A Distributed Constraint Satisfaction Problem (DCSP) aims to find consistent assignments of values to a set of variables distributed on multiple nodes. Despite its simple definition, DCSPs can model a broad variety of traditional artificial intelligence problems. Furthermore, many problems found in emerging sensor-actuator networks can be formalized to DCSPs. However, due to the platform limita...

OBJECTIVES Although the prevalence of fluoroquinolone resistance among methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is known to be higher than in methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA), the reasons have never been identified. METHODS We randomly selected 115 isolates of S. aureus collected from 10 different hospitals in Korea between June 2009 and May 2011. To investigate the differen...

We isolated spontaneous mutants from Escherichia coli K-12 with low-level resistance to norfloxacin. These mutants were classified into the following three types on the basis of their properties: (i) NorA appeared to result for mutation in the gyrA locus for the A subunit of DNA gyrase; (ii) NorB showed low-level resistance to quinolones and other antimicrobial agents (e.g., cefoxitin, chloramp...

Nitric oxide (NO) contributes to mammalian host defense by direct microbicidal activity and as a signaling molecule of innate immune responses. Macrophages produce NO via the inducible NO synthase (iNOS). The genome of Neisseria meningitidis includes two genes, norB (encoding nitric oxide reductase) and cycP (encoding cytochrome c'), both of which detoxify NO in pure cultures of N. meningitidis...

Neisseria meningitidis, the causative agent of meningococcal disease in humans, is likely to be exposed to nitrosative stress during natural colonization and disease. The genome of N. meningitidis includes the genes aniA and norB, predicted to encode nitrite reductase and nitric oxide (NO) reductase, respectively. These gene products should allow the bacterium to denitrify nitrite to nitrous ox...

The human pathogen Neisseria meningitidis is capable of growth using the denitrification of nitrite to nitrous oxide under microaerobic conditions. This process is catalyzed by two reductases: nitrite reductase (encoded by aniA) and nitric oxide (NO) reductase (encoded by norB). Here, we show that in N. meningitidis MC58 norB is regulated by nitric oxide via the product of gene NMB0437 which en...

In a coalescing neutron star-neutron star or neutron star-black hole binary, oscillation modes of the neutron star can be resonantly excited by the companion during the final minutes of the binary inspiral, when the orbital frequency sweeps up from a few Hertz to a few thousand Hertz. The resulting resonant energy transfer between the orbit and the neutron star speeds up or slows down the inspi...

Nitrogen fertilizer results in the release of nitrous oxide (N2O), a concern because N2O is an ozone-depleting substance and greenhouse gas. Although reduction to nitrogen gas can control emissions, factors impacting enzymes involved have not been fully explored. The current study investigated abundance diversity genes cycling (primarily denitrification) under four agricultural management pract...