Identification of intimin alleles in pathogenic Escherichia coli by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis

A rapid two-step identification method based on PCR-RFLP analysis of the intimin gene was developed to differentiate specific alleles in pathogenic Escherichia coli. This technique, tested on isolates eae-positive, accurately detects eae and resolves alleles encoding the α1, α2, β, γ1, γ2/θ, κ, ɛ, ζ, and ι intimin variants

Marginalizing Risk

A major focus of finance is reducing risk on investments, a goal commonly achieved by dispersing the risk among numerous investors. Sometimes, however, risk dispersion can cause investors to underestimate and under-protect against risk. Risk can even be so widely dispersed that rational investors individually lack the incentive to monitor it. This Article examines the market failures resulting from risk dispersion and analyzes when government regulation may be necessary or appropriate to limit these market failures. The Article also examines how such regulation should be designed,including the extent to which it should limit risk dispersion in the first instance

On the Interface Between LENS® Deposited Stainless Steel 304L Repair Geometry and Cast or Machined Components

Laser Engineered Net Shaping™ (LENS®) is being evaluated for use as a metal component repair/modification process. A component of the evaluation is to better understand the characteristics of the interface between LENS deposited material and the substrate on which it is deposited. A processing and metallurgical evaluation was made on LENS processed material fabricated for component qualification tests. A process parameter evaluation was used to determine optimum build parameters and these parameters were used in the fabrication of tensile test specimens to study the characteristics of the interface between LENS deposited material and several types of substrates. Analyses of the interface included mechanical properties, microstructure, and metallurgical integrity. Test samples were determined for a variety of geometric configurations associated with interfaces between LENS deposited material and both wrought base material or previously deposited LENS material. Thirteen different interface configurations were fabricated for evaluation representing a spectrum of deposition conditions from complete part build, to hybrid substrate-LENS builds, to repair builds for damaged or re-designed housings. Good mechanical properties and full density were observed for all configurations. When tested to failure, fracture occurred by ductile microvoid coalescence. The repair and hybrid interfaces showed the same metallurgical integrity as, and had properties similar to, monolithic LENS deposits.Mechanical Engineerin

Eye Tracking Analysis in Reading Online Newspapers

Reading online newspapers is increasingly becoming more common, so that thousands of newspapers are published online today. Despite this development, there are many unanswered questions concerning subjects’ behaviour during reading an online newspapers. Recording eye movements when a subject is navigating within a news website can provide quantitative and objective information on subject’s behaviour and combined with other methodologies – usability testing, focus groups, log analysis - represents a powerful tool for improving news websites functionality, and by consequence their achievement among readers. Two Italian newspaper websites have been considered for the study described in this paper and the analysis has been focused on the exploration behaviour within the newspaper home page and the reading of article pages

Detecting expert’s eye using a multiple-kernel Relevance Vector Machine

Decoding mental states from the pattern of neural activity or overt behavior is an intensely pursued goal. Here we applied machine learning to detect expertise from the oculomotor behavior of novice and expert billiard players during free viewing of a filmed billiard match with no specific task, and in a dynamic trajectory prediction task involving ad-hoc, occluded billiard shots. We have adopted a ground framework for feature space fusion and a Bayesian sparse classifier, namely, a Relevance Vector Machine. By testing different combinations of simple oculomotor features (gaze shifts amplitude and direction, and fixation duration), we could classify on an individual basis which group - novice or expert - the observers belonged to with an accuracy of 82% and 87%, respectively for the match and the shots. These results provide evidence that, at least in the particular domain of billiard sport, a signature of expertise is hidden in very basic aspects of oculomotor behavior, and that expertise can be detected at the individual level both with ad-hoc testing conditions and under naturalistic conditions - and suitable data mining. Our procedure paves the way for the development of a test for the “expert’s eye”, and promotes the use of eye movements as an additional signal source in Brain-Computer-Interface (BCI) systems

Social protection, entrepreneurship and labour market activation

Despite significant development gains in recent decades, developing countries still face considerable challenges in regards to the fight against poverty and hunger. Redistributive cash transfer programmes have emerged as vital for the pursuit of poverty reduction and eradication; however, critics have expressed concerns that such social grants could lead to dependency among beneficiaries, dissuade them from seeking work, or reinforce traditional gender roles. Authors contributing to this issue of Policy in Focus address these concerns head-on, by exploring both the positive and unintended negative impacts of cash transfers on households and communities, while bringing to light some of the persisting challenges related to the limits of cash transfers. This issue introduces readers to research-based evidence on diverse social protection programmes in various countries, as well as current debates on how best to improve social grants. The contributing authors demonstrate the importance of evaluation results to better inform programme reforms and design changes to ensure that beneficiaries exit poverty and reduce their chances of slipping back into it. Furthermore, the following articles also help identify successful and potential synergies between various programmes and initiatives, highlighting the power of cash transfers in combination with other programmes, in order to better inform policymakers and further the discussions about how best to grow in a more inclusive and sustainable manner. [...

