BACKGROUND Dysfunction of agr, with reduced susceptibility or hetero-resistance to vancomycin, is thought to be associated with a worse outcome of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia (MRSAB). However, the difference in agr dysfunction according to the SCCmec type in MRSA infection is undetermined. We compared the prevalence of agr dysfunction, reduced vancomycin suscep...

We have explored the synaptic and cellular mechanisms by which a single primary mechanosensory neuron, the anterior gastric receptor (AGR), reconfigures motor output of the gastric mill central pattern generator (CPG) in the stomatogastric nervous system (STNS) of the lobster Homarus gammarus. AGR is activated in vivo by contraction of the medial tooth protractor muscle gm1 and accesses the gas...

In the present study, we investigated the effects of Acori graminei rhizoma (AGR) on learning and memory for the Morris water maze task and on the central cholinergic system of the rats with excitotoxic medial septum (MS) lesion. On the water maze test, the rats were trained to find a platform that was in a fixed position during 6 days and then they received a 60 s probe trial in which the plat...

BACKGROUND Our aim was to estimate the prevalence of abnormal glucose regulation (AGR) (i.e. diabetes and pre-diabetes) and its associated factors among people aged 35-60 years so as to clarify the relevance of targeted screening in rural Africa. METHODS A population-based survey of 1,497 people (786 women and 711 men) aged 35-60 years was conducted in a predominantly rural Demographic Survei...

It is well known that the inverse function of y = x with the derivative y′ = 1 is x = y, the inverse function of y = c with the derivative y′ = 0 is nonexistent, and so on. Hence, on the assumption that the noninvertibility of the univariate increasing function y = f (x) with x > 0 is in direct proportion to the growth rate reflected by its derivative, the authors put forward a method of compar...

The important human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus is known to spread on soft agar plates. Here, we show that colony spreading of S. aureus involves the agr quorum-sensing system. This finding can be related to the agr-dependent expression of biosurfactants, such as phenol-soluble modulins, suggesting a connection between spreading motility and virulence.

Human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-G exhibits immunotolerogenicity and is related to allograft acceptance. Qa-2 is the murine homolog of HLA-G; it has structure and functions similar to those of HLA-G. We investigated the dynamic expression of Qa-2 in skin allografts by immunohistochemistry and on peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets by flow cytometry during the entire process of acute graft rejectio...

BACKGROUND Staphylococcus lugdunensis is a member of coagulase-negative staphylococci, which has the potential to cause serious infections, such as endocarditis, bone and joint infections, and septicemia. Differences in phenotypic/genotypic characterization may be linked to different diseases. METHODS Genotypes of 11 S. lugdunensis isolates from bacteremia were determined by pulsed field gel ...

This thesis proposes a modification of the Agr-based Case theory of Chomsky (1992) to deal with the phenomena of Case absorption. The proposed hypothesis claims that Agr must undergo further feature checking with an appropriate functional head after Case checking takes place in AgrP. For this reason, CP is needed immediately above Agr-sP for Nominative and Null Case checking; Accusative Case ch...

BACKGROUND Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus have become a major problem in Australia. These strains have now been isolated throughout Australia including remote Indigenous communities that have had minimal exposure to healthcare facilities. Some of these strains, belonging to sequence types ST75 and ST883, have previously been reported to harbour highly divergent a...