Efflux pump of the proton antiporter family confers low-level fluoroquinolone resistance in Mycobacterium smegmatis.

Due to the resurgence of tuberculosis and the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains, fluoroquinolones (FQ) are being used in selected tuberculosis patients, but FQ-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis have rapidly begun to appear. The mechanisms involved in FQ resistance need to be elucidated if the effectiveness of this class of antibiotics is to be improved and prolonged. By using the rapid-growing Mycobacterium smegmatis as a model genetic system, a gene was selected that confers low-level FQ resistance when present on a multicopy plasmid. This gene, lfrA, encodes a putative membrane efflux pump of the major facilitator family, which appears to recognize the hydrophilic FQ, ethidium bromide, acridine, and some quaternary ammonium compounds. It is homologous to qacA from Staphylococcus aureus, tcmA, of Streptomyces glaucescens, and actII and mmr, both from Streptomyces coelicoler. Increased expression of lfrA augments the appearance of subsequent mutations to higher-level FQ resistance.

The acceptable level of risk-taking for traditional rock climbers

Taking risk with all the consequences inevitably belongs to climbing. Each climber confronts his or her skills with the route he or she has chosen for an ascent. If the route is well protected, the rate of risk the climber takes is lower. If the route is less protected, the level of risk that the climber is exposed to proportionally increases. The aim of the research is to determine the level of risk-taking in traditional climbing on sandstone. We focus on how the level of risk affects climber’s performance and what reserve a climber needs to be able to cope with the higher risk and reduce it? The problem is solved by methods of quantitative research and the sample comprises more than 300 respondents. The results of the research prove a significant difference of climbers’ performance in dependence on rate of risk. Climbers usually reach lower performance according to the grading scale when climbing traditional routes with a higher level of risk.

A Global Analysis of of Imperfect Competition in the Banking Systems and the Latest Israeli Regulation Dealing with Market Failures. ACES Working Paper No. 3, 2007

The high concentration of the banking sector is a cross-border phenomenon that has high impact on local and global economies. This paper's main goal is to analyze the factors that impact concentration in the banking systems around the globe. The innovation of this paper is that we combined economic, "economic environment", and culture variables as explanatory variables for this analysis. We found among other things that regulation in the banking system is helpful in order to keep it competitive. We also found that when the society has more individual values rather than collective ones, its banking sector is less concentrated. In the second part of the paper we focused on the Israeli case, showing that although recent indicators of the Israeli banking system indicate a higher level of concentration and lower level of competition, it seems that the recent trend is moving toward less concentration and higher competition.

Does the growth in higher education mean a decline in the quality of degrees? CEPS Working Document No. 405/March 2015

In this paper the authors construct a theory about how the expansion of higher education could be associated with several factors that indicate a decline in the quality of degrees. They assume that the expansion of tertiary education takes place through three channels, and show how these channels are likely to reduce average study time, lower academic requirements and average wages, and inflate grades. First, universities have an incentive to increase their student body through public and private funding schemes beyond a level at which they can keep their academic requirements high. Second, due to skill-biased technological change, employers have an incentive to recruit staff with a higher education degree. Third, students have an incentive to acquire a college degree due to employers’ preferences for such qualifications; the university application procedures; and through the growing social value placed on education. The authors develop a parsimonious dynamic model in which a student, a college and an employer repeatedly make decisions about requirement levels, performance and wage levels. Their model shows that if i) universities have the incentive to decrease entrance requirements, ii) employers are more likely to employ staff with a higher education degree and iii) all types of students enrol in colleges, the final grade will not necessarily induce weaker students to study more to catch up with more able students. In order to re-establish a quality-guarantee mechanism, entrance requirements should be set at a higher level.

