Short communication: Molecular characteristics,antimicrobial susceptibility,and pathogenicity of clinical Nocardia cyriacigeorgica isolates from an outbreak of bovine mastitis

The occurrence of nocardial mastitis, mostly in the context of outbreaks, has been reported in many countries. However, there is a paucity of reports regarding detailed characterization of Nocardia cyriacigeorgica from bovine mastitis. Thus, herein we report characteristics, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, molecular identification, and pathogenicity of N. cyriacigeorgica isolated from an outbreak of clinical mastitis in a dairy herd in northern China. A total of 182 (80.2%) lactating cows had clinical mastitis with severe inflammation and firmness of the udder, reduced milk production, and anorexia, with no apparent clinical response to common antibiotics. Out of 22 mastitic milk samples submitted to our laboratory, 12 N. cyriacigeorgica were isolated and characterized using standard microbiological analysis, 16S rRNA gene sequencing, random amplified polymorphic DNA PCR analysis, biochemical assays, and antibiotic susceptibility testing. Additionally, in vivo experiments were done to determine pathogenicity of these clinical mastitis isolates. All isolates were resistant to ampicillin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, ciprofloxacin, minocycline, rifampicin, and aminoglycosides (type VI pattern). Additionally, intramammary inoculation of mice with N. cyriacigeorgica caused chronic inflammatory changes, including hyperemia, edema, and infiltration of lymphocytes and neutrophils, as well as hyperplasia of lymph nodules in mammary glands. Therefore, we concluded that N. cyriacigeorgica was involved in the current outbreak of mastitis. To our best knowledge, this is the first report to characterize N. cyriacigeorgica isolated from cases of bovine mastitis in China.     

Effects of Dissimilar Alumina Particulates on Microstructure and Properties of Cold-Sprayed Alumina/A380 Composite Coatings

In this study,alumina/A380 composite coatings were fabricated by cold spray.The influence of alumina particulates' morphology(spherical and irregular) and content on the deposition behavior of the coatings(including surface roughness,surface residual stress,cross-sectional microstructure and microhardness) was investigated.Results revealed that the spherical alumina mainly shows micro-tamping effect during deposition,which result in remarkable low surface roughness and porosity of the coatings.In addition,very low deposition efficiency and good interfacial bonding between the coating and the substrate were achieved.For irregular alumina particles,the embedding of ceramic particulates in the coating was dominant during deposition process,resulting in high retention in the final deposit.However,it showed limited influence on porosity,surface roughness and interfacial bonding of the deposit.The coatings containing irregular alumina particulates exhibited much higher microhardness than those containing spherical alumina due to the higher load-bearing capacity of deposited alumina.     

Static and dynamic compressive properties of polypropylene/zinc oxide nanocomposites

The effect of strain rate is widely recognized as an essential factor that influences the mechanical properties of polymer matrix composites. Despite its importance, no previous work has been reported on the high‐strain rate behavior of polypropylene/zinc oxide nanocomposites. Based on this, static and dynamic compression properties of polypropylene/zinc oxide nanocomposites, with particle contents of 1%, 3%, and 5% by weight, were successfully studied at different strain rates (i.e., 0.01 s^?1, 0.1 s^?1, 650 s^?1, 900 s^?1, and 1100 s^?1) using a universal testing machine and a split Hopkinson pressure bar apparatus. For standardization, approximately 24 nm of zinc oxide nanoparticles were embedded into polypropylene matrix for each of the tested polypropylene/zinc oxide nanocomposites. Results show that the yield strength, the ultimate strength, and the stiffness properties, of polypropylene/zinc oxide nanocomposites, were greatly affected by both particle loading and applied strain rate. Furthermore, the rate sensitivity and the absorbed energy of all tested specimens showed a positive increment with increasing strain rate, whereas the thermal activation volume showed a contrary trend. In addition, the fractographic analysis and particle dispersion of all composite specimens were successfully obtained using a field emisission scanning electron microscopy. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:949–960, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Identifying and addressing barriers to renewable energy development in Pakistan

To ensure a sustainable energy future for Pakistan, it is necessary that the energy sector be accorded a high priority. Pakistan remains predominantly reliant on fossil fuels as its primary source of energy. Efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels through increasing the share of renewable energy in the energy supply systems have met with little success so far. The barriers to development of renewable energy can be broadly classified as policy and regulatory barriers, institutional barriers, fiscal and financial barriers, market-related barriers, technological barriers and information and social barriers. In this article, an effort has been made to identify the barriers that limit the use of renewable energy technologies in general and with specific reference to Pakistan, and outline the measures to address these barriers.     