Thermal Behavior in the Lens Process

Direct laser metal deposition processing is a promising manufacturing technology which could significantly impact the length oftime between initial concept and finished part. For adoption ofthis technology in the manufacturing environment, further understanding is required to ensure robust components with appropriate properties are routinelyfabricated. This requires a complete understanding ofthe thermal history.during part fabrication and control ofthis behavior. This paper will describe our research to understand the thermal behavior for the Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) process!, where a component is fabricated by focusing a laser beam onto a substrate to create a molten pool in which powder particles are simultaneously injected to build each layer. The substrate is moved beneath the l~ser beam to deposit a thin cross section, thereby creating the desired geometry for each layer. After deposition of each layer, the powder delivery nozzle and focusing lens assembly is incremented in the positive Z-direction, thereby building a three dimensional component layer additively. It is important to control the thermal behavior to reproducibly fabricate parts. The ultimate intent is to monitor the thermal signatures and to incorporate sensors and feedback algorithms to control part fabrication. With appropriate control, the geometric properties (accuracy, surface finish, low warpage) as well as the materials' properties (e.g. strength, ductility) of a component can be dialed into the part through the fabrication parameters. Thermal monitoring techniques will be described, and their particular benefits highlighted. Preliminary details in correlating thermal behavior with processing results will be discussed.Mechanical Engineerin

CHARACTERIZATION AND ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE OF S. AUREUS ISOLATED FROM RABBITS (ORYCTOLAGUS CUNICULUS)

Introduction The epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus (SA) infections has gained interest in the last years for their importance in veterinary medicine, the emergence of some clonal animal lineages, and their increasingly evidenced zoonotic potential. The discovery of emergent mecC MRSA in farmed rabbits together with the sporadic reports of MRSA in companion rabbits, including livestock-associated clonal complex 398 MRSA and the Panton-Valentine Leucocidin-positive isolates have raised concern about the SA population in rabbits. Phenotypic and genotypic investigations were carried out on SA strains isolated from skin and lesion swabs of different rabbit categories and farm workers in order to evaluate the prevalence, the zoonotic infection risk, the predominant clonal lineages and the antibiotic resistance profiles. Materials and Methods In June 2015, 2200 swabs were collected from 400 rabbits belonging to different categories (young rabbits, adults, reproducers), randomly selected from a large farm in the Lazio region. Ear, nasal, axillary, inguinal, perineum areas, and additional skin lesions were tested for the presence of SA. A random selected number of strains (n=98) isolated from nasal swabs and skin lesions were characterized in order to assess the presence of nuc and mecA, bbp, selm, flank genes, to assign the spa-type and evaluate the antibiotic resistance by Kirby-Bauer and E-test methods (EUCAST 2017). The statistical analysis was performed by Software STATA version 13.0. Results SA was detected with a frequency of 592 isolates (17%, n=3376). All areas were infected, recording a significant difference between skin areas and lesions (P<0.05), while relevant numbers were detected both in the ear (38%) and the nasal cavity (41%, P=0.925). A significant difference was recorded in relation to the age ranges (P<0.05), except for youngs (5%) and reproducers (4%; P=0.785). All strains resulted MSSA but showed some multi-resistance profiles, ranging from 3 to 7 antibiotic classes: in particular tetracyclines (96%), macrolides (94%), diterpenes (84%), fluoroquinolones (64%), aminoglycosides B-C grades (48%, 5%), and glycopepetides (teicoplanin: 73%; hVISA: 4%; VISA: 5%). All the strains were negative for the presence of virulence genesand therefore were classified as low virulence strains. Five different spa-types were identified, belonging to two different clonal complexes (CC97, CC15). The most frequently recovered spa-type has been t2802 (55%), also detected in human samples. Conclusions In this study a high frequency of multiresistant SA strains was observed in rabbits, although none could be classified as MRSA. Clonal lineages were not correlated to the sampling site, while an association was recorded with the antibiotic-resistance profiles