The potential of microarrays to assist shrimp breeding and production: a review

The shrimp aquaculture industry is a relatively new livestock industry, having developed over the past 30 years. Thus, it is poised to take advantage of new technologies from the outset of selective breeding programs. This contrasts with long established livestock industries, where there are already highly specialised breeds. This review focuses specifically on the potential application of microarrays to shrimp breeding. Potential applications of microarrays in selective breeding programs are summarised. Microarrays can be used as a rapid means to generate molecular markers for genetic linkage mapping, and genetic maps have been constructed for yeast, Arabidopsis and barley using microarray technology. Microarrays can also be used in the hunt for candidate genes affecting particular traits, leading to development of perfect markers for these traits (i.e. causative mutations). However, this requires that microarray analysis be combined with genetic linkage mapping, and that substantial genomic information is available for the species in question. A novel application of microarrays is to treat gene expression as a quantitative trait in itself and to combine this with linkage mapping to identify quantitative trait loci controlling the levels of gene expression; this approach may identify higher level regulatory genes in specific pathways. Finally, patterns of gene expression observed using microarrays may themselves be treated as phenotypic traits in selection programs (e.g. a particular pattern of gene expression might be indicative of a disease tolerant individual). Microarrays are now being developed for a number of shrimp species in laboratories around the world, primarily with a focus on identifying genes involved in the immune response. However, at present, there is no central repository of shrimp genomic information, which limits the rate at which shrimp genomic research can be progressed. The application of microarrays to shrimp breeding will be extremely limited until there is a shared repository of genomic information for shrimp, and the collective will and resources to develop comprehensive genomic tools for shrimp.

A magnetoencephalographic study of low-level auditory processing in developmental dyslexia

The possibility that developmental dyslexia results from low-level sensory processing deficits has received renewed interest in recent years. Opponents of such sensory-based explanations argue that dyslexia arises primarily from phonological impairments. However, many behavioural correlates of dyslexia cannot be explained sufficiently by cognitive-level accounts and there is anatomical, psychometric and physiological evidence of sensory deficits in the dyslexic population. This thesis aims to determine whether the low-level (pre-attentive) processing of simple auditory stimuli is disrupted in compensated adult dyslexics. Using psychometric and neurophysiological measures, the nature of auditory processing abnormalities is investigated. Group comparisons are supported by analysis of individual data in order to address the issue of heterogeneity in dyslexia. The participant pool consisted of seven compensated dyslexic adults and seven age and IQ matched controls. The dyslexic group were impaired, relative to the control group, on measures of literacy, phonological awareness, working memory and processing speed. Magnetoencephalographic recordings were conducted during processing of simple, non-speech, auditory stimuli. Results confirm that low-level auditory processing deficits are present in compensated dyslexic adults. The amplitude of N1m responses to tone pair stimuli were reduced in the dyslexic group. However, there was no evidence that manipulating either the silent interval or the frequency separation between the tones had a greater detrimental effect on dyslexic participants specifically. Abnormal MMNm responses were recorded in response to frequency deviant stimuli in the dyslexic group. In addition, complete stimulus omissions, which evoked MMNm responses in all control participants, failed to elicit significant MMNm responses in all but one of the dyslexic individuals. The data indicate both a deficit of frequency resolution at a local level of auditory processing and a higher-level deficit relating to the grouping of auditory stimuli, relevant for auditory scene analysis. Implications and directions for future research are outlined.

Cognitive neuroscience and (very) high level vision

THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE is two-fold, first to provide a general overview of two of the main cognitive neuroscientific techniques available, specifically functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS); and secondly to apply these techniques to elaborate a discussion of an aspect of higher level vision, namely implied motion, that is the perception of movement from a static image.

