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Recognizing the appealing features of a tablet (e.g., an iPad), including size, mobility, touch screen display, and virtual keyboard, more educational professionals are moving away from larger laptop and desktop computers and turning to the iPad for their daily work, such as reading and writing. Following the results of a recent survey of individuals who serve as ETS raters, more than 40% reported that they would prefer to use an iPad or other type of tablet to score essays. However, iPad‐based essay scoring could affect scoring accuracy and scoring time because the smaller screen and other features of an iPad may also affect raters' reading comprehension and score assigning processes. To address this issue, we invited 10 experienced raters to score holistically 40 essays for a graduate admission test using a desktop computer and an iPad following a counterbalanced design. We compared the raters' scores against the criterion scores and analyzed scoring times, scoring behaviors, and raters' answers to a structured interview after the scoring experiment. The results reveal no obvious differences between the two devices in the scoring accuracy or average scoring time per essay, which suggests that scoring on an iPad may not reduce scoring quality or scoring productivity for essays that are holistically scored as compared to scoring the essays on a desktop computer. We also found a few iPad‐specific issues that raters reported, including issues associated with the invisible scrolling bar and the extra scrolling needed to reach the score‐assignment panel, difficulty navigating between the prompt and the essay response, and oversensitivity of the touch screen.

In mammalian cells, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) plays a key role in protein biogenesis and in calcium signalling. The heterotrimeric Sec61 complex in the ER membrane provides an aqueous pathway for transporting newly synthesized polypeptides into the ER lumen and may also allow calcium leakage from the ER into the cytosol. In this study, planar lipid bilayer experiments demonstrated that the Sec61 complex is permeable to calcium ions. We also investigated whether silencing the SEC61A1 gene affected calcium leakage from the ER. Silencing the SEC61A1 gene using two different siRNAs in HeLa cells for 96 hours had little effect on cell growth and viability. However, calcium leakage from the ER was greatly decreased in the SEC61A1-silenced cells. Thus, the Sec61 complexes that are present in the ER membrane of nucleated cells form calcium leak channels that may play a crucial role in calcium homeostasis.

ABSTRACTIn 2004, 65 CTX-M-producing Escherichia coliisolates were collected from infected patients in four French hospitals. The blaCTX-M-15genes were predominant. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis highlighted a clonal propagation of CTX-M-15-producing strains belonging to phylogenetic group B2, notably in the community. The main risk factors for acquiring these isolates were urinary tract infections or the presence of a urinary catheter in diabetic or renal failure patients.

In 2004, 65 CTX-M-producing Escherichia coli isolates were collected from infected patients in four French hospitals. The blaCTX-M-15genes were predominant. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis highlighted a clonal propagation of CTX-M-15-producing strains belonging to phylogenetic group B2, notably in the community. The main risk factors for acquiring these isolates were urinary tract infections or the presence of a urinary catheter in diabetic or renal failure patients.

ABSTRACTBy PCR, we screened for qnrgenes 112 clinical isolates of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Escherichia colicollected from hospitals in France during 2004. For the first time, 7.7% of CTX-M-producing E. coliisolates presented a plasmid-mediated resistance to quinolones. All strains harbored a qnrAgene located on a sul1-type class 1 integron with similar structure to the In36integron.

By PCR, we screened for qnr genes 112 clinical isolates of extended-spectrum {szligbeta}-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli collected from hospitals in France during 2004. For the first time, 7.7% of CTX-M-producing E. coli isolates presented a plasmid-mediated resistance to quinolones. All strains harbored a qnrA gene located on a sul1-type class 1 integron with similar structure to the In36 integron.

ABSTRACTCutaneous infections due to Legionellaspecies have rarely been reported (L. J. Padrnos, J. E. Blair, S. Kusne, D. J. DiCaudo, and J. R. Mikhael, Transpl Infect Dis 16:307–314, 2014; P. W. Lowry, R. J. Blankenship, W. Gridley, N. J. Troup, and L. S. Tompkins, N Engl J Med 324:109–113, 1991; M. K. Waldor, B. Wilson, and M. Swartz, Clin Infect Dis 16:51–53, 1993). Here we report the identification of Legionella pneumophilaisolates, from subcutaneous abscesses in an immunocompromised patient, that grew in an unusual medium for Legionellabacteria.

Quatre espèces de Humanpolyomaviridae(HPyV) ont été définitivement impliquées dans des affections cutanées. HPyV 6 et HPyV 7 ont été associés à une éruption dyskératosique prurigineuse chez 6 patients, dont 5 étaient immunodéprimés. L’examen histopathologique révèle un aspect caractéristique en « plumage de paon ». Très peu de cas de dermatoses dyskératosiques associées à HPyV ont été rapportés et il n’existe aucun traitement établi. Nous décrivons dans ce travail le cas d’un patient immunodéprimé ayant présenté une érythrodermie confondue avec le syndrome de Sézary, puis diagnostiqué comme éruption dyskératosique associée à HPyV 7, et traité avec cidofovir par voie intraveineuse.

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Seven barley varieties, differing widely in their geographic origin, were analysed at the seedling stage under controlled conditions for the following traits: (A) Soluble leaf protein content, (B) Rubisco content, (C) Total carboxylase activity, as well as for combinations of these basic characteristics: relative Rubisco concentration, relative carboxylase activity, and specific carboxylase activity of the enzyme. A very large genotypic variability was detected in all traits, especially for the total activity of Rubisco, with strong genotypic correlations between these traits, whereas environmental correlations were almost non-existent. There were also relatively good correlations with the gross assimilation rate (Pg) among the same range of varieties, measured in the adult stage in a previous investigation. For two out of five crosses analysed in the F1 generation, significant differences were found between reciprocal hybrids. These results are discussed in terms of heredity patterns of the characteristics concerned, namely the double genetic determinism of Rubisco: a large subunit controlled by maternally inherited chloroplast DNA and a small subunit controlled by nuclear DNA.

Changes with age of protein and oil content in field-grown Helianthus annuus seeds were followed during the grain filling period. Seeds were sampled from different zones on the flower head: peripheral, intermediate, and central. Regardless of seed position, at maturity protein and oil content accounted for approximately 18% and 50% of the dry weight respectively. In an attempt to determine the importance of the role of photosynthesis in grain-filling, 14CO2 was incorporated into sunflower leaves and translocated radioactive photoassimilates in the seed were studied. 14C-labelled products including carbohydrates, nitrogenous compounds and lipids were determined as a function of seed position, length of chase period, and seed age. Within 8 h, 14C-labelled photosynthate is detected in the seed, up to 80% of seed-incorporated radioactivity being in the form of free sugars and organic acids. The conversion rate from free sugars to storage compounds (lipids, proteins and starch) varies according to seed position and age. Lipids constitute the major photosynthetic sink, reaching levels of greater than 80% of the total seed-incorporated radioactivity. The effects of abscisic acid on uptake and partitioning of 14C sucrose into immature excised cotyledons were also studied.