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BACKGROUND Cefotiam, a second-generation cephalosporin, is a broad-spectrum antibiotic with good antibacterial action against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. It is used widely in clinical practice, although bacterial drug resistance makes its clinical use problematic. The authors hypothesized that subtherapeutic concentrations of cefotiam leads to bacterial resistance. The present study was conducted to evaluate whether the standard cefotiam dosing regimen resulted in a subtherapeutic concentrations in children. METHOD Data were prospectively collected from pediatric patients with suspected or confirmed community-acquired pneumonia who were receiving cefotiam at the standard dosing regimen (40-80 mg/kg, 2 or 3 times daily). A blood sample was collected after 70%-100% of the dosing interval, and plasma concentrations were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography using an ultraviolet detector. RESULTS The data from 88 patients (age, 3.0 ± 2.8 years; weight, 15.4 ± 8.3 kg) were used for analysis. The average of cefotiam concentrations was 0.06 mcg/mL (range

This study evaluated the anesthetic and sedative effects of tricaine methanesulfonate (MS-222) on yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco), and determined its effectiveness for the simulated transportation. In the anesthesia induction and recovery experiment, the adult fish (87.5 ± 13.9 g) were treated with five concentrations of MS-222 (0, 40, 60, 90 and 110 mg L−1), respectively. The results showed that the effective concentration of MS-222 for short-term anesthesia induction was between 90 and 110 mg L−1, according to the principle of anesthesia within 3 min and recovery within 10 min. In the simulated transportation experiment, the fish (86.7 ± 11.4 g) were stored in tanks containing 40 mg L−1 MS-222 solution for 12 h. The results revealed that the content of water ammonia nitrogen in the MS-222 group was significantly lower than that of control group . The fish in the anesthetized transportation group showed a significant decrease in serum cortisol levels (43.11 ± 3.74 ng mL−1) compared with the control group (50.12 ± 0.65 ng mL−1), whereas the levels of serum glucose in fish exposed to MS-222 significantly increased . The hsp70 mRNA expression in the liver of anesthetized yellow catfish was found to significantly upregulate after transportation . Thus, it is concluded that the effective concentrations of MS-222 for sedation and anesthesia in adult yellow catfish were from 90 to 110 mg L−1, and while 40 mg L−1 MS-222 has the potential to be used for the transportation of yellow catfish within 12 h.

As a special subgroup of multiple intracranial aneurysms, mirror aneurysms are located bilaterally on the corresponding intracranial arteries. The current study sought to compare the clinical and demographic features of patients harboring mirror aneurysm, and to elucidate the corresponding risk factors. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 2641 intracranial aneurysms patients, who were admitted to our hospitals between January 2005 and June 2014. Patients were subdivided into three groups based on the inclusion criteria: (i) single (n=2250); (ii) non-mirror multiple (n=285); and (iii) mirror aneurysms (n=106). Clinical and demographic files of the three groups were collected and compared, and medical histories including stroke, hyperlipemia, hypertension, hyperglycemia, valvular heart disease were considered as potential risk factors. Potential morphological reasons for mirror cerebral aneurysms rupture, including aneurysms size, irregular walls and cerebral hemispheric dominance, were also compared. Our data showed that the male to female ratio of mirror aneurysms patients was 1:3.61, which was significantly different from that of single aneurysm (1:1.27) and multiple aneurysms (1:2.00). The prevalence of mirror aneurysms in women is higher than that in men (P

Edible yeast, Lactobacillus plantarum and Mucor were used in traditional fermentation of three food materials wheat dough, pickled Chinese cabbage and Mao-tofu, respectively. The potencies of yeast, lactic acid bacteria and Mucor to promote the degradation of four organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) including chlorpyrifos, dichlorvos, phorate and trichlorphon were studied, via detection of OPP residues by gas chromatography and calculation of OPPs degradation rate constants by a first-order reaction model. Analysis results showed that about 16.6–31.8, 96.2–99.7 and 79.7–99.5 % of the OPPs were removed from these food materials after fermentation times of 5 h, 42 and 6 days, respectively. Dichlorvos and phorate in all cases were the most labile and stable pesticides, as they gave the highest and lowest degradation rate constants, respectively. Inoculation of yeast, L. plantarum and Mucor resulted in the investigated samples enhanced OPPs rate constants by 82–270, 115–219 and 115–224 %, respectively. The OPPs in wheat dough and Mao-tofu showed 4–12 folds greater rate constants than those OPPs in pickled Chinese cabbage. It is concluded that these microorganisms are able to enhance OPPs dissipation in these fermented food materials, and yeast and Mucor are more potent than L. plantarum to degrade OPPs.

