Factors influencing the potency of marbofloxacin for pig pneumonia pathogens Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and Pasteurella multocida

For the pig respiratory tract pathogens, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and Pasteurella multocida, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of marbofloxacin was determined in recommended broths and pig serum at three inoculum strengths. MICs in both growth matrices increased progressively from low, through medium to high starting inoculum counts, 104, 106 and 108 CFU/mL, respectively. P. multocida MIC ratios for high:low inocula were 14:4:1 for broth and 28.2:1 for serum. Corresponding MIC ratios for A. pleuropneumoniae were lower, 4.1:1 (broth) and 9.2:1 (serum). MIC high:low ratios were therefore both growth matrix and bacterial species dependent. The effect of alterations to the chemical composition of broths and serum on MIC were also investigated. Neither adjusting broth or serum pH in six increments over the range 7.0 to 8.0 nor increasing calcium and magnesium concentrations of broth in seven incremental steps significantly affected MICs for either organism. In time-kill studies, the killing action of marbofloxacin had the characteristics of concentration dependency against both organisms in both growth matrices. It is concluded that MIC and time-kill data for marbofloxacin, generated in serum, might be preferable to broth data, for predicting dosages of marbofloxacin for clinical use

Potency of marbofloxacin for pig pneumonia pathogens Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and Pasteurella multocida: Comparison of growth media

Pharmacodynamic properties of marbofloxacin were established for six isolates each of the pig respiratory tract pathogens, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae and Pasteurella multocida. Three in vitro indices of potency were determined; Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC), Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) and Mutant Prevention Concentration (MPC). For MIC determination Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines were modified in three respects: (1) comparison was made between two growth media, an artificial broth and pig serum; (2) a high inoculum count was used to simulate heavy clinical bacteriological loads; and (3) five overlapping sets of two-fold dilutions were used to improve accuracy of determinations. Similar methods were used for MBC and MPC estimations. MIC and MPC serum:broth ratios for A. pleuropneumoniae were 0.79:1 and 0.99:1, respectively, and corresponding values for P. multocida were 1.12:1 and 1.32:1. Serum protein binding of marbofloxacin was 49%, so that fraction unbound (fu) serum MIC values were significantly lower than those predicted by correction for protein binding; fu serum:broth MIC ratios were 0.40:1 (A. pleuropneumoniae) and 0.50:1 (P. multocida). For broth, MPC:MIC ratios were 13.7:1 (A. pleuropneumoniae) and 14.2:1 (P. multocida). Corresponding ratios for serum were similar, 17.2:1 and 18.8:1, respectively. It is suggested that, for dose prediction purposes, serum data might be preferable to potency indices measured in broths

Teaching earth pressure theory using physical models: an example in civil engineering

The transition from basic Engineering courses in the first year of Civil Engineering curriculum, into the analysis and design of Civil Engineering structures can be challenging for students. Indeed, most students find it difficult in learning some of the theoretical courses in later years of their engineering studies. In this paper, discussions will be directed to the role of physical models in assisting the teachings of advanced Civil Engineering courses. Examples of physical models will be shown by making use of those developed by the authors in the teaching of Geotechnical Engineering at University of Southern Queensland, Australia

Analytical Approximations for Calculating the Escape and Absorption of Radiation in Clumpy Dusty Environments

