Peptidoglycan recycling contributes to outer membrane integrity and carbapenem tolerance in Acinetobacter baumannii

The Gram-negative cell envelope is an essential structure that not only protects the cell against lysis from the internal turgor, but also forms a barrier to limit entry of antibiotics. Some of our most potent bactericidal antibiotics, the β-lactams, exploit the essentiality of the cell envelope by inhibiting its biosynthesis, typically inducing lysis and rapid death. However, many Gram-negative bacteria exhibit antibiotic tolerance, the ability to sustain viability in the presence of β-lactams for extended time periods. Despite several studies showing that antibiotic tolerance contributes directly to treatment failure, and is a steppingstone in acquisition of true resistance, the molecular factors that promote intrinsic tolerance are not well-understood. Acinetobacter baumannii is a critical-threat nosocomial pathogen notorious for its ability to rapidly develop multidrug resistance. While typically reserved to combat multidrug resistant infections, carbapenem β-lactam antibiotics (i.e., meropenem) are first-line prescriptions to treat A. baumannii infections. Meropenem tolerance in Gram-negative pathogens is characterized by morphologically distinct populations of spheroplasts, but the impact of spheroplast formation is not fully understood. Here, we show that susceptible A. baumannii clinical isolates demonstrate high intrinsic tolerance to meropenem, form spheroplasts with the antibiotic and revert to normal growth after antibiotic removal. Using transcriptomics and genetics screens, we characterized novel tolerance factors and found that outer membrane integrity maintenance, drug efflux and peptidoglycan homeostasis collectively contribute to meropenem tolerance in A. baumannii. Furthermore, outer membrane integrity and peptidoglycan recycling are tightly linked in their contribution to meropenem tolerance in A. baumannii.

Identifying high performance and durable methylammonium-free lead halide perovskites through high throughput synthesis and characterization

One of the organic component in the perovskite photo-absorber, the methylammonium cation, has been suggested to be a roadblock to long-term operation of organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite-based solar cells. Methylammonium-free perovskites thus represent a possible direction for more stable photo-absorbers that are also compatible with multijunction solar cells. However, most work on methylammonium-free perovskites involves cesium and formamidinium as the A-site cations, which are thermodynamically less stable than the methylammonium-based materials. In this work we systematically explore the crystallographic and optical properties of the compositional space of mixed cation and mixed halide lead perovskites, where formamidinium (FA+) is gradually replaced by cesium (Cs+), and iodide (I-) is substituted by bromide (Br-), i.e., CsyFA1–yPb(BrxI1–x)3. The crystal phases, which could be tuned by changing the tolerance factor for mixed perovskite alloys, are qualitatively determined and the composition–structure relationship is established in the CsyFA1–yPb(BrxI1–x)3 compositional space. We find that higher tolerance factors lead to more cubic structures, whereas lower tolerance factors lead to more orthorhombic. We also find that while some correlation exists between tolerance factor and structure, tolerance factor does not provide a holistic understanding of whether a perovskite structure will fully form. Given the wide range of bandgaps produced by this compositional space, an empirical expression is devised to predict the optical bandgap of CsyFA1–yPb(BrxI1–x)3 perovskites – which changes as a function of composition –, conducive to the design of absorbers with bandgaps tailor-made for specific tandem and single-junction applications. By screening 26 solar cells with different compositions, we find that Cs1/6FA5/6PbI3 delivers the highest efficiency and long-term stability among I-rich compositions. This work sheds light on the fundamental structure-property relationships in the CsyFA1–yPb(BrxI1–x)3 compositional space, providing vital insight to the design of durable perovskite materials. Our approach provides a library of structural and optoelectronic information of this compositional space.

DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE OF HIGH SCHOOL LEVELS

Religious tolerance of Bogor An-Nur Aliyyah high school students is known that the religious tolerance of students is still low, known to the fact that the majority of students lose their tolerance. Factors that influence this occur because many students are less study and live the concept of tolerance, so that the spirit of tolerance is weakened. In addition, students also lose the spirit of togetherness, and many do not base Pancasila as the basis of the life of the Indonesian people, aka all of them individually, causing intolerance in their lives. This study aims to 1) Analyze the concept of religious tolerance according to Ibnu Taimiyah; 2) Analyzing religious tolerance in An-Nur Aliyyah Bogor high school students, and 3) Developing the development of co-curricular activities in increasing religious tolerance. The research approach used is a content analysis approach. The data source consists of primary data sources consisting of the Book of Tolerance Learning by Ibnu Taimiyah. The results of the study note that 1) Religious tolerance in An-Nur Aliyyah high school students Bogor is known that religious tolerance of students is still low in the level of religious tolerance of students. 2) The concept of religious tolerance according to Ibnu Taimiyah which can be applied as a basic reference for the preparation of co-curricular activities in An-Nur Aliyyah High School Bogor consists of the concept of God as a source of love, the concept of the Prophet Muhammad is a practical example of compassion, the concept of no coercion in religion, the concept of faith and good deeds as the basis of tolerance, the concept of prohibiting spreading hatred, the concept of prohibiting spreading violence, and the concept of prioritizing the way of peace. 3) Development of Co-curricular Activities Program in increasing religious tolerance according to the concept of Ibnu Taimiyah in An-Nur Aliyyah High School Bogor, which is moving towards the existence of thoughts to build religious tolerance, especially in peer tutoring activities, literacy programs of exemplary stories, filling wall magazine content ( mading) schools, visits to orphanages, orphans or visiting street children, campaigns against hoaxes and hate speech, research assignments in the form of papers, and simulations dealing with fights and fights. Keywords: Ibn Taymiyyah, Co-curricular, Religious Tolerance

