bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The task of social psychology: Some historical reflections
Authors: Jaspars Joseph M. F. 
Published: June 2011

Changes, over time, in the task of social psychology are evaluated in the light of Van Leent's detailed study concerning the relationship between sociology and psychology. He distinguished between a number of different levels of analysis within each discipline. This leads to horizontal specialisms within both camps. He also identified a limited number of subdisciplines involving the vertical integration of phenomena from more than one level. It is argued that the problem with social psychology is that it is neither a horizontal specialism nor a vertical subdiscipline. In some ways the task of integrating the two parent disciplines is easier than it was at the end of the 19th century and in some ways it is more difficult. This is due to a number of largely uncorrelated and uncoordinated changes in the parent discipline themselves which are identified and discussed in the course of the paper. It is argued that the shift of interest in the evolution of sociology has been from the macro‐ to the micro‐level whilst in psychology the shift has generally been in the opposite direction.This article is dedicated to J. Van Leent.
Uniqueness, continuity and the existence of implicit functions in constructive analysis
Authors: Diener H. , Schuster P. 
Published: June 2011

AbstractWe extract a quantitative variant of uniqueness from the usual hypotheses of the implicit function theorem. Not only does this lead to an a priori proof of continuity, but also to an alternative, full proof of the implicit function theorem. Additionally, we investigate implicit functions as a case of the unique existence paradigm with parameters.
Susceptibility of
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Isolates from Intra-Abdominal Infections and Molecular Characterization of Ertapenem-Resistant Isolates
Authors: Hawser Stephen P. , Bouchillon Samuel K. , Lascols Christine , Hackel Meredith , Hoban Daryl J. , Badal Robert E. , Woodford Neil , Livermore David M. 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACT

A total of 2,841 clinical isolates of
Klebsiella pneumoniae
from intra-abdominal infections worldwide were collected in the Study for Monitoring Antimicrobial Resistance Trends (SMART) during 2008 and 2009. Overall, 22.4% of isolates had extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs). The most active antibiotics among the 11 tested were imipenem, amikacin, and ertapenem, though even these, like all other comparators, were less consistently active against ESBL-positive isolates than against ESBL-negative isolates. Globally, 6.5% of isolates were ertapenem resistant based on the June 2010 clinical breakpoints published by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, with MICs of ≥1 μg/ml. Molecular characterization of 43 isolates with ertapenem MICs of ≥4 μg/ml showed that they variously produced CTX-M or SHV ESBLs combined with altered impermeability and/or had KPC (
n
= 28), OXA-48 (
n
= 3), or VIM (
n
= 1) carbapenemases. Further monitoring of ertapenem susceptibility and molecular characterization of ertapenem-resistant isolates are needed.
Simplified Estimation of Aminoglycoside Pharmacokinetics in Underweight and Obese Adult Patients
Authors: Pai Manjunath P. , Nafziger Anne N. , Bertino Joseph S. 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACT

Aminoglycosides are an important class of agents that are used in combination antimicrobial regimens to treat bacterial pathogens. Dosing of aminoglycosides is typically based on total body weight. However, the most appropriate alternative body size descriptor for dosing aminoglycosides at the extremes of weight (underweight and obese) is not known. Also, the predictive performance of newer formulas to assess kidney function, such as the modification of diet in renal disease (MDRD) and chronic kidney disease-epidemiology (CKD-EPI) equations compared to the Cockcroft-Gault equation to predict aminoglycoside clearance, is not known. We sought to examine dosing of aminoglycosides across the extremes of weight using a variety of formulas to assess kidney function. Pharmacokinetic data were obtained from a set of prospectively collected data (1982 to 2003) of 2,073 (53.5% male) adult patients that included 497 tobramycin- and 1,576 gentamicin-treated cases. The median (minimum, maximum) age, weight, and body mass index were 66 (18, 98) years, 70.0 (29.7, 206.7) kg, and 24.4 (11.3, 73.8) kg/m
2
, respectively. The percentage of underweight, normal-weight, overweight, and obese cases based on the World Health Organization classification were 8.8%, 45.5%, 26.5%, and 19.2%, respectively. The aminoglycoside volume of distribution was normalized to several alternative body size descriptors. Only lean body weight estimated by the method of S. Janmahasatian et al. (Clin. Pharmacokinet. 44:1051–1065, 2005) normalized the volume of distribution for both tobramycin and gentamicin across all weight strata, with the estimate being approximately 0.45 liter/kg. Aminoglycoside dosing can be simplified across all weight strata with the use of lean body weight. The CKD-EPI equation best predicts aminoglycoside clearance.
Antimicrobial Susceptibilities of Commonly Encountered Bacterial Isolates to Fosfomycin Determined by Agar Dilution and Disk Diffusion Methods
Authors: Lu Ching-Lan , Liu Chia-Ying , Huang Yu-Tsung , Liao Chun-Hsing , Teng Lee-Jene , Turnidge John D. , Hsueh Po-Ren 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACT

