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Rifampicin was inactivated by Nocardia otitidiscaviarum to yield two products designated RIP-3 and RIP-4. The full structures of RIP-3 and RIP-4 were determined to be 21-(O-phosphoryl) rifampicin and 3-formyl-21-(O-phosphoryl) rifamycin SV, respectively, but neither product had any antimicrobial activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MICs of two new carbapenems, meropenem and L-627, and imipenem were determined against 98 strains of the Nocardia asteroides group (i.e. N. asteroides sensu stricto, Nocardia farcinica and Nocardia nova), 46 strains of Nocardia brasiliensis and 17 strains of Nocardia otitidiscaviarum. Meropenem and L-627 were less active against the N. asteroides group than imipenem. Among the three species of the N. asteroides group, N. nova was the most sensitive to all the carbapenems. Meropenem was more active than imipenem against both N. brasiliensis and N. otitidiscaviarum with MIC50 values of 28.3-53.3 mg/L. L-627 was less active than meropenem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auditors' propensity to issue Going Concern Audit Reports (GCARs) is one of the proxies often used for audit quality. Although this propensity is a distinguishing characteristic of auditors, it does not indicate quality according to both theory and practice. In theory, higher quality auditors make fewer audit errors; they are more likely to issue GCARs to clients that deserve them and less likely to issue GCARs to clients that do not. Therefore, the propensity itself does not indicate quality. In practice, Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) inspection reports reveal that the GCAR is rarely mentioned as a deficiency, and in the few cases in which it is discussed, the deficiency is attributed to evidence gathering and estimations, rather than to the GCAR decision itself. The theory and practice motivate our study. This article investigates the empirical ability of the GCAR propensity to proxy for audit quality and finds that different samples and different models yield different determinations of auditor quality. Our findings caution against the use of the propensity to issue GCARs as a proxy for audit quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose and analyze an electrothermal energy converter using volumetric changes in nonequilibrium electron gas inside semiconductors. The geometric concentration of electron gas under an electric field increases the effective pressure of the electrons, and then a barrier filters out cold electrons, acting like a valve. Nano- and micro-scale features enable hot electrons to arrive at the contact in a short enough time to avoid thermalization with the lattice. Key length and time scales, preliminary device geometry, and anticipated efficiency are estimated for electronic analogs of Otto and Brayton power generators and Joule-Thomson micro refrigerators on a chip. The power generators convert the energy of incident photons from the heat source to electrical current, and the refrigerator can reduce the temperature of electrons in a semiconductor device. The analytic calculations show that a large energy conversion efficiency or coefficient of performance may be possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy (UGIE) may cause some cardiac stress. The effect of sedation on hemodynamics during UGIE has not been fully studied, and therefore the aim of this study was to clarify whether or not sedation can reduce cardiac stress during UGIE. Methods: Eight normal male volunteers undergoing UGIE with sedation (0.1 mg/kg of midazolam) and without it (two endoscopies per volunteer in random order) were monitored throughout the procedure by means of electrocardiogram, blood pressure and peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO[sub 2]). Cardiac output was measured at six points before, during and after endoscopy from automated cardiac flow measurement by color Doppler echocardiography. Serum norepinephrine, epinephrine, dopamine and ACTH concentrations were measured before and after the examination. Results: No significant differences in heart rate, systolic blood pressure, rate-pressure product, cardiac output and left ventricular work index were observed between the sedated and non-sedated groups. SpO[sub 2] hardly changed during endoscopy in the non-sedated group, but decreased slightly in the sedated group (P = 0.075). Although all serum catecholamine concentration changes were within normal limits in both groups, after endoscopy only epinephrine concentration was significantly lower in the sedated group than in the non-sedated group (P = 0.0027). Conclusions: Conscious sedation with midazolam does not reduce the cardiac stress during UGIE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The new fluoroquinolone grepafloxacin exhibited MICs of 0.6 to 20 mg/L against 134 pathogenic spp including and and was 2–20 times more active than norfloxacin, ofloxacin, tosufloxacin and ciprofloxacin against these bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The in-vitro postantifungal effect (PAFE) of 5-fluorocytosine for for short periods of time was investigated. Yeast cells were exposed for 0·5,1 or 2 h to a range of concentrations (0·1–3·2 mg/L) of 5-fluorocytosine. The PAFE was quantitated by determinations of the number of colony forming units at hourly intervals (0–10 h) after removal of the drug by dilution. The length of the PAFE was dependent upon the concentration of 5-fluorocytosine and the duration of exposure. An exposure time of 0·5 h resulted in PAFE's ranging from 0 to 4·2 h. Exposure times of 1 and 2 h resulted in longer PAFEs and in many instances suppression of cell growth was seen for the entire evaluation period (up to ten hours). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The susceptibility of 113 strains of pathogenic Nocardia, N. asteroides, N. farcinica, N. nova, N. brasiliensis and N. otitidiscaviarum to a new oxacephem antibiotic flomoxef was determined by an agar dilution method in comparison with those of 13 other cephalosporins. Flomoxef was two to 50 times more active against these pathogenic Nocardia than other cephalopsorins tested. However, there were differences in susceptibility to this antibiotic among these Nocardia strains. N. asteroides was the most sensitive species, followed by N. farcinica and N. nova. N. brasiliensis was moderately sensitive and N. otitidiscaviarum was resistant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]