Nationwide surveillance of bacterial respiratory pathogens conducted by the surveillance committee of Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, and the Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010: General view of the pathogens\u27 antibacterial susceptibility

The nationwide surveillance on antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial respiratory pathogens from patients in Japan, was conducted by Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases and Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010.The isolates were collected from clinical specimens obtained from well-diagnosed adult patients with respiratory tract infections during the period from January and April 2010 by three societies. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted at the central reference laboratory according to the method recommended by Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institutes using maximum 45 antibacterial agents.Susceptibility testing was evaluable with 954 strains (206 Staphylococcus aureus, 189 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 4 Streptococcus pyogenes, 182 Haemophilus influenzae, 74 Moraxella catarrhalis, 139 Klebsiella pneumoniae and 160 Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Ratio of methicillin-resistant S.aureus was as high as 50.5%, and those of penicillin-intermediate and -resistant S.pneumoniae were 1.1% and 0.0%, respectively. Among H.influenzae, 17.6% of them were found to be β-lactamase-non-producing ampicillin (ABPC)-intermediately resistant, 33.5% to be β-lactamase-non-producing ABPC-resistant and 11.0% to be β-lactamase-producing ABPC-resistant strains. Extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing K.pneumoniae and multi-drug resistant P.aeruginosa with metallo β-lactamase were 2.9% and 0.6%, respectively.Continuous national surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility of respiratory pathogens is crucial in order to monitor changing patterns of susceptibility and to be able to update treatment recommendations on a regular basis

Iridium-catalyzed hydroboration of alkenes with pinacolborane

Hydroboration of terminal and internal alkenes with pinacolborane (1.2 equiv) was carried out at room temperature in the presence of an iridium(I) catalyst (3 mol%). Addition of dppm (2 equiv) to [Ir(cod)Cl]2 gave the best catalyst for hydroboration of aliphatic terminal and internal alkenes at room temperature, resulting in addition of the boron atom to the terminal carbon of 1-alkenes with more than 99% selectivities. On the other hand, a complex prepared from dppe (2 equiv) and [Ir(cod)Cl]2 resulted in the best yields for vinylarenes such as styrene. These complexes exhibited higher levels of catalyst activity and selectivity than those of corresponding rhodium complexes

Electroresistance Effect in Gold Thin Film Induced by Ionic-Liquid-Gated Electric Double Layer

Electroresistance effect was detected in a metallic thin film using ionic-liquid-gated electric-double-layer transistors (EDLTs). We observed reversible modulation of the electric resistance of a Au thin film. In this system, we found that an electric double layer works as a nanogap capacitor with 27 (-25) MVcm(-1) of electric field by applying only 1.7V of positive (negative) gate voltage. The experimental results indicate that the ionic-liquid-gated EDLT technique can be used for controlling the surface electronic states on metallic systems. (C) 2012 The Japan Society of Applied Physic

Genetic interaction between G2/M phase-specific transcription factor MYB3R4 and MAPKKK ANP3 for execution of cytokinesis in <i>Arabidopsis thaliana</i>

<div><p>Plant cells are surrounded by rigid cell walls, and hence, their division is associated with a plant-specific mode of cytokinesis in which the cell plate, a new cell wall, is generated and separates 2 daughter nuclei. The successful execution of cytokinesis requires the timely activation of multiple regulatory pathways, which include the AtNACK1/HINKEL kinesin-induced MAPK cascade and MYB3R1/4-mediated transcriptional activation of G2/M-specific genes. However, it remains unclear whether and how these pathways are functionally interconnected to each other. By analyzing enhancer mutations of <i>myb3r4</i>, here we found a close genetic interaction between the 2 pathways; a mutation in <i>ANP3</i>, which encodes MAPKKK (acting downstream of AtNACK1/HINKEL), strongly enhanced the defective cytokinesis observed in the <i>myb3r4</i> mutant. This interaction may not be due to the direct activation of MYB3R1/4 by the MAPK cascade; rather, possibly to the downstream targets of these 2 signaling pathways, acting in close proximity. Our results showed that MYB3R1/4 may positively affect cytokinesis via multiple pathways, one of which may act independently from the <i>KNOLLE</i>-dependent pathway defined previously, and affect the downstream events that may also be under the control of the AtNACK1/HINKEL-mediated MAPK cascade.</p></div