Historical Cohort Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Piperacillin/Tazobactam Versus Fourth-Generation Cephalosporins for Empirical Treatment of Febrile Neutropenia in Patients with Hematological Malignancies

We retrospectively evaluated the efficacy and safety of the combination drug piperacillin/tazobactam (PIPC/TAZ) in comparison with those of fourth-generation cephalosporins (4th Cephs) as initial empirical treatment in hematological malignancies patients with febrile neutropenia (FN). Among 200 patients assessed in this study, 49 had received PIPC/TAZ and 151 4th Cephs. Patient background characteristics were comparable between the two treatment groups. The overall efficacy rate in those receiving 4th Cephs and PIPC/TAZ was 57.0% (86/151 patients) and 59.2% (29/49 patients), respectively, with no significant difference detected between the two treatment regimens (P = 0.78). Treat-ment did not need to be discontinued or interrupted due to development of adverse drug reactions in any of the patients. Therefore in this study the efficacy and safety of PIPC/TAZ as initial antimicrobial treatment for FN in patients with hematological malignancies were not inferior to those of 4th Cephs. Based on the preliminary data obtained in this study, we propose to conduct a multicenter, prospective, controlled study to compare PIPC/TAZ versus CFPM given as empirical antimicrobial treatment against FN in patients with hematological malignancies.

Search for Signatures of New Heavy Top Quark of the Fourth Generation at the Hadron Colliders

The Fourth Generation and Vector Like Quark (VLQ) models are extensions of the Standard Model of particles physics. These models predict the existence of new heavy quarks like heavy top quark t' with electric charge 2/3 and heavy bottom quark b' with electric charge -1/3. The t' and b' will act the fourth generation quarks. In current work we present a search for a pair production of a fourth generation quark, t' quark and its antiparticle, followed by their decays to Z, W bosons followed by decays to trilepton e-e-μ+ plus jets and missing transverse energy in the final state according to the process . We use Monte Carlo simulation techniques Pythia8, MadGraph5 and CalcHEP to simulate this process at both the Large Hadron Collider at CERN (proton-proton collisions) and the Fermilab Tevatron Collider (proton-antiproton collisions). We assume that the t' quark is a narrow state that always decay to a W and Z bosons plus jets. We select 2 electrons + jets+ missing energy final states with one isolated μ with high transverse momentum. The three charged leptons plus missing energy in the final state offer the best discovery potential at the hadron colliders for new heavy top quark mass of 500 GeV. We study the possible signals at both the LHC and the Tevatron of new quarks t' coupled to the third generation quarks in the context of fourth generation and vector like quark models under the assumption of a branching ratios BR(t'→Wb)=50%?and BR(t'→Zt)=50%. Heavy quark pair production gives interesting signals in final states with three charged leptons plus missing energy. Finally, from our analysis the new heavy fourth generation quark t' can be discovered at both the Tevatron and the LHC with mass 500 GeV.

Fenlong Cultivation-the Fourth Set of Farming Methods Invented in China

The basic theory and effect of the new farming method of ＂Fenlong＂ cultivation which has been included in the main extension technology of Ministry of Agriculture of the People＇s Republic of China is fully illustrated for the first time, and it is the fourth set （generation） of farming modes and methods following manpower, animal and mechanical （tractor） farming. It follows the natural law to achieve soil activation, water saving, oxygen increase, warming and desalination through the active use of natural resources like soil, rainfall and solar energy, thereby promoting a new round of natural agricultural production and quality improvement and water con- servation, which has crop yield increase by 10%-30%, quality improvement of 5%, natural precipitation retaining increase by100%. The characteristics and mechanism are the use of spiral drill for one-time completion of the land preparation by drilling vertically to 30-50 cm of soil layer through high speed peeling. After instant high temperature and many fierce impacts, mechanical frictions, it could achieve the multiplication of the number of loose soil, soil physical modification and expansion of the soil nutrients, reservoirs, oxygen, microorganisms （＂Four pools＂）. Fenlong cultivation can give birth to new farming culture and civilization, and it can achieve the physical ＂desalinized＂ transformation and utilization of saline soil. The formation of Fenlong green farming technology system makes it possible to invent the farming tools of ＂serf-propelled Fenlong machinery＂ that has got the patent, and it is the method for farmland （dry land, paddy field） Fenlong cultivation, saline-alkali soil smash-ridging cultivation and for the abundance of grass ecology on degraded grassland. The application of Fenlong ＂4＋1＂ （arable, saline-alkali soil, grasslands, Sponge City＋rivers） green development in China can achieve the ＂double safety＂ of food and living space.

Associated Production of Z Boson and a Pair of New Quarks at LHC

The associated production of Z boson and a pair of new quarks at the Large Hadron Collider （LHC） is studied. The cross sections for both sequential fermions and vector-like fermions are presented. It is found that for sequential fermions the cross sections can reach 1 - 10^2 /b for heavy quark mass mQ from 1000 GeV to 200 GeV. For vector-like quarks, the cross sections are suppressed by mixing parameter sin OL. Focusing on process pp → b＇b＇, we investigate the possibility of detecting the 6l 4- 2j signal. For a b＇ with light mass and a large branching ratio of b＇ → bZ, it is found that only several signal events （ parton level ） can be produced with 1000 fb^-1 integrated luminosity. Although the signal events are rare, all the final states are produced centrally and multi lepton final states are clear at hadron collider, which could be easily detected.

