Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a ubiquitous environmental organism, is a difficult-to-treat opportunistic pathogen due to its broad-spectrum antibiotic resistance and its ability to form biofilms. In this study, we investigate the link between resistance to a clinically important antibiotic, imipenem, and biofilm formation. First, we observed that the laboratory strain P. aeruginosa PAO1 carrying a mutation in the oprD gene, which confers resistance to imipenem, showed a modest reduction in biofilm formation.We also observed an inverse relationship between imipenem resistance and biofilm formation for imipenem-resistant strains selected in vitro, as well as for clinical isolates.We identified two clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa from the sputum of cystic fibrosis patients that formed robust biofilms, but were sensitive to imipenem (MIC≤2 μg/ml). To test the hypothesis that there is a general link between imipenem resistance and biofilm formation, we performed transposon mutagenesis of these two clinical strains to identify mutants defective in biofilm formation, and then tested these mutants for imipenem resistance. Analysis of the transposon mutants revealed a role for previously described biofilm factors in these clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa, including mutations in the pilY1, pilX, pilW, algC, and pslI genes, but none of the biofilmdeficient mutants became imipenem resistant (MIC≥8 μg/ml), arguing against a general link between biofilm formation and resistance to imipenem. Thus, assessing biofilm formation capabilities of environmental isolates is unlikely to serve as a good predictor of imipenem resistance. We also discuss our findings in light of the limited literature addressing planktonic antibiotic resistance factors that impact biofilm formation.
In this paper, a numerical model for fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis is developed for investigating the aeroelastic response of a single wind turbine blade. The Blade Element Momentum (BEM) theory was adopted to calculate the aerodynamic forces considering the effects of wind shear and tower shadow. The wind turbine blade was modeled as a rotating cantilever beam discretized using Finite Element Method (FEM) to analyze the deformation and vibration of the blade. The aeroelastic response of the blade was obtained by coupling these aerodynamic and structural models using a coupled BEM-FEM program written in MATLAB. The governing FSI equations of motion are iteratively calculated at each time step, through exchanging data between
... Show MoreThe preparation of low cost activated carbon from date stones and microwave method by using K2CO3 as chemical activator were investigated.
The prepared activated carbon was used to remove fluoroquinolones antibiotics from aqueous solution. The characterizations of the activated carbon is represented by surface area, pore volume, ash content, moisture content, bulk density, and iodine number. The adsorbed fluoroquinolones antibiotics are Ciprofloxcin (CIP), Norfloxcin (NOR) and Levofloxcin (LEVO). Different variables as pH, initial concentrations and contact time were studied to show the efficieny of prepared activated carbon. The experimental adsorption data were analyzed by Lungmuir, Freundlich
... Show MoreA liquid membrane process of Alkaloids extraction from Datura Innoxia solution was studied applying pertraction process in rotating discs contactor (RDC). Decane as a liquid membrane and dilute sulphuric acid as stripping solution were used. The effect of the fundamental parameters influencing the transport process, e.g. type of solvent used, effect of disks speed, amount of liquid membrane and effect of pH for feed and strip solution. The transport of alkaloids was analysed on the basis of kinetic laws of two consecutive irreversible first order reactions. Thus, the kinetic parameters (k1, k1, , tmax, and ) for the transport of alkaloids were determined. The effect of organic membrane type on percentage of Alkaloids transport was found
... Show MoreThe haplotype association analysis has been proposed to capture the collective behavior of sets of variants by testing the association of each set instead of individual variants with the disease.Such an analysis typically involves a list of unphased multiple-locus genotypes with potentially sparse frequencies in cases and controls.It starts with inferring haplotypes from genotypes followed by a haplotype co-classification and marginal screening for disease-associated haplotypes.Unfortunately,phasing uncertainty may have a strong effects on the haplotype co-classification and therefore on the accuracy of predicting risk haplotypes.Here,to address the issue,we propose an alternative approach:In Stage 1,we select potential risk genotypes inste
... Show MoreBackground: Avascular necrosis (AVN) is defined as cellular death of bone components due to interruption of the blood supply; the bone structures then collapse, resulting in bone destruction, pain, and loss of joint function. AVN is associated with numerous conditions and usually involves the epiphysis of long bones, such as the femoral head. In clinical practice, AVN is most commonly encountered in the hip. Early diagnosis and appropriate intervention can delay the need for joint replacement. However, most patients present late in the disease course. Without treatment, the process is almost always progressive, leading to joint destruction within 5 years.Treatment of a vascular necrosis depends mainly on early diagnosis which mainly base
... Show MoreThe injection of Low Salinity Water (LSWI) as an Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) method has recently attracted a lot of attention. Extensive research has been conducted to investigate and identify the positive effects of LSWI on oil recovery. In order to demonstrate the impact of introducing low salinity water into a reservoir, simulations on the ECLIPSE 100 simulator are being done in this work. To simulate an actual reservoir, an easy static model was made. In order to replicate the effects of injecting low salinity water and normal salinity, or seawater, the reservoir is three-phase with oil, gas, and water. It has one injector and one producer. Five cases were suggested to investigate the effect of low salinity water injection with differen
... Show MoreIn this study, nano TiO2 was prepared with titanium isopropoxide (TTIP) as a resource to titanium oxide. The catalyst was synthesized using phosphotungstic acid (PTA) and, stearyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (STAB) was used as the structure-directing material. Characterization of the product was done by the X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescent spectroscopy (XRF), nitrogen adsorption/desorption measurements, Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, were used to characterize the calcined TiO2 nanoparticles by STAB and PWA. The TiO2 nanomaterials were prepared in three crystalline forms (amorphous, anatase, anatase-rutile). The results showed that the
... Show MoreThis paper presents the ability to use cheap adsorbent (corn leaf) for the removal of Malachite Green (MG) dye from its aqueous solution. A batch mode was used to study several factors, dye concentration (50-150) ppm, adsorbent dosage (0.5-2.5) g/L, contact time (1-4) day, pH (2-10), and temperature (30-60) The results indicated that the removal efficiency increases with the increase of adsorbent dosage and contact time, while inversely proportional to the increase in pH and temperature. An SEM device characterized the adsorbent corn leaves. The adsorption's resulting data were in agreement with Freundlich isotherm according to the regression analysis, and the kinetics data followed pseudo-first-or
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