A Level Set Algorithm for Tracking Discontinuities in Hyperbolic Conservation Laws II: Systems of Equations

A level set algorithm for tracking discontinuities in hyperbolic conservation laws is presented. The algorithm uses a simple finite difference approach, analogous to the method of lines scheme presented in [36]. The zero of a level set function is used to specify the location of the discontinuity. Since a level set function is used to describe the front location, no extra data structures are needed to keep track of the location of the discontinuity. Also, two solution states are used at all computational nodes, one corresponding to the real state, and one corresponding to a ghost node state, analogous to the Ghost Fluid Method of [12]. High order pointwise convergence was demonstrated for scalar linear and nonlinear conservation laws, even at discontinuities and in multiple dimensions in the first paper of this series [3]. The solutions here are compared to standard high order shock capturing schemes, when appropriate. This paper focuses on the issues involved in tracking discontinuities in systems of conservation laws. Examples will be presented of tracking contacts and hydrodynamic shocks in inert and chemically reacting compressible flow.     

Genetic programming based blind image deconvolution for surveillancesystems

Image acquisition, segmentation, object detection and tracking are essential parts of surveillance systems. Usually, image filtering approaches are employed as preprocessing step to reduce the effect of motion or out-of-focus blur problem. In this paper, we propose genetic programming (GP) based blind-image deconvolution filter. A GP based numerical expression is developed for image restoration which optimally combines and exploits dependencies among features of the blurred image. In order to develop such function, first, a set of feature vectors is formed by considering a small neighborhood around each pixel. At second stage, the estimator is trained and developed through GP process that automatically selects and combines the useful feature information under a fitness criterion. The developed function is then applied to estimate the image pixel intensity of the degraded images. The performance of filter function is estimated using various degraded image sequences. Our comparative analysis highlight the effectiveness of GP based proposed filter.     

Adaptive Automated Teller Machines

Nowadays, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) provide significant online support to bank customers. A limitation of ATM usage is that customers often have to wait in a queue, especially at ATMs installed at busy locations. Also, old people tend to consume more ATM usage time, possibly frustrating customers in the queue. In these situations, ATMs should “adapt” to the behavior of the customers to minimize the usage time. To this end, we apply data mining techniques to an ATM transaction dataset obtained from an international bank based in Kuwait. We pre-process this dataset, and convert it into a specific XML format to mine it through the ProM (process mining) tool. Our results reveal that customers withdraw money most frequently, followed by purchases (through an ATM card) and balance inquiry transactions. Customers re-do these transactions frequently, and also employ them one after the other. We acquire the distributions of the withdrawn amount, based on individual customers, the location (ATM terminal) and time of the withdrawl. Based on these results, we have proposed a set of five adaptive ATM interfaces, which show only frequent transactions and frequently-withdrawn amounts, display the current balance autonomously, and query explicitly for viewing purchase history, or for performing another withdrawl. An online survey on 216 ATM customers reveals that a majority of customers are willing to use these interfaces for minimizing their usage time. Our work has been approved by the banking authority of Pakistan, and we are currently implementing our interfaces for a Pakistani bank.     

Citizens’ Adoption Behavior of Mobile Government (mGov): A Cross-Cultural Study

This study aims to address the paradigms of consumers’ adoption behavior for mobile government, posits the factors which pursue citizens’ intention to adopt mobile government services, and reveals the impact of cultural dimensions in perceiving driving factors of mobile government adoption. The mobile government adoption model was developed and tested among users of three different countries, namely Bangladesh, Canada, and Germany. The finding suggests the rationale that cross-cultural differences impact consumers’ perception of mobile government adoption behavior.