No Abstract / Dissertation LLM--University of Pretoria, 2014 / hb2014 / Public Law / unrestricted

This paper outlines the background to the internal conflicts in the Peking government and the Outer Mongolian government in 1919, and relates how these conflicts influenced the negotiations for the cancellation of self-government. In conjunction with this background the translation and analysis of the 1919 section of Hsu She-cheng's nien-p’u provide a fairly detailed picture of the events in Urga in the latter months of 1919. / Arts, Faculty of / Asian Studies, Department of / Graduate

archives@tulane.edu / Gram-negative bacteria secrete outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) that play critical roles in intraspecies, interspecies, and bacteria-environment interactions. Some OMVs, such as those produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, have previously been shown to possess antimicrobial activity against competitor species. In the current work, we demonstrate that OMVs from Burkholderia thailandensis inhibit the growth of drug-sensitive and drug-resistant bacteria and fungi and exhibit antibiofilm activity against methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and Streptococcus mutans. We show that a number of compounds, including peptidoglycan hydrolases, 4-hydroxy-3-methyl-2-(2-non-enyl)-quinoline (HMNQ) and long-chain rhamnolipid present in B. thailandensis OMVs exert antimicrobial activity. Furthermore, we demonstrate that HMNQ and rhamnolipid possess antimicrobial and antibiofilm properties against various microbes. Rhamnolipid is superior at reducing the integrity of biofilms while HMNQ displays greater bactericidal activity. We attempted to use HMNQ and rhamnolipid to combat MRSA and promote wound healing in a murine full-thickness wound model. However, further optimization of the model and characterization of the molecules in antimicrobial efficacy, wound healing, and host immune responses are required. Overall, this work indicates that B. thailandensis secretes antimicrobial OMVs that may impart a survival advantage by eliminating competition. In addition, bacterial OMVs may represent an untapped resource of novel therapeutics effective against biofilm-forming and multidrug-resistant organisms. / 1 / Yihui Wang

The privatization of outer space has in recent years crossed the boundary from science fiction to science fact. As such, this thesis argues that creating and diffusing an intersubjective shared idea of an apocalyptic imagined future through securitizing speech acts, where humanity's only chance of survival will be an established permanent privately owned and operated colony in outer space, will be a crucial aspect required to build an epistemic community large enough and with enough influence to reconceptualize outer space from an international regulatory and regime perspective. This in turn will serve as a catalyst for the normalization and legitimization of free-market private enterprise in outer space. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the major surface molecule of Gram-negative bacteria and consists of three distinct structural domains: O-antigen, core, and lipid A. The lipid A (endotoxin) domain of LPS is a unique, glucosamine-based phospholipid that serves as the hydrophobic anchor of LPS and is the bioactive component of the molecule that is associated with Gram-negative septic shock. The structural genes encoding the enzymes required for the biosynthesis of Escherchia coli lipid A have been identified and characterized. Lipid A is often viewed as a constitutively synthesized structural molecule. However, determination of the exact chemical structures of lipid A from diverse Gram-negative bacteria shows that the molecule can be further modified in response to environmental stimuli. These modifications have been implicated in virulence of pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria and represent one of the molecular mechanisms of microbial surface remodeling used by bacteria to help evade the innate immune response. The intent of this review is to discuss the enzymatic machinery involved in the biosynthesis of lipid A, transport of the molecule, and finally, those enzymes involved in the modification of its structure in response to environmental stimuli.

No description available.

No description available.

The widespread emergence of antibiotic resistance determinants for nearly all drug classes threatens human health on a global scale. It is therefore essential to discover antibiotics with novel functions that are less likely to be influenced by pre-existing resistance mechanisms. An emerging approach to identify inhibitors of investigator-defined cellular processes involves screening compounds for antimicrobial activity under non-standard growth conditions. Indeed, by growing cells under conditions of stress, inhibitors of specific cellular targets can be enriched, thereby allowing for the identification of molecules with predictable activities in the complex environment of the cell. Here, I exploit cold stress in Escherichia coli to identify molecules targeting ribosome biogenesis and outer membrane biosynthesis. First, through a screen of 30,000 small molecules for growth inhibition exclusively at 15°C, I was able to identify the first small molecule inhibitor of bacterial ribosome biogenesis, lamotrigine. Second, by leveraging the idiosyncratic cold sensitivity of E. coli to vancomycin, I developed a novel screening technology designed to enrich for non-lethal inhibitors of Gram- negative outer membrane biosynthesis. From this platform, I identified pentamidine as an efficient outer membrane perturbant that was able to potentiate Gram-positive antibiotics against Gram-negative pathogens, similar to the polymyxins. Remarkably, however, this compound was able to overcome mcr-1 mediated polymyxin resistance. Together, this thesis highlights the utility of exploiting the bacterial cold stress response in antibiotic discovery. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 89-111).

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration maintains a challenging schedule of planned and on-going space exploration missions that extend to the outer reaches of our galaxy. New missions represent a huge investment, in terms of actual costs for equipment and support infrastructure, and personnel training. The success of a mission is critical considering both the monetary investment, and for manned missions, the lives which are put at risk. Tragedies involving Challenger, Columbia, Apollo 7, and the near tragedy of Apollo 13 exemplify that space exploration is a dangerous endeavor, posing extreme environmental conditions on both equipment and personnel. NASA, the National Science Foundation' and numerous independent researchers indicate that predictive simulations have the potential to decrease risk and increase efficiency and effectiveness in space exploration activity. Simulations provide the capability to conduct planning and rehearsal of missions, allowing risk reducing designs and techniques to be discovered and tested. Real-time simulations may improve the quality of the response in a real-time crisis situation. The US Army developed Layered Terrain Format (LTF) database is a uniquely architected database approach that provides high fidelity representation of terrain and specialized terrain query functions that are optimized to support real-time simulations. This dissertation investigates the question; can the unique LTF database architecture be applied to the general problem of celestial body representation? And if so, what benefits might it bring for mission planners and personnel executing the mission? Due to data limitations, this research investigates these questions through a lunar analog setting iv involving S band and Earth-bound communication signals as might be needed to conduct manned and/or robotic mission on the moon. The target terrain data set includes portions of the Black Point Lava Flow in Arizona which will be used for NASA's 2010 Desert RATS analog studies. Applied Research Associates Inc, the developer of the LTF product, generated Black Point databases and made limited modifications to the LTF Viewer tool, RAVEN, which is used for visualization of the database. Through the results attained during this research it is concluded that LTF product does provide a useful simulation capability which could be used by mission personnel both in pre-mission planning and during mission execution. Additionally, LTF is shown to have application an information system, allowing geospecific data of interest to the mission to be implemented within its layers. The Florida Space Research & Education Grant Program sponsored by FSGC, Space Florida and UCF provided a grant of $31,500 to perform this research.