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Objectives No randomized controlled trials have evaluated the comparative outcomes of cefazolin versus nafcillin for methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) bacteraemia. Methods A prospective observational cohort study including all S. aureus bacteraemia was conducted at 10 hospitals. Patients (≥15 years) with MSSA bacteraemia who received cefazolin or nafcillin as definitive antibiotics were included. The rates of treatment failure (premature discontinuation of antibiotics because of adverse effects, switching of antibiotics because of clinical failure, all-cause mortality within 1 month, or recurrence) were compared between the cefazolin and nafcillin groups. Propensity score matching analyses were performed to balance the factors influencing the selection of antibiotics. Results Among the 242 included cases, the bones and joints (36.8%) were the most common sites of infection and 60.7% of the patients had sepsis. The overall treatment failure rate was 43.8% (106/242). All-cause mortality within 1 month was 6.2% (15/242). After propensity score matching, the treatment failure rate of cefazolin was lower than that of nafcillin (30.4% (24/79) vs. 49.4% (39/79), p 0.015) because of a higher rate of discontinuation caused by adverse events. When the data were limited to patients with sepsis, the treatment failure rates of both groups were not significantly different. Approximately 22% (24/110) of MSSA isolates exhibited a cefazolin-inoculum effect (CIE) that had significant impact on the failure rate and mortality of the cefazolin group. Conclusions Cefazolin might be recommended as an adequate and better-tolerated treatment for MSSA bacteraemia in the absence of CIE.

This study evaluated the effects of renal impairment (RI) and haemodialysis (HD) on the pharmacokinetics of gemigliptin, a novel dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor. After a 100 mg administration to subjects with normal renal function (n = 23) or RI (n = 24), plasma, urine or dialysate samples were analysed. Control subjects were matched to patients based on age, gender and body mass index. Patients with mild, moderate, severe RI and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) showed 1.20, 2.04, 1.50 and 1.66-fold (1.10, 1.49, 1.22 and 1.21-fold) increase of mean area under the time-plasma concentration curve from 0 to infinity (AUCinf) [maximum plasma concentration (Cmax)] of gemigliptin, respectively. Pharmacokinetics of gemigliptin was comparable between HD and non-HD periods in ESRD patients. Less than 4% of the dose was removed by 4 h HD. RI appeared to have modest effect on the gemigliptin disposition. No dose adjustment in patients with RI is proposed on the basis of exposure-response relationship. Impact of HD on the removal of gemigliptin was negligible.

In this paper a new analytical solution is applied to study heat transfer during forming of plates by flame bending process. Produced heat flux with flame, is modeled with normal Gaussian distribution, which moves along predefined paths on plate. Mild steel with constant thermal properties is as selected material. Results of the thermal analyses by this method show good agreement in comparison with experimental data. This method is properly applicable to estimate of flame parameters that are input parameters for thermo-mechanical simulation of the process. Reasonable accuracy of the results and diminishing of model dependency and CPU time required for thermal analyses are the advantages of this solution for the process study.

A variety of insecticides, acaricides, and fungicides is used in greenhouses to protect plants. As predacious ladybirds are also used to control aphids, it is important to understand the effects of such pesticides on these beneficial insects. We examined the susceptibility to all developmental stages of the multicolored Asian ladybird beetle, Harmonia axyridis (Pallas), to 12 agents: four insecticides, four acaricides and four fungicides. Etofenprox and acetamiprid were highly toxic to most developmental stages, and also in the adult at 200 mg [AI]/L and 40 mg [AI]/L (recommended dosages for aphid control). Thiamethoxam caused knockdown of larvae, pupae, and adults; however, most recovered within 24 h. Imidacloprid, applied at 50 mg [AI]/L, produced LC 50 values of 30.3 and 190.2 mg [AI]/L for 3rd and 4th instars, respectively. Abamectin was highly toxic to eggs, larvae, pupae, and adult ladybirds at rates under 18.4 mg [AI]/L. However, recommended doses of other acaricides were very safe to all stages except for the egg stage of H. axyridis . The fungicide pyrazophos was highly toxic to eggs and larvae at a rate much lower than the recommended dose, while other tested fungicides were not toxic to any of the ladybird stages at rates over 1000 mg [AI]/L. Generally, the 1st and 2nd instars of H. axyridis were very sensitive to most of the tested insecticides and acaricides. Fungicides, on the other hand, were generally harmless to H. axyridis .

We propose a pre-registration based packet reservation multiple access method (Regi-PMA) for use in a a digital micro cellular environment. With registration, collisions and overflow of information channels are reduced in heavy traffic conditions. Reservation for speech terminals precedes information channel setup. Voice activity factor is applied to the Regi-PMA to maximize channel utilization over the distributed terminals in a service area.