We present analytical approximations for calculating the scattering, absorption and escape of nonionizing photons from a spherically symmetric two-phase clumpy medium, with either a central point source of isotropic radiation, a uniform distribution of isotropic emitters, or uniformly illuminated by external sources. The analytical approximations are based on the mega-grains model of two-phase clumpy media, as proposed by Hobson & Padman, combined with escape and absorption probability formulae for homogeneous media. The accuracy of the approximations is examined by comparison with 3D Monte Carlo simulations of radiative transfer, including multiple scattering. Our studies show that the combined mega-grains and escape/absorption probability formulae provide a good approximation of the escaping and absorbed radiation fractions for a wide range of parameters characterizing the medium. A realistic test is performed by modeling the absorption of a starlike source of radiation by interstellar dust in a clumpy medium, and by calculating the resulting equilibrium dust temperatures and infrared emission spectrum of both the clumps and the interclump medium. In particular, we find that the temperature of dust in clumps is lower than in the interclump medium if clumps are optically thick. Comparison with Monte Carlo simulations of radiative transfer in the same environment shows that the analytic model yields a good approximation of dust temperatures and the emerging UV to FIR spectrum of radiation for all three types of source distributions mentioned above. Our analytical model provides a numerically expedient way to estimate radiative transfer in a variety of interstellar conditions and can be applied to a wide range of astrophysical environments, from star forming regions to starburst galaxies.Comment: 55 pages, 27 figures. ApJ 523 (1999), in press. Corrected equations and text so as to be same as ApJ versio

Combining Supernovae and LSS Information with the CMB

Observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), large scale structure (LSS) and standard candles such as Type 1a Supernovae (SN) each place different constraints on the values of cosmological parameters. We assume an inflationary Cold Dark Matter model with a cosmological constant, in which the initial density perturbations in the universe are adiabatic. We discuss the parameter degeneracies inherent in interpreting CMB or SN data, and derive their orthogonal nature. We then present our preliminary results of combining CMB and SN likelihood functions. The results of combining the CMB and IRAS 1.2 Jy survey information are given, with marginalised confidence regions in the H_0, Omega_m, b_IRAS and Q_rms-ps directions assuming n=1, Omega_Lambda+Omega_m=1 and Omega_b h^2=0.024. Finally we combine all three likelihood functions and find that the three data sets are consistent and suitably orthogonal, leading to tight constraints on H_0, Omega_m, b_IRAS and Q_rms-ps, given our assumptions.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, submitted to ``The CMB and the Planck Mission'', proceedings of the workshop held in Santander, Spain, June 199

Lyde Green Roman Villa, Emersons Green, South Gloucestershire

"Lyde Green Roman Villa, Emersons Green, South Gloucestershire was excavated between mid-2012 and mid-2013 along with its surroundings and antecedent settlement. The excavations took place as part of the Emersons Green East Development Area, funded through the mechanism of commercial archaeology by Gardiner & Theobald LLP. The results of the stratigraphic analysis are given here along with specialist reports on the human remains, pottery (including thin sections), ceramic building material, small finds, coinage and iron-working waste. Six open-area excavations allowed the archaeologists the rare opportunity to trace a substantial part of the site’s layout. Three ancillary buildings within the villa compound, including a bathhouse, were excavated. Evidence of advanced water management was uncovered in the form of lead piping, ceramic drain tiles and an enigmatic stone structure built into a canalised spring line. The villa’s economy included stock raising, crop processing and iron and textile production. The settlement appears to have originated in the mid-1st century AD, or slightly earlier.

Predictive Behavior of a Computational Foot/Ankle Model through Artificial Neural Networks

Computational models are useful tools to study the biomechanics of human joints. Their predictive performance is heavily dependent on bony anatomy and soft tissue properties. Imaging data provides anatomical requirements while approximate tissue properties are implemented from literature data, when available. We sought to improve the predictive capability of a computational foot/ankle model by optimizing its ligament stiffness inputs using feedforward and radial basis function neural networks. While the former demonstrated better performance than the latter per mean square error, both networks provided reasonable stiffness predictions for implementation into the computational model

Modal decomposition of astronomical images with application to shapelets

The decomposition of an image into a linear combination of digitised basis functions is an everyday task in astronomy. A general method is presented for performing such a decomposition optimally into an arbitrary set of digitised basis functions, which may be linearly dependent, non-orthogonal and incomplete. It is shown that such circumstances may result even from the digitisation of continuous basis functions that are orthogonal and complete. In particular, digitised shapelet basis functions are investigated and are shown to suffer from such difficulties. As a result the standard method of performing shapelet analysis produces unnecessarily inaccurate decompositions. The optimal method presented here is shown to yield more accurate decompositions in all cases.Comment: 12 pages, 17 figures, submitted to MNRA