bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Activity of Gatifloxacin in an In Vitro Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic Model against
Staphylococcus aureus
Strains either Susceptible to Ciprofloxacin or Exhibiting Various Levels and Mechanisms of Ciprofloxacin Resistance
Authors: Ba Boubakar B. , Arpin Corinne , Vidaillac Céline , Chausse Arnaud , Saux Marie-Claude , Quentin Claudine 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACT

Gatifloxacin (GAT) is a new 8-methoxy fluoroquinolone with enhanced activity against gram-positive cocci. Its activity was studied in an in vitro pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic model against five
Staphylococcus aureus
strains, either susceptible to ciprofloxacin or exhibiting various levels and mechanisms of ciprofloxacin (CIP) resistance: the ATCC 25923 reference strain (MICs of CIP and GAT: 0.5 and 0.1 μg/ml, respectively), its efflux mutant SA-1 (16 and 0.5 μg/ml; mutation in the
norA
promoter region), and three clinical strains, Sa2102 (2 and 0.2 μg/ml), Sa2667 (4 and 0.5 μg/ml), and Sa2669 (16 and 1 μg/ml), carrying mutations in the
grlA
(Ser80Tyr or Phe) and
gyrA
(Ser84Ala) quinolone resistance-determining regions (QRDRs) for Sa2669. Plasmatic pharmacokinetic profiles after daily 1-h perfusion of 400 mg for 48 h were accurately simulated. Thus, mean maximum concentration of drug in serum values for the two administration intervals were 5.36 and 5.80 μg/ml, respectively, and the corresponding half-life at β-phase values were 8.68 and 7.80 h (goodness of fit coefficient, >0.98). Therapeutic concentrations of GAT allowed the complete eradication of the susceptible strain within 12 h (difference between the bacterial counts at the beginning of the treatment and at a defined time: −2.18 at the 1-h time point [
t
1
] and −6.80 at
t
24
and
t
48
; the bacterial killing and regrowth curve from 0 to 48 h was 30.2 h × log CFU/milliliter). However, mutants (M) with GAT MICs increased by 4- to 40-fold were selected from the other strains. They acquired mutations either supplementary (MSa2102 and MSa2667) or different (Ala84Val for MSa2669) in
gyrA
or in both
gyrA
and
grlA
QRDRs (MSA-1). MSa2667 additionally overproduced efflux system(s) without
norA
promoter modification. Thus, GAT properties should allow the total elimination of ciprofloxacin-susceptible
S. aureus
, but resistant mutants might emerge from strains showing reduced susceptibility to older fluoroquinolones independently of the first-step mutation(s).
Pregnancy-Related Effects on Nelfinavir-M8 Pharmacokinetics: a Population Study with 133 Women
Authors: Hirt Déborah , Treluyer Jean-Marc , Jullien Vincent , Firtion Ghislaine , Chappuy Hélène , Rey Elisabeth , Pons Gérard , Mandelbrot Laurent , Urien Saïk 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACTA relationship between nelfinavir antiretroviral efficacy and plasma concentrations has been previously established. As physiological changes associated with pregnancy have a large impact on the pharmacokinetics of many drugs, a nelfinavir population study with women was developed, and the large intersubject variability was analyzed in order to optimize individual treatment schedules for this drug during pregnancy. A population pharmacokinetic model was developed in order to describe the concentration time course of nelfinavir and its metabolite M8 in pregnant and nonpregnant women. Individual characteristics, such as age, body weight, and weeks of gestation or delivery, which may influence nelfinavir-M8 pharmacokinetics were investigated. Data from therapeutic drug monitoring in 133 women treated with nelfinavir were retrospectively analyzed with NONMEM. Nelfinavir pharmacokinetics was described by a one-compartment model with linear absorption and elimination and M8 produced from the nelfinavir central compartment. Mean pharmacokinetic estimates and the corresponding intersubject percent variabilities for a nonpregnant woman were the following: absorption rate, 0.83 h−1; absorption lag time, 0.85 h; apparent nelfinavir elimination clearance (CL10/F), 35.5 liters/h (50%); apparent volume of distribution (V/F), 596 liters (118%); apparent formation clearance to M8 (CL1M/F), 0.65 liters/h (69%); and M8 elimination rate constant (kM0), 3.3 h−1(59%). During pregnancy, we observed significant increases in nelfinavir (44.4 liters/h) and M8 (5 h−1) elimination but unchanged nelfinavir transformation clearance to M8, suggesting an induction of CYP3A4 but no effect on CYP2C19. Apparent nelfinavir clearance and volume showed a twofold increase on the day of delivery, suggesting a decrease in bioavailability on this day. The M8 elimination rate was increased by concomitant administration of nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. A trough nelfinavir plasma concentration above 1 mg/liter was previously shown to improve the antiretroviral response. The Bayesian individual pharmacokinetic estimates suggested that the dosage should not be changed in pregnant women but may be doubled on the day of delivery.
Caspofungin Susceptibility in
Aspergillus
and Non-
Aspergillus
Molds: Inhibition of Glucan Synthase and Reduction of β-
d
-1,3 Glucan Levels in Culture
Authors: Kahn Jennifer Nielsen , Hsu Ming-Jo , Racine Fred , Giacobbe Robert , Motyl Mary 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACT

Caspofungin inhibits synthesis of β-
d
-1,3 glucan, essential to cell walls in
Candida
and
Aspergillus
spp., but activity against less common molds is largely uncharacterized. We demonstrate that caspofungin inhibits β-
d
-1,3 glucan synthesis and reduces in vitro growth of clinical isolates from the genera
Alternaria
,
Curvularia
,
Scedosporium
,
Acremonium
,
Bipolaris
, and
Trichoderma.
Mutant Prevention Concentrations of Levofloxacin Alone and in Combination with Azithromycin, Ceftazidime, Colistin (Polymyxin E), Meropenem, Piperacillin-Tazobactam, and Tobramycin against
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Authors: Zhanel George G. , Mayer Matthew , Laing Nancy , Adam Heather J. 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACT

The mutant prevention concentrations (MPCs) of levofloxacin alone and in combination with ceftazidime, colistin (polymyxin E), meropenem, piperacillin-tazobactam, and tobramycin were established against
Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Antibiotic combinations using levofloxacin with any antibiotic with individual activity against
P. aeruginosa
resulted in synergistic lowering (an at-least-fourfold reduction) of the isolate's MPC.
Assessing Resistance to the Echinocandin Antifungal Drug Caspofungin in
Candida albicans
by Profiling Mutations in
FKS1
Authors: Balashov Sergey V. , Park Steven , Perlin David S. 
Published: May 2006

