Characterization of FhuA 104/149C: a Double Cysteine FhuA Mutant with Normal Binding and Diminished Transport

Iron is an essential element for most bacteria and is commonly acquired by siderophores, molecules secreted under iron restricted environment to bind ferric iron. Gram negative cells actively uptake these complexes via outer membrane-transport proteins such as FhuA in Escherichia coli. Structural analysis of receptors revealed a conserved β-barrel occluded by an N-terminal plug domain. The cell membrane TonB/ExbB/ExbD complex presumably supplies energy via interaction between the FhuA N-terminal TonB box and the C-terminal domain of TonB. In order to better understand the mechanism of action the FhuA mutant 104/149C, tethering the central β-strands 4 and 6 of the plug domain, was studied and showed severely reduced transport of radio-labeled ferrichrome. In the course of this study, this protein was HPLC purified for structural studies by crystallization and X-ray diffraction. In addition, protein interaction studies were performed with purified TonB-C terminal revealing no impact of the mutation on FhuA-TonB interactions

The practice boundaries of advanced practice nurses: an economic and legal analysis

The purpose of this study is to examine the causes and effects of State regulation that determines the extent of professional independence of advanced practice nurses (APNs). We analyze determinants of these regulations in panel data across States. We find that in States where APNs have acquired a substantial amount of professional independence, the earnings of APNs are substantially lower, and those of physicians' assistants are substantially higher, than in other States. These results are striking since physicians' assistants are in direct competition with APNs; the only real operational difference between these groups is that physicians' assistants are salaried employees who must work under the supervision of a physician. The implication is that physicians have responded to an increase in professional independence of APNs by hiring fewer APNs and more physicians' assistants.

DISLIPIDEMIA DIABÉTICA

RESUMENLas enfermedades cardiovasculares constituyen la principal causa de morbimortalidad en los pacientes diabéticos y uno de los principales factores de riesgo son las dislipidemias. Estos pacientes presentan un patrón de alteraciones lipídicas caracterizadas por elevación moderada del colesterol LDL, con aumento de las partículas de LDL densas y pequeñas, incremento de triglicéridos y reducción del colesterol HDL (dislipidemia aterogénica).Las diversas guías de manejo de dislipidemias coinciden en que la reducción del colesterol LDL, es el principal objetivo terapéutico en estos pacientes. Así entonces, las intervenciones terapéuticas deben considerar, además de las modificaciones del estilo de vida, el uso de estatinas como droga de primera elección. Diversos estudios han evidenciado la gran efectividad de las estatinas en la reducción de eventos cardiovasculares en pacientes diabéticos. Sin embargo, en muchos casos es necesario el uso de otros fármacos asociados, principalmente ezetimibe y algunos fibratos con el fin de optimizar los niveles de lípidos plasmáticos y reducir el riesgo cardiovascular residual.SUMMARYCardiovascular diseases are the main cause of morbi-mortality in diabetic patients and the dyslipidemias are one of the main risk factors. Diabetic patients exhibit different lipid abnormalities including increase of LDL cholesterol, with predominance of small dense LDL particles, increase of triglycerides and low HDL-cholesterol plasma levels.Different lipid guidelines have established that LDL cholesterol is the primary therapeutic target for diabetic patients. Therefore, in addition to lifestyle modifications, statins are the first line drug in these patients, and several studies have shown the effectiveness of statins in reduction of cardiovascular events in these patients. Nevertheless, in several cases, it is necessary to associate additional drugs, including ezetimibe and/or fibrates in order to optimize the lipid levels and reduce the cardiovascular residual risk

A new Comptonization model for low-magnetized accreting neutron stars in low mass X-ray binaries

