Antimicrobials: a global alliance for optimizing their rational use in intra-abdominal infections (AGORA)

Intra-abdominal infections (IAI) are an important cause of morbidity and are frequently associated with poor prognosis, particularly in high-risk patients. The cornerstones in the management of complicated IAIs are timely effective source control with appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Empiric antimicrobial therapy is important in the management of intra-abdominal infections and must be broad enough to cover all likely organisms because inappropriate initial antimicrobial therapy is associated with poor patient outcomes and the development of bacterial resistance. The overuse of antimicrobials is widely accepted as a major driver of some emerging infections (such as C. difficile), the selection of resistant pathogens in individual patients, and for the continued development of antimicrobial resistance globally. The growing emergence of multi-drug resistant organisms and the limited development of new agents available to counteract them have caused an impending crisis with alarming implications, especially with regards to Gram-negative bacteria. An international task force from 79 different countries has joined this project by sharing a document on the rational use of antimicrobials for patients with IAIs. The project has been termed AGORA (Antimicrobials: A Global Alliance for Optimizing their Rational Use in Intra-Abdominal Infections). The authors hope that AGORA, involving many of the world's leading experts, can actively raise awareness in health workers and can improve prescribing behavior in treating IAIs

Connes-Lott model building on the two-sphere

In this work we examine generalized Connes-Lott models on the two-sphere. The Hilbert space of the continuum spectral triple is taken as the space of sections of a twisted spinor bundle, allowing for nontrivial topological structure (magnetic monopoles). The finitely generated projective module over the full algebra is also taken as topologically non-trivial, which is possible over $S^2$. We also construct a real spectral triple enlarging this Hilbert space to include "particle" and "anti-particle" fields.Comment: 57 pages, LATE

Convergence of the Allen-Cahn equation with Neumann boundary conditions

We study a singular limit problem of the Allen-Cahn equation with Neumann boundary conditions and general initial data of uniformly bounded energy. We prove that the time-parametrized family of limit energy measures is Brakke's mean curvature flow with a generalized right angle condition on the boundary.Comment: 26 pages, 1 figur

Developing real-life driving simulations for novice driver education

This paper will describe the technological aspects of producing live-action videos of real traffic scenarios for a new driver education training CD-ROM (CD DRIVES) aimed at novice drivers in New Zealand. CD-DRIVES was created in order to help young drivers practise crucial higher level driving skills such as eye scanning, hazard detection and risk management. We will present a roadmap of the technological advances made through hardware, software and processes used in the production and post-production stages of CD-DRIVES

On the reactions p + p -> p + Lambda + K^+ and p + p -> p + Sigma^0 + K^+ near thresholds

The cross sections for the reactions of the strange production p + p -> p + Lambda + K^+ and p + p -> p + Sigma^0 + K^+ near thresholds of the final states p Lambda K^+ and p Sigma^0 K^+ are calculated in the effective Lagrangian approach. Our approach is based on the dominant contribution of the one-pion exchange and strong interaction of the colliding protons in the initial state. The theoretical values of the cross sections agree reasonably well with the experimental data. The polarization properties of the Lambda and Sigma^0 hyperons are discussed.Comment: 15 pages, 1 Postscript figure, Latex, to appear in Eur. Phys. J

If P, Then P!

The Identity principle says that conditionals with the form 'If p, then p' are logical truths. Identity is overwhelmingly plausible, and has rarely been explicitly challenged. But a wide range of conditionals nonetheless invalidate it. I explain the problem, and argue that the culprit is the principle known as Import-Export, which we must thus reject. I then explore how we can reject Import-Export in a way that still makes sense of the intuitions that support it, arguing that the differences between indicative and subjunctive conditionals play a key role in solving this puzzle

The elementary p(p,p'\pi^{+})n reaction

A detailed study of the elementary p(p,p$'\pi^{+}$)n reaction is presented using the delta isobar model. In this model, in the first step one of the two protons in the initial state gets excited to $\Delta$. This, in the second step, decays into a nucleon and a pion. For the $pp \to N\Delta$ step the parametrized form of the DWBA t-matrix of Jain and Santra, which reproduces most of the available data on $pp \to n\Delta^{++}$, is used. The cross-sections studied include the outgoing proton momentum spectra in coincidence with the pion, the outgoing pion momentum spectra and the integrated total cross-section. We find that all the calculated numbers are in good agreement with the corresponding measured cross sections.Comment: 11 pages latex, 5 figures as seperate post-script files; accepted for publication in Physical Review C (1998

Empirical Determination of Threshold Partial Wave Amplitudes in pp→ppωp p \to p p \omega

Using the model independent irreducible tensor approach to $\omega$ production in $pp$ collisions, we show theoretically that, it is advantageous to measure experimentally the polarization of $\omega$, in addition to the proposed experimental study employing a polarized beam and a polarized target.Comment: 6 pages, 1 Table, Latex-2

The effects of hyperglycaemic hypoxia on rectification in rat dorsal root axons

1. Electrotonic responses to 150 ms current pulses were recorded from isolated rat dorsal roots incubated for at least 3 h with either normal (5 mM) or high (25 mM) D-glucose solutions, and with either normal (25 mM) or low (5 mM) bicarbonate concentrations. 2. On replacement of O2 by N2 for 50 min, all the roots depolarized, but the changes in electrotonus differed systematically. With normal glucose, the depolarization was accompanied by an increase in input conductance. In contrast, for the hyperglycaemic roots the depolarization was slower and accompanied by a fall in input conductance which was exacerbated in low bicarbonate concentrations. 3. The changes induced by hyperglycaemic hypoxia in low bicarbonate could be mimicked by exposure of the roots either to 100% CO2 or to a combination of 3 mM tetraethylammonium chloride and 3 mM 4-aminopyridine, to block both fast and slow potassium channels. 4. These results indicate that the primary mechanism of hypoxic depolarization of these sensory axons is altered by hyperglycaemia. In normoglycaemia, the changes in electrotonus are consistent with an increase in axonal potassium conductance. The block of potassium channels seen in hyperglycaemic hypoxia is attributed to intra-axonal acidification by anaerobic glycolysis and may contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy