This paper presents an extension of the AGR (Agent-GroupRole) organizational model, called AGRE (AGR + Environment), which includes physical (or simply geometrical) environments. This extension is based on the concept of a space which can be seen either as a physical area or as a social group, and on a clear distinction between an agent and its mode, i.e. the way it appears and interacts into a...

We investigated the impacts of sarA and agr on fnbA expression and fibronectin-binding capacity in Staphylococcus aureus in vitro and in experimental endocarditis. Although sarA up-regulated and agr down-regulated both fnbA expression and fibronectin binding in vitro and in vivo, fnbA expression was positively regulated in the absence of both global regulators. Thus, additional regulatory loci ...

Staphylococcal superantigen-like (SSL) proteins, which are encoded by a cluster of eleven ssl genes, contribute to the Staphylococcus aureus virulence. Recently we reported ssl8 expression profiles in seven clinically important strains-MW2, USA300FPR3757, MSSA476, Newman, RN6390, Mu50, and N315-and showed the differential expression of ssl8 in Newman, RN6390, and USA300FPR3757 strains, despite ...

Previous studies have shown that Agr genes, which encode thioredoxin domain-containing secreted proteins, play a critical role in limb regeneration in salamanders. To determine the evolutionary conservation of Agr function, it is important to examine whether Agrs play a similar role in species with a different type of regeneration. Here, we refined the phylogeny of Agrs, revealing three subfami...

Clostridium perfringens type B and D strains cause enterotoxemias and enteritis in livestock after proliferating in the intestines and producing epsilon-toxin (ETX), alpha-toxin (CPA), and, usually, perfringolysin O (PFO). Although ETX is one of the most potent bacterial toxins, the regulation of ETX production by type B or D strains remains poorly understood. The present work determined that t...

materials and methods this definitive and cross-sectional study was conducted in tehran, iran. a total of 15 s. aureus isolates were collected from wound samples with sterile swabs and were identified by the conventional diagnostic tests. the antibiotic susceptibility pattern was performed according to the clinical and laboratory standards institute (clsi, 2012) protocol. the meca gene, staphyl...

Sensorimotor integration is known to occur at the level of motor circuits as well as in upstream interneurons that regulate motor activity. Here we show, using the crab stomatogastric nervous system (STNS) as a model, that different sensory systems affect the same set of projection neurons. However, they have qualitatively different effects on their activities (excitation vs. inhibition), and t...