We developed a new model for the X-ray spectral fitting \xspec package which takes into account the effects of both thermal and dynamical (i.e. bulk) Comptonization. The model consists of two components: one is the direct blackbody-like emission due to seed photons which are not subjected to effective Compton scattering, while the other one is a convolution of the Green's function of the energy operator with a blackbody-like seed photon spectrum. When combined thermal and bulk effects are considered, the analytic form of the Green's function may be obtained as a solution of the diffusion Comptonization equation. Using data from the BeppoSAX, INTEGRAL and RXTE satellites, we test our model on the spectra of a sample of six persistently low magnetic field bright neutron star Low Mass X-ray Binaries, covering three different spectral states. Particular attention is given to the transient powerlaw-like hard X-ray (> 30 keV) tails that we interpret in the framework of the bulk motion Comptonization process. We show that the values of the best-fit delta-parameter, which represents the importance of bulk with respect to thermal Comptonization, can be physically meaningful and can at least qualitatively describe the physical conditions of the environment in the innermost part of the system. Moreover, we show that in fitting the thermal Comptonization spectra to the X-ray spectra of these systems, the best-fit parameters of our model are in excellent agreement with those of COMPTT, a broadly used and well established XSPEC model.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Adaptive smartphone-based sensor fusion for estimating competitive rowing kinematic metrics.

Competitive rowing highly values boat position and velocity data for real-time feedback during training, racing and post-training analysis. The ubiquity of smartphones with embedded position (GPS) and motion (accelerometer) sensors motivates their possible use in these tasks. In this paper, we investigate the use of two real-time digital filters to achieve highly accurate yet reasonably priced measurements of boat speed and distance traveled. Both filters combine acceleration and location data to estimate boat distance and speed; the first using a complementary frequency response-based filter technique, the second with a Kalman filter formalism that includes adaptive, real-time estimates of effective accelerometer bias. The estimates of distance and speed from both filters were validated and compared with accurate reference data from a differential GPS system with better than 1 cm precision and a 5 Hz update rate, in experiments using two subjects (an experienced club-level rower and an elite rower) in two different boats on a 300 m course. Compared with single channel (smartphone GPS only) measures of distance and speed, the complementary filter improved the accuracy and precision of boat speed, boat distance traveled, and distance per stroke by 44%, 42%, and 73%, respectively, while the Kalman filter improved the accuracy and precision of boat speed, boat distance traveled, and distance per stroke by 48%, 22%, and 82%, respectively. Both filters demonstrate promise as general purpose methods to substantially improve estimates of important rowing performance metrics

Secants of Lagrangian Grassmannians

We study the dimensions of secant varieties of the Grassmannian of Lagrangian subspaces in a symplectic vector space. We calculate these dimensions for third and fourth secant varieties. Our result is obtained by providing a normal form for four general points on such a Grassmannian and by explicitly calculating the tangent spaces at these four points

Factors associated with incomplete childhood immunization in Arbegona district, southern Ethiopia: a case – control study

Abstract Background The prevention of child mortality through immunization is one of the most cost-effective and widely applied public health interventions. In Ethiopia, the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) schedule is rarely completed as planned and the full immunization rate is only 24 %. The objective of this study was to identify determinant factors of incomplete childhood immunization in Arbegona district, Sidama zone, southern Ethiopia. Methods A community based unmatched case-control study was undertaken among randomly selected children aged 12 to 23 months and with a total sample size of 548 (183 cases and 365 controls). A multi-stage sampling technique was used to get representative cases and controls. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 16 statistical software. Bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were done to identify independent factors for incomplete immunization status of children. Qualitative data were also generated and analyzed using thematic framework. Results The incomplete immunization status of children was significantly associated with young mothers (AOR = 9.54; 95 % CI = 5.03, 18.09), being born second to fourth (AOR = 3.64; 95 % CI = 1.63, 8.14) and being born fifth or later in the family (AOR = 5.27; 95 % CI = 2.20, 12.64) as compared to being born first, a mother’s lack of knowledge about immunization benefits (AOR = 5.51; 95 % CI = 1.52, 19.94) and a mother’s negative perception of vaccine side effects (AOR = 1.92; 95 % CI = 1.01, 3.70). The qualitative finding revealed that the migration of mothers and unavailability of vaccines on appointed immunization dates were the major reasons for partial immunization of children. Conclusion To reduce the number of children with incomplete immunization status, the Arbegona district needs to consider specific planning for mothers with these risk profiles. A focus on strengthening health communication activities to raise immunization awareness and address concerns of vaccine side effects at community level is also needed. This could be achieved through integrating the immunization service to other elements of primary health care.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116791/1/12889_2015_Article_2678.pd