Intelligent Constructing Exact Tolerance Limits for Prediction of Future Outcomes Under Parametric Uncertainty

The problem of constructing one-sided exact statistical tolerance limits on the kth order statistic in a future sample of m observations from a distribution of log-location-scale family on the basis of an observed sample from the same distribution is considered. The new technique proposed here emphasizes pivotal quantities relevant for obtaining tolerance factors and is applicable whenever the statistical problem is invariant under a group of transformations that acts transitively on the parameter space. The exact tolerance limits on order statistics associated with sampling from underlying distributions can be found easily and quickly making tables, simulation, Monte Carlo estimated percentiles, special computer programs, and approximation unnecessary. Finally, numerical examples are given, where the tolerance limits obtained by using the known methods are compared with the results obtained through the proposed novel technique, which is illustrated in terms of the extreme-value and two-parameter Weibull distributions.

Analisis Faktor-Faktor yang Mempengaruhi Keputusan Investasi Pelaku UMKM Di Kudus

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that influence the investment decisions of SMEs entrepreneurs in Kudus, which consist of financial literacy, demographic factors and risk tolerance. This study uses primary data from a sample of 80 entrepreneurs chosen randomly in Kudus Regency. The research method uses multiple regression analysis with the help of the SPSS 23. The results of this study indicate that financial literacy has a significant positive effect on the investment decisions of SMEs entrepreneurs in Kudus. Meanwhile demographic and risk tolerance factors do not have a significant influence on investment decisions.

Design of experiment-based tolerance synthesis for a lock-or-release mechanism of the Chinese Space Station Microgravity Platform

This paper deals with the tolerance synthesis with the application for a typical Lock-or-Release (L/R) mechanism, used for Chinese Space Station Microgravity Platform (SSMP). The L/R mechanism is utilized to lock the SSMP maintaining space position during the launching stage, and to release the SSMP automatically during on-orbit stage. Manufacturing accuracy of L/R mechanism presents direct influence on its kinematic and dynamic behaviors. Tolerance synthesis can provide a reasonable assignment of tolerance, satisfying the critical assembly criteria while lowering manufacturing complexity. In this paper, based on the number-theory method (NTM), a Halton-set based Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is introduced in the accuracy model of the L/R mechanism, aiming at improving analytical precision and efficiency for tolerance synthesis. A design of experiment (DOE) based tolerance synthesis approach is proposed. With initial tolerance determined by capacity, sensitivities of different tolerance factors are generated through the first DOE stage, and then applied to determine feasible tolerance levels. The final tolerance assignments, like points scatted in high-dimensioned space with inherent uniformity, are then produced through uniform DOE in the second stage. Result shows that the majority of feasible tolerance assignments generated have more relaxed tolerance, which can facilitate the manufacturing process.

The inverse perovskite BaLiF3: single-crystal neutron diffraction and analyses of potential ion pathways

Doped barium lithium trifluoride has attracted attention as component for scintillators, luminescent materials and electrodes. With lithium and fluoride, it contains two possibly mobile species, which may account for its ionic conductivity. In this study, neutron diffraction on oxide-containing BaLiF3 single-crystals is performed at up to 636.2°C. Unfortunately, ion-migration pathways could not be mapped by modelling anharmonic ion displacement or by inspecting the scattering-length density that was reconstructed via maximum-entropy methods. However, analyses of the topology and bond-valence site energies derived from the high-temperature structure reveal that the anions can migrate roughly along the edges of the LiF6 coordination octahedra with an estimated migration barrier of ∼0.64 eV (if a vacancy permits), whereas the lithium ions are confined to their crystallographic positions. This finding is not only valid for the title compound but for ion migration in all perovskites with Goldschmidt tolerance factors near unity.

Tolerance factors of hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites: recent improvements and current state of research

We provide an update on the current state of the tolerance factor concept for hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites, reviewing the different improvements that have been made over the past few years.