ABSTRACT

Resistance of clinical isolates of
Candida albicans
to the echinocandin drug caspofungin is slowly emerging and is linked to mutations in short conserved regions in the
FKS1
gene. The most prominent changes occurred at the serine 645 position in Fks1p with substitutions of proline, tyrosine, and phenylalanine. An allele-specific real-time PCR molecular-beacon assay was developed for rapid identification of drug resistance by targeting
FKS1
mutations. Mutations altering serine 645 were reliably identified in both heterozygous and homozygous states. The molecular-beacon assay was used to evaluate two large collections of spontaneous mutants from separate strains of
C. albicans
with resistance (MICs, >16 μg/ml) to caspofungin with the goal of understanding the relationship between
FKS1
mutations and echinocandin resistance. Of 85 resistant isolates recovered, all were identified with mutations in
FKS1
; 93% showed changes at Ser645, with 62% displaying a characteristic S645P substitution expressed as either a homozygous or a heterozygous mutation in
FKS1
. Two other prominent amino acid substitutions, S645Y and S645F, were found at frequencies of 22% and 8%, respectively. Three new mutations were also identified: T1922C, G1932T, and C1934G, encoding F641S, L644F, and S645C substitutions, respectively. One strain had the double amino acid substitution L644F and S645C. Allele-specific probes were combined in a multiplex assay for reliable screening of known
FKS1
mutations. These data support the importance of FKS1p substitutions in echinocandin resistance and demonstrate the feasibility of applying molecular screening for routine resistance assessment.
Mothers and the Well-being of the State In Tang China
Authors: Chiu-Duke Josephine 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThis study, based on an examination of evidence from the two Tang dynastic histories with cross references to the relevant Tang anecdotes and funerary inscriptions, discusses the role of mothers in the well-being of the Tang state. The paper argues that motherhood occupied a crucial place in the two dynastic histories and demonstrates that the Tang official depiction of motherhood fitted into a basic pattern of how mothers were represented in earlier traditional Chinese portrayals of motherhood. This essay discloses that there are two possible scenarios behind the placement of the Tang official narratives of maternal acts. Both of these scenarios represent a historiographical recording of maternal actions that the male elite narrators felt were directly or indirectly involved in the preservation of the state.
Strange Encounters on the Cantonese Frontier: Region and Gender in Kuang Lu's (1604-1650) Chiya
Authors: Miles Steven 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThis article analyzes Chiya, a short text produced in the 1630s that describes the southwestern province of Guangxi. In assessing the motivations of the author, Kuang Lu, this article takes a number of perspectives related to region and gender. Kuang was a pioneering Cantonese travel writer who visited Guangxi under unusual circumstances. He describes in exotic and fantastical terms an area largely inhabited by indigenous peoples that was nevertheless in the process of being incorporated into a Cantonese-centered regional economy. In passages on witches and a female warrior, however, Kuang entertains readers with gender, ethnic, and regional inversions. These inversions ultimately functioned as a means of constructing an image of masculine eccentricity.
Paintings Done for Women in Ming-Qing China?
Authors: Cahill James 
Published: May 2006

AbstractAn eight-leaf album of scenes of women in domestic settings, painted by a seventeenth-century Suzhou artist, opens the question of whether we can identify a body of Ming-Qing paintings arguably addressed to an audience and clientele of women. These would include hanging-scroll representations of women meant for hanging in their rooms, and handscroll depictions of stories and subjects of special interest to them, combining narrative paintings with texts, for private looking and reading. These are quite separate from the more prestigious name-artist works valued within the male world of collecting and connoisseurship; the question of "genuineness" may be irrelevant to them.
The Rebellion and the Icon: Holy Revolutions in the Philippines
Authors: Bautista Julius 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThe subject of this paper is the politics of 'use' and 'misuse' of religious iconography during popular uprisings in the Philippines. It will discuss the ways in which religious icons, specifically the Santo Niño and Our Lady of EDSA, are co-opted for specific political and social agendas. "Rebellion" is broadly defined here as the combined action of a large group of people against what they see as the oppressive and hegemonic force that prevents the full enactment of their common interest. The concern here is to describe how mass action incorporates the imagery of divine personages so that revolutions are, simultaneously, acts of worship and rebellion. This paper asks the following question: What are the processes by which religious iconographies contextualise rebellion in the Philippines? What are the circumstances that led to a repetition of such events throughout the history of the country? And finally, under whose authority are rebellions and protests in the Philippines labelled and packaged as 'holy' and 'divine'? This paper will argue that the 'holiness' of religiously inspired mass uprisings is contingent upon specific acts of legitimisation, 'packaging' and semantic contestation.
Religion and Politics: Nationalism, Globalisation and Empire
Authors: Turner Bryan 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThe relationship between religion and politics can be examined under three rather different historical circumstances: nation-states, the global system, and empire. Although these three socio-political contexts may overlap in time and space, they are examined here in their specific historical settings. These three contexts are explored in a broadly historical or evolutionary framework, and my conceptual model is explicitly based on the famous essay by Robert Bellah (1964) on 'religious evolution', which traced the development of religion towards its individualistic, pluralistic and denominational features in a secular age. The point of this framework is heuristic, namely to help us to think more clearly about the contemporary period.
From Local Practice to Transnational Network — Saints, Shrines and Sufis among Tamil Muslims in Singapore
Authors: Tschacher Torsten 
Published: May 2006

