Ramseyfication and structural realism

Structural Realism (SSR), as embodied in the Ramsey-sentence H of a theory H, is defended against the view that H reduces to a trivial statement about the cardinally of the domain of H, a view which arises from ignoring the central role of observation within science. Putnam's theses are examined and shown to support rather than undermine SSR. Finally: in view of its synthetic character, applied mathematics must enter into the formulation of H and hence to be shown axiomatisable; this is done in the Appendix, which is the most important part of the paper

Model for predicting short-term mortality of severe sepsis

International audienceABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: To establish a prognostic model for predicting 14-day mortality in ICU patients with severe sepsis overall and according to place of infection acquisition and to sepsis episode number. METHODS: In this prospective multicentre observational study on a multicentre database (OUTCOMEREA) including data from 12 ICUs, 2268 patients with 2737 episodes of severe sepsis were randomly divided into a training cohort (n=1458) and a validation cohort (n=810). Up to four consecutive severe sepsis episodes per patient occurring within the first 28 ICU days were included. We developed a prognostic model for predicting death within 14 days after each episode, based on patient data available at sepsis onset. RESULTS: Independent predictors of death were logistic organ dysfunction (OR, 1.22 per point, p<10-4), septic shock (OR, 1.40; p=0.01), rank of severe sepsis episode (1 reference, 2: OR, 1.26; p=0.10 [greater than or equal to]3: OR, 2.64 ;10-3), multiple sources of infection (OR; 1.45, p=0.03), simplified acute physiology score II (OR, 1.02 per point; p<10-4), McCabe score ([greater than or equal to]2)(OR, 1.96; p<10-4), and number of chronic co-morbidities (1: OR, 1.75; p=10-3, [greater than or equal to]2: OR, 2.24, p= 10-3). Validity of the model was good in whole cohorts (AUC-ROC, 0.76; 95%CI [0.74; 0.79] and HL Chi-square: 15.3 (p=0.06) for all episodes pooled). CONCLUSIONS: In ICU patients, a prognostic model based on a few easily obtained variables is effective in predicting death within 14 days after the first to fourth episode of severe sepsis complicating community-, hospital-, or ICU-acquired infection

Impact of ureido/carboxypenicillin resistance on the prognosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa

International audienceINTRODUCTION: Although Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a leading pathogen responsible for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), the excess in mortality associated with multi-resistance in patients with P. aeruginosa VAP (PA-VAP), taking into account confounders such as treatment adequacy and prior length of stay in the ICU, has not yet been adequately estimated. METHODS: A total of 223 episodes of PA-VAP recorded into the Outcomerea database were evaluated. Patients with ureido/carboxy-resistant P. aeruginosa (PRPA) were compared with those with ureido/carboxy-sensitive P. aeruginosa (PSPA) after matching on duration of ICU stay at VAP onset and adjustment for confounders. RESULTS: Factors associated with onset of PRPA-VAP were as follows: admission to the ICU with septic shock, broad-spectrum antimicrobials at admission, prior use of ureido/carboxypenicillin, and colonization with PRPA before infection. Adequate antimicrobial therapy was more often delayed in the PRPA group. The crude ICU mortality rate and the hospital mortality rate were not different between the PRPA and the PSPA groups. In multivariate analysis, after controlling for time in the ICU before VAP diagnosis, neither ICU death (odds ratio (OR) = 0.73; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.32 to 1.69; P = 0.46) nor hospital death (OR = 0.87; 95% CI: 0.38 to 1.99; P = 0.74) were increased in the presence of PRPA infection. This result remained unchanged in the subgroup of 87 patients who received adequate antimicrobial treatment on the day of VAP diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: After adjustment, and despite the more frequent delay in the initiation of an adequate antimicrobial therapy in these patients, resistance to ureido/carboxypenicillin was not associated with ICU or hospital death in patients with PA-VAP

Ramseyfication and structural realism

Structural Realism (SSR), as embodied in the Ramsey-sentence H* of a theory H, is defended against the view that H* reduces to a trivial statement about the cardinality of the domain of H, a view which arises from ignoring the central role of observation within science. Putnam’s theses are examined and shown to support rather than undermine SSR. Finally: in view of its synthetic character, applied mathematics must enter into the formulation of H* and hence be shown to be finitely axiomatisable; this is done in the Appendix, which is the most important part of the paper