films in Hollywood. The practical output I produced would provide the reader with information on important elements that constitute Malayalam horror cinema and its significance within the Malayalam film industr

Automated progress identification and feedback in large experimental laboratories

In this work we describe a novel web-based system whose aim is to enhance the learning environment within experimental laboratories, and report on its deployment in undergraduate computer architecture modules. Student progress is tracked and recorded throughout the practical work, and supervisory facilities are provided including the visualisation of the progress of everyone in the laboratory on a management console. The system delivers information concerning the practical work to be undertaken, and uses carefully designed sets of questions based on the observations to be made by students in the laboratory. The responses made in this system are used to feedback further specific information to the student to aid their individual progress

Surgeon Volume

https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/wrin_briefs/1002/thumbnail.jp

Extraction and Quantification of Atrazine

Undergraduate Basi

Incentives vs. Control: An Analysis of U.S. Dual-Class Companies

Dual-class common stock allows for the separation of voting rights and cash flow rights across the different classes of equity. We construct a large sample of dual-class firms in the United States and analyze the relationships of insider's cash flow rights and voting rights with firm value, performance, and investment behavior. We find that relationship of firm value to cash flow rights is positive and concave and the relationship to voting rights is negative and convex. Identical quadratic relationships are found for the respective ownership variables with sales growth, capital expenditures, and the combination of R&D and advertising. Our evidence is consistent with an entrenchment effect of voting control that leads managers to underinvest and an incentive effect of cash flow ownership that induces managers to pursue more aggressive strategies.

Is a step in the primordial spectral index favored by CMB data ?

A sudden small change in the second derivative of the inflaton potential can result in a universal local feature in the spectrum of primordial perturbations generated during inflation. The exact solution describing this feature \cite{minu} is characterized by a step in the spectral index modulated by characteristic oscillations and results in a large running of the spectral index localized over a few e-folds of scale. In this paper we confront this step-like feature with the 5 year WMAP results and demonstrate that it provides a better fit to this data than a featureless initial spectrum. If such a feature exists at all, then it should lie at sufficiently large scales $k_0 \lesssim 0.003 {\rm Mpc}^{-1}$ corresponding to $l \lesssim 40$. The sign of the effect is shown to correspond to the negative running of $n_s$ localized near this scale. This feature could arise as a result of a `mini-waterfall'-type fast second order phase transition experienced by an auxiliary heavy field during inflation, in a model similar to hybrid inflation (though for a different choice of parameters). If this is the case, then the auxiliary field should be positively coupled to the inflaton.Comment: Several new results, figures and enhanced discussion. Main conclusions unchanged. Matches the final version to be published in JCA