25,015 research outputs found
Direct administration of 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin into guinea pig cochleae: Effects on physiological and histological measurements
<p>Cochlear response measurements from two different animals made before (red) and after (blue) treatment with HPβCD (Panel A) and TTX (Panel B) to 80 dB SPL 4 kHz tone bursts. Cochlear response waveform maintained CAP-like morphology after HPβCD treatment, consistent with reduced mechanical drive to neural excitation (Panel B, blue). In contrast, response waveform is EPSP-like following TTX treatment. Unlike TTX, results from HPβCD do not support the hypothesis that the auditory nerve is a site of action for 13 mM HPβCD.</p
Risk factors for failure of outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) in infective endocarditis
Objectives:
To identify risk factors for failure of outpatient antibiotic therapy (OPAT) in infective endocarditis (IE).
Patients and methods:
We identified IE cases managed at a single centre over 12 years from a prospectively maintained database. ‘OPAT failure’ was defined as unplanned readmission or antibiotic switch due to adverse drug reaction or antibiotic resistance. We analysed patient and disease-related risk factors for OPAT failure by univariate and multivariate logistic regression. We also retrospectively collected follow-up data on adverse disease outcome (defined as IE-related death or relapse) and performed Kaplan–Meier survival analysis up to 36 months following OPAT.
Results:
We identified 80 episodes of OPAT in IE. Failure occurred in 25/80 episodes (31.3%). On multivariate analysis, cardiac or renal failure [pooled OR 7.39 (95% CI 1.84–29.66), P = 0.005] and teicoplanin therapy [OR 8.69 (95% CI 2.01–37.47), P = 0.004] were independently associated with increased OPAT failure. OPAT failure with teicoplanin occurred despite therapeutic plasma levels. OPAT failure predicted adverse disease outcome up to 36 months (P = 0.016 log-rank test).
Conclusions:
These data caution against selecting patients with endocarditis for OPAT in the presence of cardiac or renal failure and suggest teicoplanin therapy may be associated with suboptimal OPAT outcomes. Alternative regimens to teicoplanin in the OPAT setting should be further investigated
Drawing Trees with Perfect Angular Resolution and Polynomial Area
We study methods for drawing trees with perfect angular resolution, i.e.,
with angles at each node v equal to 2{\pi}/d(v). We show:
1. Any unordered tree has a crossing-free straight-line drawing with perfect
angular resolution and polynomial area.
2. There are ordered trees that require exponential area for any
crossing-free straight-line drawing having perfect angular resolution.
3. Any ordered tree has a crossing-free Lombardi-style drawing (where each
edge is represented by a circular arc) with perfect angular resolution and
polynomial area. Thus, our results explore what is achievable with
straight-line drawings and what more is achievable with Lombardi-style
drawings, with respect to drawings of trees with perfect angular resolution.Comment: 30 pages, 17 figure
Unquenched QCD with Light Quarks
We present recent results in unquenched lattice QCD with two degenerate light
sea quarks using the truncated determinant approximation (TDA). In the TDA the
infrared modes contributing to the quark determinant are computed exactly up to
some cutoff in quark off-shellness (typically 2). This approach
allows simulations to be performed at much lighter quark masses than possible
with conventional hybrid MonteCarlo techniques. Results for the static energy
and topological charge distributions are presented using a large ensemble
generated on very coarse (6) but physically large lattices. Preliminary
results are also reported for the static energy and meson spectrum on 10x20
lattices (lattice scale =1.15 GeV) at quark masses corresponding to
pions of mass 200 MeV. Using multiboson simulation to compute the
ultraviolet part of the quark determinant the TDA approach becomes an exact
with essentially no increase in computational effort. Some preliminary results
using this fully unquenched algorithm are presented.Comment: LateX, 39 pages, 16 eps figures, 1 ps figur
Asymptotic defectiveness of manufacturing plants: an estimate based on process learning curves
The paper describes a method for a preliminary estimation of asymptotic defectiveness of a manufacturing plant based on the prediction of its learning curve estimated during a p-chart setting up. The proposed approach provides process managers with the possibility of estimating the asymptotic variability of the process and the period of revision of p-chart control limits. An application of the method is also provided
A photoelectron diffraction investigation of vanadyl phthalocyanine on Au(1 1 1)
Scanned-energy mode photoelectron diffraction using the O 1s and V 2p emission perpendicular to the surface has been used to investigate the orientation and internal conformation of vanadyl phthalocyanine (VOPc) adsorbed on Au(1 1 1). The results confirm earlier indications from scanning tunnelling microscopy that the Vdouble bond; length as m-dashO vanadyl bond points out of, and not into, the surface. The Vdouble bond; length as m-dashO bondlength is 1.60 ± 0.04 Å, not significantly different from its value in bulk crystalline VOPc. However, the V atom in the adsorbed molecule is almost coplanar with the surrounding N atoms and is thus pulled down into the approximately planar region defined by the N and C atoms by 0.52 (+0.14/−0.10) Å, relative to its location in crystalline VOPc. This change must be attributed to the bonding interaction between the molecule and the underlying metal surface
An X-Ray Jet from a White Dwarf - Detection of the Collimated Outflow from CH Cygni with Chandra
Most symbiotic stars consist of a white dwarf accreting material from the
wind of a red giant. An increasing number of these objects have been found to
produce jets. Analysis of archival Chandra data of the symbiotic system CH
Cygni reveals faint extended emission to the south, aligned with the optical
and radio jets seen in earlier HST and VLA observations. CH Cygni thus contains
only the second known white dwarf with an X-ray jet, after R Aquarii. The
X-rays from symbiotic-star jets appear to be produced when jet material is
shock-heated following collision with surrounding gas, as with the outflows
from some protostellar objects and bipolar planetary nebulae.Comment: 4 & a bit pages, 4 figures, accepted by ApJL; uses emulateapj.cls and
revtex4. Minor changes following referees report, & shortened to meet page
limi
Quantum Dynamics of the Slow Rollover Transition in the Linear Delta Expansion
We apply the linear delta expansion to the quantum mechanical version of the
slow rollover transition which is an important feature of inflationary models
of the early universe. The method, which goes beyond the Gaussian
approximation, gives results which stay close to the exact solution for longer
than previous methods. It provides a promising basis for extension to a full
field theoretic treatment.Comment: 12 pages, including 4 figure
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