This cover designed by Muhammad Irfan and colleagues shows how High Performance Polyethylene (HPPE) fibers are relatively tougher than carbon can be used to improve impact tolerance of epoxy composite laminates. Composite laminates containing suffer from delamination upon impact. An interleave a tough material like HPPE inserted between these fiber plies reduce the damage due do not undergo bri...

Background Knowing local spectrum and sensitivity for bacterial isolates causing febrile neutropenia is important as starting an appropriate empirical antibiotic therapy is considered a medical emergency in these high-risk patients. Methods A retrospective study of a total of 106 microbiologically febrile episodes in hospitalized adult neutropenic cancer patients, who were admitted from May 2...

A novel natural TEM beta-lactamase with extended-spectrum activity, TEM-138, was identified in a ceftazidime-resistant clinical isolate of Salmonella enterica serovar Infantis. Compared to TEM-1, TEM-138 contains the following mutations: E104K, N175I, and G238S. The bla(TEM-138) gene was located on a 50-kb transferable plasmid. Expression studies with Escherichia coli revealed efficient ceftazi...

A complete ring of neutral hydrogen gas (HI) in the LGG 138 group of galaxies has been found. The HI mass of the ring is greater than 10 h−2 75 M ̄, and the gas appears to be rotating with a projected circular speed of ∼200 km s−1. Two bright galaxies are enclosed by the ring, both having radial velocities consistent with membership of the group. Faint stellar emission extends to the radial dist...

ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A number of people have been involved in my work and I wish to express my warmest gratitude to everyone who supported and help me in different ways. First of all I am deeply grateful to my husband Jianlin Shi. Without his understanding, valuable advice and patience, my thesis could not have been attempted and completed. I want to express my heartfelt thanks to my supervisor ...

Regulated gene expression determines the intrinsic ability of neurons to extend axons, and loss of such ability is the major reason for the failed axon regeneration in the mature mammalian CNS. MicroRNAs and histone modifications are key epigenetic regulators of gene expression, but their roles in mammalian axon regeneration are not well explored. Here we report microRNA-138 (miR-138) as a nove...