We studied the antimicrobial activity of fosfomycin against 960 strains of commonly encountered bacteria associated with urinary tract infection using standard agar dilution and disk diffusion methods. Species studied included 3 common species of
Enterobacteriaceae
,
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
,
Acinetobacter baumannii
, and
Stenotrophomonas maltophilia
; methicillin-susceptible and -resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
; and vancomycin-susceptible and resistant
Enterococcus faecalis
and
E. faecium
. MICs and inhibition zone diameters were interpreted in accordance with both the currently recommended Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) criteria for urinary tract isolates of
Escherichia coli
and
Enterococcus faecalis
and the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) criteria for
Enterobacteriaceae
. Tentative zone diameter interpretive criteria were developed for species not currently published by CLSI or EUCAST.
Escherichia coli
was uniformly susceptible to fosfomycin, as were most strains of
Klebsiella pneumoniae
and
Enterobacter cloacae. A. baumannii
was resistant to fosfomycin, while the prevalence of resistance in
P. aeruginosa
and
S. maltophilia
was greatly affected by the choice of MIC breakpoint. New tentative zone diameter criteria for
K. pneumoniae
,
E. cloacae
,
S. aureus
, and
E. faecium
were able to be set, providing some interim laboratory guidance for disk diffusion until further breakpoint evaluations are undertaken by CLSI and EUCAST.
Efficacy of Human Simulated Exposures of Ceftaroline Administered at 600 Milligrams Every 12 Hours against Phenotypically Diverse Staphylococcus aureus Isolates
Authors: Keel Rebecca A. , Crandon Jared L. , Nicolau David P. 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACT

Ceftaroline exhibits bactericidal activity against Gram-positive pathogens, including methicillin-susceptible (MSSA) and methicillin-resistant (MRSA)
Staphylococcus aureus
, as well as common Gram-negative pathogens. This study evaluated the efficacy of human simulated exposures of ceftaroline against
S. aureus
in both the neutropenic and immunocompetent mouse thigh infection models. Twenty-six
S. aureus
isolates (4 MSSA, 22 MRSA) with ceftaroline MICs ranging from 0.125 to 4 μg/ml were collected. All isolates were tested in the neutropenic model and a subset of 13 MRSA isolates were tested in the immunocompetent model. Two hours after inoculation, a ceftaroline regimen that simulated the percentage of the dosing interval that free-drug concentrations remained above the MIC of the infecting organism (
f
T>MIC) of humans administered ceftaroline at 600 mg every 12 h (q12h) infused over 1 h was given. The change in log
10
CFU/ml after 24 h of treatment was analyzed relative to the 0- and 24-h controls for neutropenic and immunocompetent mice, respectively. The human simulated regimen resulted in efficacy against all isolates tested in both infection models. In the neutropenic model, a 0.95 to 3.28 log
10
CFU/ml reduction was observed when compared with the 0-h control, whereas for the immunocompetent model, all isolates obtained a >1 log
10
CFU/ml reduction (log
10
CFU/ml reduction range: 1.06 to 2.43) in bacterial density. Irrespective of immune competency, a reduction in bacterial density was observed at the highest MIC of 4 μg/ml (
f
T>MIC of 27.5%). Human simulated exposures of ceftaroline 600 mg q12h provided predictable efficacy against all tested
S. aureus
isolates in the mouse thigh model independent of immune status. These data support the clinical utility of ceftaroline against
S. aureus
, including MRSA, with MICs of ≤4 μg/ml.
In Vitro
Echinocandin Susceptibility of
Aspergillus
Isolates from Patients Enrolled in the Transplant-Associated Infection Surveillance Network
Authors: Lockhart Shawn R. , Zimbeck Alicia J. , Baddley John W. , Marr Kieren A. , Andes David R. , Walsh Thomas J. , Kauffman Carol A. , Kontoyiannis Dimitrios P. , Ito James I. , Pappas Peter G. , Chiller Tom 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACT

