The potential impact on Florida-based marina and boating industries of a post-embargo Cuba: an analysis of geographic, physical, policy and industry trends

The information in this Technical Paper addresses the future of the US-Cuban marina and recreational boating industries from the geographic, physical, policy making and economic perspectives for a post-embargo Cuba. Each individual paper builds on the presentations made at the workshop, the information obtained in the subsequent trip to Cuba and presents in detailed form information which we hope is useful to all readers. (147pp.

An evaluation of the use and effectiveness of temporary sediment controls

Center for Research in Water Resource

Information flow in a kinetic ising model peaks in the disordered phase

There is growing evidence that for a range of dynamical systems featuring complex interactions between large ensembles of interacting elements, mutual information peaks at order-disorder phase transitions. We conjecture that, by contrast, information flow in such systems will generally peak strictly on the disordered side of a phase transition. This conjecture is verified for a ferromagnetic 2D lattice Ising model with Glauber dynamics and a transfer entropy-based measure of systemwide information flow. Implications of the conjecture are considered, in particular, that for a complex dynamical system in the process of transitioning from disordered to ordered dynamics (a mechanism implicated, for example, in financial market crashes and the onset of some types of epileptic seizures); information dynamics may be able to predict an imminent transition

Digestibility of Dry-Rolled Corn, Wet Corn Gluten Feed, and Alfalfa Hay in Receiving and Finishing Diets

Crude protein of wet corn gluten feed is degraded extensively in the rumen. Thus, protein supplementation is an important consideration when feeding wet corn gluten feed, especially in receiving diets

Mixed Chamber Ensembles

Kennesaw State University School of Music presents Mixed Chamber Ensembles, 2:00 p.m. performance.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1396/thumbnail.jp

Mixed Chamber Ensembles

Kennesaw State University School of Music presents Mixed Chamber Ensembles, 6:00 p.m. performance.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1429/thumbnail.jp

Chemical Genetic Analysis and Functional Characterization of Staphylococcal Wall Teichoic Acid 2-Epimerases Reveals Unconventional Antibiotic Drug Targets

Here we describe a chemical biology strategy performed in Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis to identify MnaA, a 2-epimerase that we demonstrate interconverts UDP-GlcNAc and UDP-ManNAc to modulate substrate levels of TarO and TarA wall teichoic acid (WTA) biosynthesis enzymes. Genetic inactivation of mnaA results in complete loss of WTA and dramatic in vitro β-lactam hypersensitivity in methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and S. epidermidis (MRSE). Likewise, the β-lactam antibiotic imipenem exhibits restored bactericidal activity against mnaA mutants in vitro and concomitant efficacy against 2-epimerase defective strains in a mouse thigh model of MRSA and MRSE infection. Interestingly, whereas MnaA serves as the sole 2-epimerase required for WTA biosynthesis in S. epidermidis, MnaA and Cap5P provide compensatory WTA functional roles in S. aureus. We also demonstrate that MnaA and other enzymes of WTA biosynthesis are required for biofilm formation in MRSA and MRSE. We further determine the 1.9Å crystal structure of S. aureus MnaA and identify critical residues for enzymatic dimerization, stability, and substrate binding. Finally, the natural product antibiotic tunicamycin is shown to physically bind MnaA and Cap5P and inhibit 2-epimerase activity, demonstrating that it inhibits a previously unanticipated step in WTA biosynthesis. In summary, MnaA serves as a new Staphylococcal antibiotic target with cognate inhibitors predicted to possess dual therapeutic benefit: as combination agents to restore β-lactam efficacy against MRSA and MRSE and as non-bioactive prophylactic agents to prevent Staphylococcal biofilm formation.publishe