AbstractPractices of saint-veneration among Muslims are often perceived as thoroughly localized traditions, which cannot be transplanted to other localities. For this reason, much of the scholarship on the diasporic Muslim communities has assumed that practices of saint-veneration would decline in the Diaspora. Yet, most of this scholarship focused on the relatively young Muslim communities in Western countries. This paper aims to assess this theory by investigating saint-veneration among Tamil Muslims in Singapore, who have been a part of Singaporean Muslim society since the early nineteenth century. It will argue that, contrary to current theories, saint-veneration among Tamil Muslims did not decline among the Singaporean Tamil Diaspora. Rather, Tamil Muslims participated in creating a landscape of shrines in the city by inking their practices with those of other Muslim communities, while at the same time maintaining attachments to saints and shrines back in India.
The Rift Within An Imagined Community: Understanding Nationalism(s) in Bangladesh
Authors: Khan Mahmud Hasan , Hossain Ishtiaq 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThe continuing debate in Bangladesh over the national identity of its people — whether one is a Bangali or Bangladeshi — is a post-1975 phenomenon. One of the main themes of the independence war (1971) was 'Bangali nationalism'. However, it was replaced with 'Bangladeshi nationalism' by a military government following a bloody military coup in 1975. This major change in the label of the national identity of the people of Bangladesh requires explanation. A sharp distinction in the nature of politics in Bangladesh between the pre- and post-1975 era offers an explanation of the politics of identity in Bangladesh. This study shows that the manifestations of these political identities have been represented discursively, according to the political ideologies adopted by the successive regimes in Bangladesh. This paper studies the material representations of national identity, specifically the discursive construction of national identity in Bangladesh. It investigates also whether national identity discourse is a creation of the political rhetoric during different eras or it is "over-determined" in Althusserian terms. In other words, this paper questions the ontological basis of national identity in Bangladesh.
Faiths and Films: Countering the Crisis of Thai Buddhism from Below
Authors: Kitiarsa Pattana 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThis article addresses multiple issues of how the ongoing debates of 'Thai Buddhism in crisis' (wikrit phutthasatsana) are perceived and discussed in popular films. Purposefully selecting three film stories, namely, Fun, Bar, Karaoke (1997), Mekhong Full Moon Party (2002), and Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (2003), as case studies, the author argues that the contemporary state of Thai Buddhism is narrated and interpreted in remarkably different tones. There is virtually no moral crisis concerning Thai Buddhism reflected in the films, but a firm faith in Buddhist teachings and principles is presented, with some critical concerns of its religious agencies and performances in Thailand's post-1997 economic crisis context. In the turbulent decade of the 1990s and the new millennium, the Thai people have strongly expressed a desire for religious sanctuary. Faith in Buddhism is still strong and powerful, but its form and content are always plural and multi-dimensional. Everyday life religion, not the official or canonical Buddhism, has continuously posted itself as a prominent frame of reference for ordinary people to re-assess and re-define the problems of modernity in the midst of emerging threats of global capitalist challenges.
'Passio Caritatis' according to Origen In Ezechielem Homiliae VI in the light of DT 1,31
Authors: Eyzaguirre Samuel Fernandez 
Published: May 2006

AbstractThe idea of divine impassibility, which was firmly established in philosophical traditions, was also sustained by early Christian thinkers. Biblical references to God's passions were regarded as anthropomorphic expressions, which had to be interpreted in a metaphorical sense.Origen adheres to this type of interpretation, but in his sermons on Ezekiel he deals explicitly with God's caritatis passio, so that he appears to bring about un undeniable contradiction between divine impassibility and divine passibility. Origen solves this problem by arguing that the 'passion of charity' or 'philanthropy' must belong to the pre-existent Logos. In fact, it is the very reason for incarnation.
American Exceptionalism
Authors: Acharya Sukanta 
Published: May 2006