Extending Automated Testing To High-level Software Requirements : A study on the feasibility of automated acceptance-testing

Automated acceptance testing is the testing of software done in higher level to test whether the system abides by the requirements desired by the business clients by the use of piece of script other than the software itself. This project is a study of the feasibility of acceptance tests written in Behavior Driven Development principle. The project includes an implementation part where automated accep- tance testing is written for Touch-point web application developed by Dewire (a software consultant company) for Telia (a telecom company) from the require- ments received from the customer (Telia). The automated acceptance testing is in Cucumber-Selenium framework which enforces Behavior Driven Development principles. The purpose of the implementation is to verify the practicability of this style of acceptance testing. From the completion of implementation, it was concluded that all the requirements from customer in real world can be converted into executable specifications and the process was not at all time-consuming or difficult for a low-experienced programmer like the author itself. The project also includes survey to measure the learnability and understandability of Gherkin- the language that Cucumber understands. The survey consist of some Gherkin exam- ples followed with questions that include making changes to the Gherkin exam- ples. Survey had 3 parts: first being easy, second medium and third most difficult. Survey also had a linear scale from 1 to 5 to rate the difficulty level for each part of the survey. 1 stood for very easy and 5 for very difficult. Time when the partic- ipants began the survey was also taken in order to calculate the total time taken by the participants to learn and answer the questions. Survey was taken by 18 of the employers of Dewire who had primary working role as one of the programmer, tester and project manager. In the result, tester and project manager were grouped as non-programmer. The survey concluded that it is very easy and quick to learn Gherkin. While the participants rated Gherkin as very easy.

The relationship between early and intermediate level spatial vision during typical development and in autism spectrum disorder

Certaines recherches ont investigué le traitement visuel de bas et de plus hauts niveaux chez des personnes neurotypiques et chez des personnes ayant un trouble du spectre de l’autisme (TSA). Cependant, l’interaction développementale entre chacun de ces niveaux du traitement visuel n’est toujours pas bien comprise. La présente thèse a donc deux objectifs principaux. Le premier objectif (Étude 1) est d’évaluer l’interaction développementale entre l’analyse visuelle de bas niveaux et de niveaux intermédiaires à travers différentes périodes développementales (âge scolaire, adolescence et âge adulte). Le second objectif (Étude 2) est d’évaluer la relation fonctionnelle entre le traitement visuel de bas niveaux et de niveaux intermédiaires chez des adolescents et des adultes ayant un TSA. Ces deux objectifs ont été évalué en utilisant les mêmes stimuli et procédures. Plus précisément, la sensibilité de formes circulaires complexes (Formes de Fréquences Radiales ou FFR), définies par de la luminance ou par de la texture, a été mesurée avec une procédure à choix forcés à deux alternatives. Les résultats de la première étude ont illustré que l’information locale des FFR sous-jacents aux processus visuels de niveaux intermédiaires, affecte différemment la sensibilité à travers des périodes développementales distinctes. Plus précisément, lorsque le contour est défini par de la luminance, la performance des enfants est plus faible comparativement à celle des adolescents et des adultes pour les FFR sollicitant la perception globale. Lorsque les FFR sont définies par la texture, la sensibilité des enfants est plus faible comparativement à celle des adolescents et des adultes pour les conditions locales et globales. Par conséquent, le type d’information locale, qui définit les éléments locaux de la forme globale, influence la période à laquelle la sensibilité visuelle atteint un niveau développemental similaire à celle identifiée chez les adultes. Il est possible qu’une faible intégration visuelle entre les mécanismes de bas et de niveaux intermédiaires explique la sensibilité réduite des FFR chez les enfants. Ceci peut être attribué à des connexions descendantes et horizontales immatures ainsi qu’au sous-développement de certaines aires cérébrales du système visuel. Les résultats de la deuxième étude ont démontré que la sensibilité visuelle en autisme est influencée par la manipulation de l’information locale. Plus précisément, en présence de luminance, la sensibilité est seulement affectée pour les conditions sollicitant un traitement local chez les personnes avec un TSA. Cependant, en présence de texture, la sensibilité est réduite pour le traitement visuel global et local. Ces résultats suggèrent que la perception de formes en autisme est reliée à l’efficacité à laquelle les éléments locaux (luminance versus texture) sont traités. Les connexions latérales et ascendantes / descendantes des aires visuelles primaires sont possiblement tributaires d’un déséquilibre entre les signaux excitateurs et inhibiteurs, influençant ainsi l’efficacité à laquelle l’information visuelle de luminance et de texture est traitée en autisme. Ces résultats supportent l’hypothèse selon laquelle les altérations de la perception visuelle de bas niveaux (local) sont à l’origine des atypies de plus hauts niveaux chez les personnes avec un TSA.