Octahedral composite sandwich panels were manufactured by integrating upper and lower skins with stitched core to overcome the weak interface between the core and skins of the sandwich structures. Quasi-static compression and shear tests were conducted to get stress–strain curves and to reveal the failure mechanisms of the structure. Dual peak stress was observed during the compression tests and each corresponding to the failure of a constituent layer. The compressive and shear strength was dominated by Euler buckling or fracture of the stitching yarns. To obtain a suitable baseline comparison, the mechanical properties were measured for aramid fiber reinforced honeycomb and aluminum honeycomb core panels. The octahedral stitched composite cores exhibited higher specific shear stiffness/strength and out-of-plane compressive strength than conventional sandwich cores, but showed lower compressive stiffness.

BACKGROUND Previous research has shown that fresh milk might be polluted by some organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs). In this study the dissipation of nine OPPs, namely chlorpyrifos, chlorpyrifos-methyl, diazinon, dichlorvos, fenthion, malathion, phorate, pirimiphos-methyl and trichlorphon, in skimmed milk was investigated to clarify their susceptibility towards lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yogurt starters. RESULTS Skimmed milk was spiked with nine OPPs, inoculated with five strains of LAB and two commercial yogurt starters at 42 °C for 24 and 5 h respectively and subjected to quantitative OPP analysis by gas chromatography. Degradation kinetic constants of these OPPs were calculated based on a first-order reaction model. OPP dissipation in the milk was enhanced by the inoculated strains and starters, resulting in OPP concentrations decreasing by 7.0–64.6 and 7.4–19.2% respectively. Totally, the nine OPPs were more susceptible to Lactobacillus bulgaricus, as it enhanced their degradation rate constants by 18.3–133.3%. Higher phosphatase production of the assayed stains was observed to bring about greater OPP degradation in the milk. CONCLUSION Both LAB and yogurt starters could enhance OPP dissipation in skimmed milk, with the nine OPPs studied having different susceptibilities towards them. Phosphatase was a key factor governing OPP dissipation. The LAB of higher phosphatase production have more potential to decrease OPPs in fermented foods. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry

The forms and the V-I characteristics of vacuum arc have great influence in the vacuum circuit breakers’ protection and control of power system. An experimental set-up was thus designed for vacuum switching arc measurement of V-I characteristics was used and an image collection system was designed to collect the images of vacuum arc used high-speed camera CMOS with the experimental setup, the V-I characteristics and forms of vacuum arc was researched, the curve of V-I was drawn and the images was analyzed. All these provide experimental basis for the analysis on basic physical theory of vacuum switching arc.

Via He’s semi-inverse method, a variational principle is established for coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations with variable coefficients and high nonlinearity. The result obtained includes the ones known from the open literature as special cases.

In this paper, the variational iteration method is used to solve the Cauchy problem. Some examples are given to elucidate the solution procedure and reliability of the obtained results. The variational iteration algorithm leads to exact solutions in the present study.

In this work the exp-function method is applied to search for a generalized solitary solution of the fifth order Caudrey–Dodd–Gibbon (CDG) equation, the obtained result includes naturally those in open literature as special cases. The work highlights the significant features of the exp-function method.

Huxley equation is a core mathematical framework for modern biophysically based neural modeling. It is often useful to obtain a generalized solitary solution for fully understanding its physical meanings. There are many methods to solve the equation, but each method can only lead to a special solution. This paper suggests a relatively new method called the Exp-function method for this purpose. The obtained result includes all solutions in open literature as special cases, and the generalized solution with some free parameters might imply some fascinating meanings hidden in Huxley equation.

In this paper, we introduce a random iteration process, and prove that the iteration process converges to a random fixed point of non-self asymptotically nonexpansive random mappings in real uniformly convex separable Banach spaces. The results presented in this paper are new for random mappings.

To improve intelligence level of the rural 400V power distribution grid, a new scheme of smart power distribution management is introduced. Smart power distribution cabinets handled by ARM-LINUX based intelligent systems are employed, which have mobile (GPRS/CDMA/3G) networking capability to communicate with the local power dispatch center, so that each cabinet can transfer grid parameters and other information like power pilferage alarms to and receive commands from the dispatch center. A .NET website is used as the management interface, so that dispatchers can manage the whole power distribution process easily. The new scheme can realize smart 400V power distribution management from top to bottom and can greatly improve intelligence level of the rural power grid.

Some new exact solutions are obtained for the nonlinear dispersive K(m, n) equations using the expfunction method. The results show that the method is straightforward and concise and its applications are promising.

Using He's semi-inverse method, a variational principle for the Broer–Kaup–Kupershmidt equation is established.

The exp-function method is used to find exact solutions of the generalized nonlinear heat conduction equations. The results obtained include all the solutions from the open literature as special cases.

Using He’s semi-inverse method, a variational principle for physiological flow is established.