Las TIC en la Educación Universitaria Venezolana: Una Reflexión desde la Perspectiva Docente

Las Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (TIC) están en un constante desarrollo y evolución en varios ámbitos de la sociedad actual, esto incluye el campo educativo en todos sus niveles. La Universidad Venezolana hoy presenta la incorporación de estas tecnologías en diversas escalas como por ejemplo en plataformas tecnológicas y equipos computacionales, que en cuyo caso por sí solo no representan la efectividad de las TIC en la educación. Esta reflexión hace referencia a la perspectiva docente, como punto neurálgico e importante del estudio, ya que se considera que, si el docente recibe la capacitación y el seguimiento necesario para adquirir el conocimiento en TIC, la confianza en las herramientas tecnológicas con actitud hacia las mismas y el interés al cambio, aunado a los apoyos tanto gubernamental como institucional, se evidenciaría con mayor potencialidad los beneficios del uso de las TIC en la educación universitaria   Abstract Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are constantly developing and evolving in various areas of today's society, without overlooking the educational field at all levels. The Venezuelan University today presents the incorporation of these technologies in different scales such as technological platforms and computer equipment, which in this case alone do not represent the effectiveness of ICT in education. This reflection refers to the teaching perspective, as a nerve center and important of the study, since it is considered that if the teacher receives the training and the necessary follow-up to acquire the knowledge in ICT, confidence in the technological tools with attitude toward them and interest in change, coupled with both government and institutional support, would show the potential of the benefits of using ICTs in university education

PELATIHAN TEKNIK PEWARNAAN BAGI PENGRAJIN TENUN DESA NEKMESE KECAMATAN AMARASI SELATAN

ABSTRAKKegiatan pengabdian kepada masyarakat ini bertujuan memperkenalkan dan melatih para pengrajin untuk menggunakan teknik pewarnaan celup dengan zat warna napthol, yang dapat menjaga warna tetap awet dan kualitas hasil tenun lebih baik. Kain Tenun NTT memiliki banyak motif yang sangat menarik dan sudah terkenal tidak hanya di Indonesia tetapi juga di Luar Negeri. Untuk mempertahankan kualitas kain tenun, maka pengrajin harus memperhatikan teknik pewarnaan. Selama ini pengrajin tenun Desa Nekmese menggunakan wantex sebagai bahan untuk pewarna, tetapi kelemahannya warna kain tenun akan luntur jika dicuci. Dengan kegiatan pengabdian ini pengrajin mendapat tambahan pengetahuan teknik pewarnaan dengan menggunakan zat warna napthol yang dapat menjaga kualitas warna kain tenun. Kegiatan pengabdian ini dilakukan dengan menggunakan pendekatan pelatihan dan praktek langsung, sehingga peserta bisa memahami setiap prosesnya serta hasil pengabdian peserta sudah mampu mengalikasikan teknik pewarnaan celup dengan zat warna napthol. Kata kunci: teknik pewarnaan; pengrajin tenun; zat warna napthol. ABSTRACTThis Community Service activity aims to introduce and train craftsmen to use the dyeing technique with naphthol dyes, which can keep the color durable and the quality of the weaving better. NTT Woven Fabrics have many very interesting motifs and are well known not only in Indonesia but also abroad. To maintain the quality of woven fabrics, craftsmen must pay attention to coloring techniques. So far, the weaving craftsmen of Nekmese Village use wantex as a dye, but the weakness is that the color of the woven fabric will fade when washed. With this service activity, craftsmen get additional knowledge of coloring techniques using naphthol dyes that can maintain the color quality of woven fabrics. This service activity is carried out using a training approach and direct practice so that participants can understand each process and the results of the service participants can apply dyeing techniques with naphthol dyes. Keywords: coloring technique; weavers; naphthol dye