Neo-conservatism is the name of a robust strain in American intellectual life and American politics, a strain with a very rich history. But although some of its leading figures over the years have pronounced the end of neo-conservatism usually on grounds of its merger with (or perhaps take over by) the conservative mainstream, the term remains very much alive. This is especially true when it is used to describe a certain group of people who have sought to influence American public policy, most notably foreign policy in the post-Cold War era, and who, in the administration of George W. Bush, obtained that influence. One needs to explore the future of neo-conservatism—specifically, the ways in which it has evolved according to its own premises in the direction of current and future politics dedicated to the preservation and extension of liberal order, need to be properly understood. To get to neo-conservatism's liberal legacy, however, it is necessary to begin with liberalism's origins in the nature of politics itself.
Effect of Environmental Exposure on the Mechanical and Bonding Properties of Hybrid FRP Reinforcing Bars for Concrete Structures
Authors: Won Jong-Pil , Park Chan-Gi 
Published: May 2006

Hybrid fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) rebar has emerged as one of the most promising and affordable solutions to the brittle failure problems of ordinary FRP rebar in concrete structures. Hybrid FRP rebar stress-strain curves are linearly elastic, and contain a definite yield point followed by plastic deformation. In this study, the long-term durability performance of hybrid FRP rebar is evaluated. The mechanical properties and durability of one type of carbon FRP rebar, one type of glass FRP rebar, and two types of hybrid FRP rebars are investigated. The rebar specimens are exposed to twelve different environments, including an alkaline solution, an acid solution, a salt solution, deionized water, and repeated freezing and thawing. Short-beam, tensile, and bond tests are used to analyze the mechanical properties and durability of the rebar. The experimental results confirm the desirable resistance of hybrid FRP rebar to aggressive environments.
Control of Sound Pressure in a Piston-Pipe System using Active Compression Damping Treatment
Authors: Chen T. , Chaiwanon P. , Baz A. 
Published: May 2006

The sound pressure level in a one-dimensional piston-pipe enclosure is controlled using the Active Compression Damping (ACD) treatment. The ACD treatment, which is bonded directly to the driving piston, uses the compression and expansion deformations of visco-elastic material sandwiched between the electromagnet and a permanent magnet to dissipate the acoustic energy inside a piston-pipe system. ACD treatment is an active/passive hybrid controller. When the active part fails due to a malfunction of any element in the control circuits, the passive part still operates and gives acceptable control efforts. The behavior of the system is evaluated by monitoring the sound pressure level at the closed end of the pipe with single tone, two-tone and broad band noise excitations. Proportional and Derivative feedback control are used to activate the electromagnetic actuator. The results obtained indicate significant attenuation of the acoustic energy inside the pipe.
Evidence for subcomplexes in the Fanconi anemia pathway
Authors: Medhurst Annette L. , Laghmani El Houari , Steltenpool Jurgen , Ferrer Miriam , Fontaine Chantal , de Groot Jan , Rooimans Martin A. , Scheper Rik J. , Meetei Amom Ruhikanta , Wang Weidong , Joenje Hans , de Winter Johan P. 
Published: May 2006

AbstractFanconi anemia (FA) is a genomic instability disorder, clinically characterized by congenital abnormalities, progressive bone marrow failure, and predisposition to malignancy. Cells derived from patients with FA display a marked sensitivity to DNA cross-linking agents, such as mitomycin C (MMC). This observation has led to the hypothesis that the proteins defective in FA are involved in the sensing or repair of interstrand cross-link lesions of the DNA. A nuclear complex consisting of a majority of the FA proteins plays a crucial role in this process and is required for the monoubiquitination of a downstream target, FANCD2. Two new FA genes, FANCB and FANCL, have recently been identified, and their discovery has allowed a more detailed study into the molecular architecture of the FA pathway. We demonstrate a direct interaction between FANCB and FANCL and that a complex of these proteins binds FANCA. The interaction between FANCA and FANCL is dependent on FANCB, FANCG, and FANCM, but independent of FANCC, FANCE, and FANCF. These findings provide a framework for the protein interactions that occur “upstream” in the FA pathway and suggest that besides the FA core complex different subcomplexes exist that may have specific functions other than the monoubiquitination of FANCD2.