We determined the echinocandin minimum effective concentration (MEC) values for caspofungin, micafungin, and anidulafungin against 288
Aspergillus
isolates prospectively collected from transplant patients with proven or probable invasive aspergillosis between 2001 and 2006 as part of the Transplant-Associated Infection Surveillance Network (TRANSNET). We demonstrated that the vast majority of
Aspergillus
isolates had MEC values at or below the epidemiological cutoff values for caspofungin, micafungin, and anidulafungin, including those from patients who had received caspofungin.
Regulation of Type VI Secretion System during Burkholderia pseudomallei Infection
Authors: Chen Yahua , Wong Jocelyn , Sun Guang Wen , Liu Yichun , Tan Gek-Yen Gladys , Gan Yunn-Hwen 
Published: June 2011

ABSTRACT

Type III and type VI secretion systems (T3SSs and T6SSs, respectively) are critical virulence determinants in several Gram-negative pathogens. In
Burkholderia pseudomallei
, the T3SS-3 and T6SS-1 clusters have been implicated in bacterial virulence in mammalian hosts. We recently discovered a regulatory cascade that coordinately controls the expression of T3SS-3 and T6SS-1. BsaN is a central regulator located within T3SS-3 for the expression of T3SS-3 effectors and regulators for T6SS-1 such as VirA-VirG (VirAG) and BprC. Whereas T6SS-1 gene expression was completely dependent on BprC when bacteria were grown in medium, the expression inside host cells was dependent on the two-component sensor-regulator VirAG, with the exception of the
tssAB
operon, which was dependent primarily on BprC. VirAG and BprC initiate different transcriptional start sites within T6SS-1, and VirAG is able to activate the
hcp1
promoter directly. We also provided novel evidence that
virAG
,
bprC
, and
tssAB
are critical for T6SS-1 function in macrophages. Furthermore,
virAG
and
bprC
regulator mutants were avirulent in mice, demonstrating the absolute dependence of T6SS-1 expression on these regulators
in vivo
.
Preventing bath water scalds: a cost-effectiveness analysis of introducing bath thermostatic mixer valves in social housing
Authors: Phillips Ceri J , Humphreys Ioan , Kendrick Denise , Stewart Jane , Hayes Mike , Nish Lesley , Stone David , Coupland Carol , Towner Elizabeth 
Published: June 2011

AimsTo assess the cost-effectiveness of installing thermostatic mixer valves (TMVs) in reducing risks of bath water scalds and estimate the costs of avoiding bath water scalds.MethodsThe evaluation was undertaken from the perspective of the UK public sector, and conducted in conjunction with a randomised control trial of TMVs installed in social housing in Glasgow. Installation costs were borne by the social housing organisation, while support materials were provided by the UK NHS. Effectiveness was represented by the number of families with at-risk bath water temperatures pre- and post-installation, and the number of bath scalds avoided as a result of installation. Differences in the number of families with at-risk temperatures between groups were derived from the RCT. Cost-effectiveness was assessed and a series of one-way sensitivity analyses were conducted.ResultsUnit costs associated with installation were calculated to be £13.68, while costs associated with treating bath water scalds ranged from £25 226 to £71 902. The cost of an avoided bath water scald ranged from net savings to public purse of £1887 to £75 520 and at baseline produced a net saving of £3 229 008; that is, £1.41 saved for every £1 spent.ConclusionIt is very likely that installing TMVs as standard in social housing in new buildings and major refurbishments accompanied by educational information represents value for money.Trial registration numberISRCTN:21179067.
Efficient and Deterministic Parallel Placement for FPGAs
Authors: Ludwin Adrian , Betz Vaughn 
Published: June 2011

