SXT/R391 family of ICEs have been found to express an unusual function that enhances bacterial cell death post-UV irradiation. Previous analysis of ICE R391 found four core SXT/R391 ICE genes to be involved—orf96, orf90, orf91 and orf43. These genes functioned as part of a UV-inducible pathway, where upon exposure to UV, the levels of the Orf43 protein, a TraV homolog which we propose naming Tr...

Nowadays, healthcare systems are challenged by a major worldwide drug resistance crisis caused by the massive and rapid dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes and associated emergence of multidrug resistant pathogenic bacteria, in both clinical and environmental settings. Conjugation is the main driving force of gene transfer among microorganisms. This mechanism of horizontal gene transfe...

Electron-hole (e-h) capture in luminescent conjugated polymers (LCPs) is modeled by the dissipative dynamics of a multilevel electronic system coupled to a phonon bath. Electroinjected e-h pairs are simulated by a mixed quantum state, which relaxes via phonon-driven internal conversions to low-lying charge-transfer (CT) and excitonic (XT) states. The underlying two-band polymer model reflects P...

Sickle cell disease is a destructive genetic disorder characterized by the formation of fibrils of deoxygenated hemoglobin, leading to the red blood cell (RBC) morphology changes that underlie the clinical manifestations of this disease. Using cryogenic soft X-ray tomography (SXT), we characterized the morphology of sickled RBCs in terms of volume and the number of protrusions per cell. We were...

The presence of SXT/R391-related integrating conjugative elements (ICEs) in bacterial strains isolated from fish obtained from marine aquaculture environments in 2001 to 2010 in the northwestern Iberian Peninsula was studied. ICEs were detected in 12 strains taxonomically related to Vibrio scophthalmi (3 strains), Vibrio splendidus (5 strains), Vibrio alginolyticus (1 strain), Shewanella haliot...

Aims. To study the origin and characteristics of a bright coronal downflow seen after a coronal mass ejection associated with erupting prominences on 5 March 2000. Methods. This study extends that of Tripathi et al. (2006b) based on the Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT), the Soft Xray Telescope (SXT) and the Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) observations. We combined those...

In this Paper we report on our analysis of a ∼ 25 ksec. Chandra X–ray observation of the neutron star soft X–ray transient (SXT) 1H 1905+000 in quiescence. Furthermore, we discuss our findings of the analysis of optical photometric observations which we obtained using the Magellan telescope and photometric and spectroscopic observations which we obtained using the Very Large Telescope at Parana...

Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal initially appeared in the southern coastal region of Bangladesh and spread northward, causing explosive epidemics during 1992 and 1993. The resurgence of V. cholerae O139 during 1995 after its transient displacement by a new clone of El Tor vibrios demonstrated rapid changes in the epidemiology of cholera in Bangladesh. A recent outbreak of cholera in two north-centr...