The objective of this study was to evaluate the susceptibility of metallo-β-lactamase (MBL)-producing Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) clinical isolates to biocides. We also determined the prevalence and correlation of efflux pump genes, class 1 integron and MBL encoding genes. In addition, blaVIM, blaNDM-1, qacE and qacEΔ1 nucleotide sequence analysis was performed and compared to sequen...

Resistance of Staphylococcus species to quaternary ammonium compounds, frequently used as disinfectants and biocides, can be attributed to qac genes. Most qac gene products belong to the Small Multidrug Resistant (SMR) protein family, and are often encoded by rolling-circle (RC) replicating plasmids. Four classes of SMR-type qac gene families have been described in Staphylococcus species: qacC,...

BACKGROUND The Nasal Allergen Challenge (NAC) model allows the study of Allergic Rhinitis (AR) pathophysiology and the proof of concept of novel therapies. The Allergic Rhinitis - Clinical Investigator Collaborative (AR-CIC) aims to optimize the protocol, ensuring reliability and repeatability of symptoms to better evaluate the therapies under investigation. METHODS 20 AR participants were ch...

We developed a question and answering system QUARK. This system extracts an answer from newspaper corpus as a knowledge source by a statistical technique. We participated in NTCIR3 QAC task to evaluate our system.

Mussel growth in the internal sea water systems of Navy vessels can result in significant performance issues and biosecurity concerns for affected vessels. The primary in-water treatment method for mussel fouling of the internals of Navy vessels is to flush with a 1% detergent solution containing quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC). Parameters for the application of this treatment are based on ...

We propose definitions of QAC, the quantum analog of the classical class AC of constant-depth circuits with AND and OR gates of arbitrary fan-in, and QACC[q], the analog of the class ACC[q] where Modq gates are also allowed. We prove that parity or fanout allows us to construct quantum MODq gates in constant depth for any q, so QACC[2] = QACC. More generally, we show that for any q, p > 1, MODq...

The antiviral activity of a surface-bonded quaternary ammonium chloride (QAC) was examined in this study. The mechanism of inactivation was elucidated by a combination of infectivity assay, radioactive labeling assay, and sedimentation analysis. Although the virions are still infectious when attached onto the chemically modified surface, we found these viruses are inactivated if they are eluted...

Satellite-retrieved aerosol optical depth (AOD) has become an important predictor of ground-level particulate matter (PM) and greatly empowered air pollution research worldwide. We evaluated the AOD parameters included in the Collection 6 aerosol product of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for two key factors affecting their applications in air quality research—coverage...