Lipid composition and cell surface hydrophobicity of Candida albicans influence the efficacy of fluconazole–gentamicin treatment

Adherence of the fungus, Candida albicans, to biotic (e.g. human tissues) and abiotic (e.g. catheters) surfaces can lead to emergence of opportunistic infections in humans. The process of adhesion and further biofilm development depends, in part, on cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH). In this study, we compared the resistance of C. albicans strains with different CSH to the most commonly prescribed antifungal drug, fluconazole, and the newly described synergistic combination, fluconazole and gentamicin. The hydrophobic strain was more resistant to fluconazole due to, among others, overexpression of the ERG11 gene encoding the fluconazole target protein (CYP51A1, Erg11p), which leads to overproduction of ergosterol in this strain. Additionally, the hydrophobic strain displayed high efflux activity of the multidrug resistance Cdr1 pump due to high expression of the CDR1 gene. On the other hand, the hydrophobic C. albicans strain was more susceptible to fluconazole–gentamicin combination because of its different effect on lipid content in the two strains. The combination resulted in ergosterol depletion with subsequent Cdr1p mislocalization and loss of activity in the hydrophobic strain. We propose that C. albicans strains with different CSH may possess altered lipid metabolism and consequently may differ in their response to treatment.     

The relation between CRI,CSR indexes,chemical composition and physical parameters of commercial metallurgical cokes

The paper deals with comprehensive quality and physical parameters of commercial cokes. It aims to present comparative analysis of acquired values with standards found in other literature sources. There were analysed 15 samples of coke from current industrial operation. There were carried out chemical analysis, CSR and CRI characterization. Density, porosity, compressive strength, friction coefficient, volume of particles were determined. There was performed one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) by Statistica v.12.0 (StatSoft, Inc., Tulsa, USA) to determine significant correlation between the measured parameters. The highest correlation coefficents were noted between the pycnometer density of cokes and CSR index (r = 0.925) and CRI index (r = ?0.828). The comparative analysis of quality and physical parameters with values mentioned in literature revealed the significant differences in the values of apparent density, bulk density and true density of pulverized samples.     

Particle swarm intelligence tunning of fuzzy geometric protoforms for price patterns recognition and stock trading

A novel approach for detecting patterns in price time series is shown. The proposed system for identifying consolidation phases is based on fuzzy geometric protoforms and classification trees. Promising results of the empirical studies prove that the suggested fuzzy geometric protoforms are very useful for identifying patterns in graphical visualizations of data. Moreover, the architecture of the system enables successful incorporation of genetic optimization what enables capturing various data sets structure and unstable conditions on financial markets.     

The inclusion-exclusion principle for IF-events

The probabilistic version of the inclusion-exclusion principle is generalized for IF-events. Two versions of the generalized formula, corresponding to different t-conorms applied for defining the union of IF-events are shown.     

Wetting of Sn-Zn-<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis>In (<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis> = 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 wt%) Alloys on Cu and Ni Substrates

Wetting angles of Sn-8.8Zn and Sn-8.8Zn-xIn alloys (x = 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 wt%) were studied with the sessile drop method. Wetting tests were carried out for 900 s in the presence of ORM0 flux at 493, 523, and 573 K on copper and at 523 K on nickel substrates, respectively. It was found that the addition of In to Sn-8.8Zn alloy improves its wetting on both substrates by reducing the value of apparent wetting angle. Also, with increasing temperature a decrease of wetting angle on copper is observed in the case of 0 and 1.5 wt% of In alloys. Solidified solder-substrate couples were cross-sectioned and examined with scanning electron microscopy coupled with electron dispersive X-ray analysis. Interlayers were found at the interface of solders with copper and nickel, and their compositions are close to Cu₅Zn₈ and Ni₅Zn₂₁ intermetallics, respectively. However, in the case of Sn-8.8Zn-1.5/Ni couple small scallops are observed instead of continuous interlayer.     

Modified 5'-trityl nucleosides as inhibitors of Plasmodium falciparum dUTPase

2'-Deoxyuridine triphosphate nucleotidohydrolase (dUTPase) is a potential drug target for the treatment of malaria. We previously reported the discovery of 5'-tritylated analogues of deoxyuridine as selective inhibitors of this Plasmodium falciparum enzyme. Herein we report further structure-activity studies; in particular, variations of the 5'-trityl group, the introduction of various substituents at the 3'-position of deoxyuridine, and modifications of the base. Compounds were tested against both the enzyme and the parasite. Variations of the 5'-trityl group and of the 3'-substituent were well tolerated and yielded active compounds. However, there is a clear requirement for the uracil base for activity, because modifications of the uracil ring result in loss of enzyme inhibition and significant decreases in antiplasmodial action.     

Impedance studies of copper electro-reduction on a disc-shaped ultramicroelectrode in industrial electrolytes

The electrodeposition of copper from industrial sulphate electrolytes has been studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy on the gold disc ultramicroelectrode. The influence of dc potential E _dc , temperature, cupric ions and animal glue concentration on electrochemical impedances has been investigated. The mechanism of the copper electro-reduction process in industrial electrolytes has been proposed and experimental impedance data have been analyzed by proper equivalent circuits. According to our knowledge the faradaic and non-faradaic impedance parameters of the process on ultramicroelectrode’s have been estimated for the first time in complex matrix copper industrial electrolytes. The role of animal glue in copper industrial electrolytes has been discussed in the present paper.     

Ant colony optimization for job shop scheduling using multi-attribute dispatching rules

This paper proposes a heuristic method based on ant colony optimization to determine the suboptimal allocation of dynamic multi-attribute dispatching rules to maximize job shop system performance (four measures were analyzed: mean flow time, max flow time, mean tardiness, and max tardiness). In order to assure high adequacy of the job shop system representation, modeling is carried out using discrete-event simulation. The proposed methodology constitutes a framework of integration of simulation and heuristic optimization. Simulation is used for evaluation of the local fitness function for ants. A case study is used in this paper to illustrate how performance of a job shop production system could be affected by dynamic multi-attribute dispatching rule assignment.     

The cyclic voltammetry simulation of a competition between stepwise and concerted dissociative electron transfer,the modeling of alpha apparent variability,the relationship between apparent and elementary kinetic parameters

A comparison of elementary (input) and apparent (output) values of the transfer coefficient was carried out for simulated kinetic cyclic voltammetry spectrum from stepwise to concerted mechanism. The resulting patterns of alphaapp versus Ep plots do not provide sufficient information to discriminate between the two mechanisms. It has been demonstrated that non-linear alphaapp patterns are characteristic for the pure stepwise mechanism obeying the Butler-Volmer kinetics. The change in alphaapp is not a sufficient condition for the transition from stepwise to concerted mechanism. This paper contains visualizations of the relationship between the apparent and elementary transfer coefficient. The difference between the potential variabilities of alphaapp and alphaelem (a frequent source of confusion) is also discussed.