BIBLIOTECA EN BORUCA.... UNA REFLEXIÓN

Boruca es una comunidad que está situada al sur del país, en la provincia de Puntarenas. Su extensión en territorio es de 12.470 hectáreas y según el censo poblacional del 2000 tiene una población de 1.386 indígenas, entre la cual hay una importante cantidad de niños, niñas y adolescentes en edad escolar, así como también egresados/as de secundaria.Según el informe sobre desarrollo humano en Centroamérica y Panamá del 2004:"tener acceso al conocimiento es un factor que determina en gran medida el bienestar actual y futuro de las personas. El conocimiento implica por una parte, acceso a la educación o capacitación y por otra, acceso a información pertinente, veraz y oportuna. Se ha establecido que un más alto nivel de formación de las personas contribuye a que gocen de un mejor estado de salud, alcancen empleos superiores y obtengan mayores ingresos. El nivel y calidad de la formación es un factor importante en la promoción personal, en el ascenso social y en el progreso colectivo del país"Partiendo de lo anterior, reflexiono que en las comunidades indígenas de nuestro país no existen unidades de información que sirvan de apoyo en sus procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje, tampoco cuentan con un espacio físico de encuentro donde los y las jóvenes y las demás personas puedan expresar sus destrezas, sus gustos por la lectura, buscar información y usar la tecnología. Y qué pasa además con sus necesidades básicas, ¿estarán cubiertas?, ¿sus problemas diarios tendrán solución?, ¿vivirán en condiciones de extrema pobreza?, ¿cuentan con suficientes alimentos?, ¿sus relaciones familiares son armoniosas? Por lo tanto, ¿esimportante una biblioteca en la comunidad?, ¿para qué serviría y apoyaría a estas poblaciones?

Why are some companies more successful than others? An exploration into organizational culture and dynamic capabilities

Why are some companies more successful than others? This thesis approaches the question by enlisting theoretical frameworks that explain the performance with internal factors, deriving from the resource-based view, namely the dynamic capabilities approach. To deepen the understanding of the drivers and barriers towards developing these higher order routines aiming at improving the operational level routines, this thesis explores the organisational culture and identity research for the microfoundational antecedents that might shed light on the formation of the dynamic capabilities. The dynamic capabilities framework in this thesis strives to take the theoretical concept closer to practical applicability. This is achieved through creation of a dynamic capabilities matrix, consisting of four dimensions often encountered in dynamic capabilities literature. The quadrants are formed along internal-external and resources-abilities axes, and consist of Sensing, Learning, Reconfiguration and Partnering facets. A key element of this thesis is the reality continuum, which illustrates the different levels of reality inherent in any entity of human individuals. The theoretical framework constructed in the thesis suggests a link between the collective but constructivist understanding of the organisation and both the operational and higher level routines, evident in the more positivist realm. The findings from three different case organisations suggest that the constructivist assumptions inherent to an organisation function as a generative base for both drivers and barriers towards developing dynamic capabilities. From each organisation one core assumption is scrutinized to identify its connections to the four dimensions of the dynamic capabilities. These connections take the form of drivers or barriers – or have the possibility to develop into one or the other. The main contribution of this thesis is to show that one key for an organisation to perform well in a turbulent setting, is to understand the different levels of realities inherent in any group of people. Recognising the intangible levels gives an advantage in the tangible ones.