We describe a parallel simulated annealing algorithm for FPGA placement. The algorithm proposes and evaluates multiple moves in parallel, and has been incorporated into Altera’s Quartus II CAD system. Across a set of 18 industrial benchmark circuits, we achieve geometric average speedups during the quench of 2.7x and 4.0x on four and eight processors, respectively, with individual circuits achieving speedups of up to 3.6x and 5.9x. Over the course of the entire anneal, we achieve speedups of up to 2.8x and 3.7x, with geometric average speedups of 2.1x and 2.4x.
Our algorithm is the first parallel placer to optimize for criteria other than wirelength, such as critical path length, and is one of the few deterministic parallel placement algorithms. We discuss the challenges involved in combining these two features and the new techniques we used to overcome them. We also quantify the impact of maintaining determinism on eight cores, and find that while it reduces performance by approximately 15% relative to an ideal speedup of 8.0x, hardware limitations are a larger factor and reduce performance by 30--40%. We then suggest possible enhancements to allow our approach to scale to 16 cores and beyond.
Gate-Level Simulation with GPU Computing
Authors: Chatterjee Debapriya , Deorio Andrew , Bertacco Valeria 
Published: June 2011

Functional verification of modern digital designs is a crucial, time-consuming task impacting not only the correctness of the final product, but also its time to market. At the heart of most of today’s verification efforts is logic simulation, used heavily to verify the functional correctness of a design for a broad range of abstraction levels. In mainstream industry verification methodologies, typical setups coordinate the validation effort of a complex digital system by distributing logic simulation tasks among vast server farms for months at a time. Yet, the performance of logic simulation is not sufficient to satisfy the demand, leading to incomplete validation processes, escaped functional bugs, and continuous pressure on the EDA industry to develop faster simulation solutions.
In this work we propose GCS, a solution to boost the performance of logic simulation, gate-level simulation in particular, by more than a factor of 10 using recent hardware advances in Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) technology. Noting the vast available parallelism in the hardware of modern GPUs and the inherently parallel structures of gate-level netlists, we propose novel algorithms for the efficient mapping of complex designs to parallel hardware.
Our novel simulation architecture maximizes the utilization of concurrent hardware resources while minimizing expensive communication overhead. The experimental results show that our GPU-based simulator is capable of handling the validation of industrial-size designs while delivering more than an order-of-magnitude performance improvements on average, over the fastest multithreaded simulators commercially available.
Exosome Targeting of Tumor Antigens Expressed by Cancer Vaccines Can Improve Antigen Immunogenicity and Therapeutic Efficacy
Authors: Rountree Ryan B. , Mandl Stefanie J. , Nachtwey James M. , Dalpozzo Katie , Do Lisa , Lombardo John R. , Schoonmaker Peter L. , Brinkmann Kay , Dirmeier Ulrike , Laus Reiner , Delcayre Alain 
Published: June 2011

Abstract
MVA-BN-PRO (BN ImmunoTherapeutics) is a candidate immunotherapy product for the treatment of prostate cancer. It encodes 2 tumor-associated antigens, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), and is derived from the highly attenuated modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) virus stock known as MVA-BN. Past work has shown that the immunogenicity of antigens can be improved by targeting their localization to exosomes, which are small, 50- to 100–nm diameter vesicles secreted by most cell types. Exosome targeting is achieved by fusing the antigen to the C1C2 domain of the lactadherin protein. To test whether exosome targeting would improve the immunogenicity of PSA and PAP, 2 additional versions of MVA-BN-PRO were produced, targeting either PSA (MVA-BN-PSA-C1C2) or PAP (MVA-BN-PAP-C1C2) to exosomes, while leaving the second transgene untargeted. Treatment of mice with MVA-BN-PAP-C1C2 led to a striking increase in the immune response against PAP. Anti-PAP antibody titers developed more rapidly and reached levels that were 10- to 100-fold higher than those for mice treated with MVA-BN-PRO. Furthermore, treatment with MVA-BN-PAP-C1C2 increased the frequency of PAP-specific T cells 5-fold compared with mice treated with MVA-BN-PRO. These improvements translated into a greater frequency of tumor rejection in a PAP-expressing solid tumor model. Likewise, treatment with MVA-BN-PSA-C1C2 increased the antigenicity of PSA compared with treatment with MVA-BN-PRO and resulted in a trend of improved antitumor efficacy in a PSA-expressing tumor model. These experiments confirm that targeting antigen localization to exosomes is a viable approach for improving the therapeutic potential of MVA-BN-PRO in humans. Cancer Res; 71(15); 5235–44. ©2011 AACR.
Abnormal Expression of the ERG Transcription Factor in Prostate Cancer Cells Activates Osteopontin
Authors: Flajollet Sébastien , Tian Tian V. , Flourens Anne , Tomavo Nathalie , Villers Arnauld , Bonnelye Edith , Aubert Sébastien , Leroy Xavier , Duterque-Coquillaud Martine 
Published: June 2011

