Staphylococci that acquire the mecA gene are usually resistant to beta-lactam antibiotics (methicillin or oxacillin resistance). mecA encodes a penicillin-binding protein (PBP 2a) that has a reduced affinity for beta-lactams. In some isolates with methicillin or oxacillin resistance, only a small proportion (< or =0.1%) of the population expresses resistance to > or =10 microg of oxacillin per ...

This report is an attempt to use Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA) to relate scaling properties of ground-based ULF magnetic field data to occurrence of earthquakes. The magnetic field data are from the South European Geo-magnetic Array (SEGMA) (Vellante et al., 2002). Several moderate earthquakes (4.3 < M < 5.5) occurred in the Adriatic region during November-December 2004. Thus a seven mon...

Higher-Order Theories of Consciousness: An Anthology, edited by Rocco J. Gennaro, brings together fourteen new essays exploring the relative merits of and problems with higher-order representation (HOR) theories of consciousness. The anthology is divided into two parts. Part I contains articles by proponents of HOR theories arguing for their favorite version of the theory (Rosenthal, Gennaro, V...

Our research group have been working on transistion metal complexes and their activity in the biology field, especially antimicrobial and anticancer properties. Novel pseudohalide ligands with orotic acid and its metal salt Ni(II) have been synthesized and evaluated for their antimicrobial activities by disc diffusion method. The complexes have been characterized by IR, SEM, Raman, P-Xrd and UV...

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains are characterized by a heterogeneous expression of resistance. We have previously shown in clinical oxacillin-susceptible, mecA-positive MRSA strains that selection from a very heterogeneous (HeR) to highly homogeneous (HoR) resistant phenotype was mediated by acquisition of mutations through an oxacillin-induced SOS response. In the pr...

Time-varying topological simplifications of the space of votes in the US House of Representatives (US HoR) display several interesting features unavailable with classical methods of machine learning. In this paper we demonstrate how a recently developed topological simplification method, MAPPER, can detect changes in collaboration structures within the US HoR over time.

Regulation of human olfactory receptor (hOR) genes is a complex process of control and signalization with various structures and functions that are not clearly understood. To date, nearly 390 functional hOR genes and 462 pseudogenes have been discovered in the human genome. Enhancer models and trans-acting elements for the regulation of different hOR genes are among the few examples of our know...

IMPORTANCE Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) revolutionized the treatment of aortic stenosis. Developing a TAVR program with a custom-built hybrid operating room (HOR) outside the surgical operating room area poses unique challenges in Veterans Affairs (VA) institutions. OBJECTIVE To present the process by which the San Francisco VA Medical Center developed a VA-approved TAVR prog...

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has emerged as one of the most important pathogens both in health care and community-onset infections. The prerequisite for methicillin resistance is mecA, which encodes a β-lactam-insensitive penicillin binding protein PBP2a. A characteristic of MRSA strains from hospital and community associated infections is their heterogeneous expression of...