The relationship between early and intermediate level spatial vision during typical development and in autism spectrum disorder

Certaines recherches ont investigué le traitement visuel de bas et de plus hauts niveaux chez des personnes neurotypiques et chez des personnes ayant un trouble du spectre de l’autisme (TSA). Cependant, l’interaction développementale entre chacun de ces niveaux du traitement visuel n’est toujours pas bien comprise. La présente thèse a donc deux objectifs principaux. Le premier objectif (Étude 1) est d’évaluer l’interaction développementale entre l’analyse visuelle de bas niveaux et de niveaux intermédiaires à travers différentes périodes développementales (âge scolaire, adolescence et âge adulte). Le second objectif (Étude 2) est d’évaluer la relation fonctionnelle entre le traitement visuel de bas niveaux et de niveaux intermédiaires chez des adolescents et des adultes ayant un TSA. Ces deux objectifs ont été évalué en utilisant les mêmes stimuli et procédures. Plus précisément, la sensibilité de formes circulaires complexes (Formes de Fréquences Radiales ou FFR), définies par de la luminance ou par de la texture, a été mesurée avec une procédure à choix forcés à deux alternatives. Les résultats de la première étude ont illustré que l’information locale des FFR sous-jacents aux processus visuels de niveaux intermédiaires, affecte différemment la sensibilité à travers des périodes développementales distinctes. Plus précisément, lorsque le contour est défini par de la luminance, la performance des enfants est plus faible comparativement à celle des adolescents et des adultes pour les FFR sollicitant la perception globale. Lorsque les FFR sont définies par la texture, la sensibilité des enfants est plus faible comparativement à celle des adolescents et des adultes pour les conditions locales et globales. Par conséquent, le type d’information locale, qui définit les éléments locaux de la forme globale, influence la période à laquelle la sensibilité visuelle atteint un niveau développemental similaire à celle identifiée chez les adultes. Il est possible qu’une faible intégration visuelle entre les mécanismes de bas et de niveaux intermédiaires explique la sensibilité réduite des FFR chez les enfants. Ceci peut être attribué à des connexions descendantes et horizontales immatures ainsi qu’au sous-développement de certaines aires cérébrales du système visuel. Les résultats de la deuxième étude ont démontré que la sensibilité visuelle en autisme est influencée par la manipulation de l’information locale. Plus précisément, en présence de luminance, la sensibilité est seulement affectée pour les conditions sollicitant un traitement local chez les personnes avec un TSA. Cependant, en présence de texture, la sensibilité est réduite pour le traitement visuel global et local. Ces résultats suggèrent que la perception de formes en autisme est reliée à l’efficacité à laquelle les éléments locaux (luminance versus texture) sont traités. Les connexions latérales et ascendantes / descendantes des aires visuelles primaires sont possiblement tributaires d’un déséquilibre entre les signaux excitateurs et inhibiteurs, influençant ainsi l’efficacité à laquelle l’information visuelle de luminance et de texture est traitée en autisme. Ces résultats supportent l’hypothèse selon laquelle les altérations de la perception visuelle de bas niveaux (local) sont à l’origine des atypies de plus hauts niveaux chez les personnes avec un TSA.

Smoking, depression, and suicide risk in the nursing staff of a Third-Level Hospital

Objective: To determine the association between smoking, depression and suicide risk in the Nursing Staff of a University Hospital. Materials and method: this was a non-experimental, correlational cross-range study with observational analysis carried out between May 2012 and May 2013. We studied 232 nurses of the “Dr. José Eleuterio gonzález” University Hospital. two self-administered scales were applied, one for depression and one for suicide risk. Another hetero-applied scale of nicotine dependency was also used, and the subjects’ socio-demographic records were reviewed. Results: A total of 527,232 nurses were studied. A smoking prevalence of 22.8% (53 subjects), an operational depression prevalence of 15.1% (35 subjects), and a suicide risk of 5.1% (12 subjects) were found. Gender and age, speciically being male and young (mean age 29.2 years) were found to increase the risk of smoking. We also found that those nurses who had a partner and had a higher level of education smoked less compared to those who did not have a partner or had a lower degree of education. there were hospital departments where there was a higher prevalence of smoking, such as Internal Medicine and Shock trauma. No association between smoking and the presence of depression was found. Regarding depression, we found that those nurses who worked in the Department of Pensioners were more likely to develop operational depression than those working in any other department. We also found that the risk of presenting operational depression decreases as age increases. About suicide risk, a statistically signiicant association between smoking and suicide risk was found. We also found an association between operational depression and suicide risk.Conclusions: It is recommended to consider nicotine dependence as a fundamental part of psychopathology assessment because of its strong association with suicide risk. this study emphasizes the complexity of the issue of the comorbidity of smoking and psychopathology and the need to continue research lines.