Abstract
Osteopontin (OPN) is an extracellular matrix glycophosphoprotein that plays a key role in the metastasis of a wide variety of cancers. The high level of OPN expression in prostate cells is associated with malignancy and reduced survival of the patient. Recent studies on prostate cancer (PCa) tissue have revealed recurrent genomic rearrangements involving the fusion of the 5′ untranslated region of a prostate-specific androgen-responsive gene with a gene coding for transcription factors from the ETS family. The most frequently identified fusion gene is TMPRSS2:ERG, which causes ERG protein overexpression in PCa cells. ERG is a transcription factor linked to skeletogenesis. This study was designed to test whether ERG and the product of the TMPRSS2:ERG fusion gene modulate OPN gene expression in PCa cells. To characterize ERG and TMPRSS2:ERG transcriptional activity of OPN, we focused on ETS binding sites (EBS) localized in conserved regions of the promoter. Using in vitro and in vivo molecular assays, we showed that ERG increases OPN expression and binds to an EBS (nt −115 to −118) in the OPN promoter. Moreover, stable transfection of prostate tumor cell lines by TMPRSS2:ERG upregulates endogenous OPN expression. Finally, in human prostate tumor samples, detection of the TMPRSS2:ERG fusion gene was significantly associated with OPN overexpression. Taken together, these data suggest that OPN is an ERG-target gene in PCa where the abnormal expression of the transcription factor ERG, due to the TMPRSS2:ERG fusion, disturbs the expression of genes that play an important role in PCa cells and associated metastases. Mol Cancer Res; 9(7); 914–24. ©2011 AACR.
Stabilisation of atherosclerotic plaques
Authors: Bentzon Jacob Fog , Daemen Mat , Falk Erling , Garcia-Garcia Hector M. , Herrmann Joerg , Hoefer Imo , Jukema J. Wouter , Krams Rob , Kwak Brenda R. , Marx Nikolaus , Naruszewicz Marek , Newby Andrew , Pasterkamp Gerard , Serruys Patrick W. J. C. , Waltenberger Johannes , Weber Christian , Tokgözoglu Lale , Ylä-Herttuala Seppo 
Published: June 2011

SummaryPlaque rupture and subsequent thrombotic occlusion of the coronary artery account for as many as three quarters of myocardial infarctions. The concept of plaque stabilisation emerged about 20 years ago to explain the discrepancy between the reduction of cardiovascular events in patients receiving lipid lowering therapy and the small decrease seen in angiographic evaluation of atherosclerosis. Since then, the concept of a vulnerable plaque has received a lot of attention in basic and clinical research leading to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of the vulnerable plaque and acute coronary syndromes. From pathological and clinical observations, plaques that have recently ruptured have thin fibrous caps, large lipid cores, exhibit outward remodelling and invasion by vasa vasorum. Ruptured plaques are also focally inflamed and this may be a common denominator of the other pathological features. Plaques with similar characteristics, but which have not yet ruptured, are believed to be vulnerable to rupture. Experimental studies strongly support the validity of anti-inflammatory approaches to promote plaque stability. Unfortunately, reliable non-invasive methods for imaging and detection of such plaques are not yet readily available. There is a strong biological basis and supportive clinical evidence that low-density lipoprotein lowering with statins is useful for the stabilisation of vulnerable plaques. There is also some clinical evidence for the usefulness of antiplatelet agents, beta blockers and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors for plaque stabilisation. Determining the causes of plaque rupture and designing diagnostics and interventions to prevent them are urgent priorities for current basic and clinical research in cardiovascular area.