Chasing reporters : Infotainment, intertextuality and media satire

The Chaser’s War on Everything is a night time entertainment program which screened on Australia’s public broadcaster, the ABC in 2006 and 2007. This enormously successful comedy show managed to generate a lot of controversy in its short lifespan (see, for example, Dennehy, 2007; Dubecki, 2007; McLean, 2007; Wright, 2007), but also drew much praise for its satirising of, and commentary on, topical issues. Through interviews with the program’s producers, qualitative audience research and textual analysis, this paper will focus on this show’s media satire, and the segment ‘What Have We Learned From Current Affairs This Week?’ in particular. Viewed as a form of ‘Critical Intertextuality’ (Gray, 2006), this segment (which offered a humorous critique of the ways in which news and current affairs are presented elsewhere on television) may equip citizens with a better understanding of the new genre’s production methods, thus producing a higher level of public media literacy. This paper argues that through its media satire, The Chaser acts not as a traditional news program would in informing the public with new information, but as a text which can inform and shape our understanding of news that already exists within the public sphere. Humorous analyses and critiques of the media (like those analysed in this paper), are in fact very important forms of infotainment, because they can provide “other, ‘improper,’ and yet more media literate and savvy interpretations” (Gray, 2006, p. 4) of the news.

An investigation into the barriers to the implementation of automation and robotics technologies in the construction industry

The rising problems associated with construction such as decreasing quality and productivity, labour shortages, occupational safety, and inferior working conditions have opened the possibility of more revolutionary solutions within the industry. One prospective option is in the implementation of innovative technologies such as automation and robotics, which has the potential to improve the industry in terms of productivity, safety and quality. The construction work site could, theoretically, be contained in a safer environment, with more efficient execution of the work, greater consistency of the outcome and higher level of control over the production process. By identifying the barriers to construction automation and robotics implementation in construction, and investigating ways in which to overcome them, contributions could be made in terms of better understanding and facilitating, where relevant, greater use of these technologies in the construction industry so as to promote its efficiency. This research aims to ascertain and explain the barriers to construction automation and robotics implementation by exploring and establishing the relationship between characteristics of the construction industry and attributes of existing construction automation and robotics technologies to level of usage and implementation in three selected countries; Japan, Australia and Malaysia. These three countries were chosen as their construction industry characteristics provide contrast in terms of culture, gross domestic product, technology application, organisational structure and labour policies. This research uses a mixed method approach of gathering data, both quantitative and qualitative, by employing a questionnaire survey and an interview schedule; using a wide range of sample from management through to on-site users, working in a range of small (less than AUD0.2million) to large companies (more than AUD500million), and involved in a broad range of business types and construction sectors. Detailed quantitative (statistical) and qualitative (content) data analysis is performed to provide a set of descriptions, relationships, and differences. The statistical tests selected for use include cross-tabulations, bivariate and multivariate analysis for investigating possible relationships between variables; and Kruskal-Wallis and Mann Whitney U test of independent samples for hypothesis testing and inferring the research sample to the construction industry population. Findings and conclusions arising from the research work which include the ranking schemes produced for four key areas of, the construction attributes on level of usage; barrier variables; differing levels of usage between countries; and future trends, have established a number of potential areas that could impact the level of implementation both globally and for individual countries.