Knowledge Management of Software Productivity and Development Time

In this paper, we identify a set of factors that may be used to forecast software productivity and software development time. Software productivity was measured in function points per person hours, and software development time was measured in number of elapsed days. Using field data on over 130 field software projects from various industries, we empirically test the impact of team size, integrated computer aided software engineering (ICASE) tools, software development type, software development platform, and programming language type on the software development productivity and development time. Our results indicate that team size, software development type, software development platform, and programming language type significantly impact software development productivity. However, only team size significantly impacts software development time. Our results indicate that effective management of software development teams, and using different management strategies for different software development type environments may improve software development productivity.

Decreasing susceptibility of bacteria to ampicillin/sulbactam and third generation cephalosporins in urinary tract infections

Background:Urinary tract infections(UTIs)are among the most common bacterial infections worldwide and have become more difficult to treat over the years.Inappropriate antibiotic use has led to increased antibiotic resistance.Materials and methods:We examined 1921 urine culture samples from a single hospital and analyzed them for bacterial spectrum and antibiotic susceptibility.We further analyzed changes in the rates of detected bacteria and of the sensitivity of these uropathogens to antibiotics over the years.Results:In our hospital-based analysis,cystitis was the most frequently diagnosed UTI in women(76%)and men(79%).Escherichia coli(48%)was the most commonly identified uropathogen.Samples demonstrated an increase in the proportion of E.coli(p<0.001)and a decrease in Enterococcus faecalis(p<0.001)over the study time period.Antimicrobial susceptibility analysis showed an increase over time in the number of isolates with resistance to ampicillin/sulbactam(p<0.001)and to third-generation cephalosporins cefotaxime(p=0.043)and ceftazidime(p<0.001).Conclusions:Ampicillin/sulbactam and third-generation cephalosporins are antibiotics frequently used in the treatment of UTIs.When selecting an optimal antimicrobial treatment regimen for patients with UTIs,it is imperative to understand regional and timedependent differences in the prevalence of various uropathogens and antimicrobial resistance patterns.Therefore,continuous surveillance of local pathogen and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns for frequently used antibiotics should be prioritized.

Performance Evaluation of Scheduling Algorithms for 4G (LTE)

Long Term Evolution (LTE) is designed to revolutionize mobile broadband technology with key considerations of higher data rate, improved power efficiency, low latency and better quality of service. This work analyzes the impact of resource scheduling algorithms on the performance of LTE (4G) and WCDMA (3G) networks. In this paper, a full illustration of LTE system is given together with different scheduling algorithms. Thereafter, 3G WCDMA and 4G LTE networks were simulated using Simulink simulator embedded in MATLAB and performance evaluations were carried out. The performance metrics used for the evaluations are average system throughput, packet delay, latency and allocation of fairness using Round Robin, Best CQI and Proportional fair Packet Scheduling Algorithms. The results of the evaluations on both networks were analysed. The results showed that 4G LTE network performs better than 3G WCDMA network in all the three scheduling algorithms used.

Some new symmetric relations of quark masses andprediction of fourth-generation quark masses

In this study, we discover a mass space defined by generalized Koide relations, named here as k-relations, and achieve some new symmetric relations. These relations can be further used to predict the fourth-generation quark masses in terms of dilation magnitude and angular rotation ratios in the general mass space. Thus far, no theory has been proposed that can constrain the number of generations of quarks; this theory naturally limits the number of generations of quarks.

盐酸头孢吡肟的合成

以 7 ACA为原料 ,经“一勺烩”得到关键中间体 7 氨基 3 [(1 甲基 1 吡咯烷 )甲基 ]头孢 3 烯 4 羧酸盐酸盐 (Ⅶ ) ,Ⅶ与苯并噻唑硫醇活性酯 (Ⅷ )缩合得到第四代头孢菌素类抗生素盐酸头孢吡肟 ,总收率为 2 4 7%。

第四代头孢菌素——头孢派姆

目的：阐明第四代头孢菌素头孢派姆的特性。方法：用常规体内、体外及临床方法评价本药。结果与结论：头孢派姆抗菌力强，抗菌谱广，较少产生耐药性。

新型第4代头孢菌素类化合物的合成及抗菌活性

目的:研究新型第4代头孢菌素类化合物的合成及其抗菌活性。方法:7-氨基头孢霉烷酸(7-ACA)在三甲基碘硅烷(TMSI)催化下与含N芳杂环化合物进行3-位取代反应,再与盐酸反应转化为盐酸盐,最后在三乙胺催化下与2-(2-取代氨基噻唑-4-基)-(Z)-2-甲氧亚氨乙酸苯并噻唑硫醇活性酯缩合得到目标化合物,并通过平皿二倍稀释法对它们的体外抗菌活性进行评价。结果和结论:合成的9个目标化合物4a～4i均未见文献报道,其结构经IR、ESI-MS、1HNMR和元素分析确证。初步体外抗菌活性实验结果表明,化合物4c和4h对革兰氏阳性菌的活性与头孢唑兰相当。

Study on the Interaction between Cephalosporin Drugs and Papain by Spectroscopic Method： Equivalence of Fluorescence Quenching and Enhancement Equation

The interaction between two 4th generation of new cephalosporin drugs and papain was studied through spectroscopy method at different temperatures. Their dissociation constants were calculated by using theoretical formula of fluorescence quenching and fluorescence enhancement, respectively, and their corresponding thermodynamic functions, dipole-dipole non-radiative energy-transfer-efficiency and the action distances of acceptor-substrate etc. were calculated further. Analysis reveals that, the quenching on papain by cefpirome and cefepime is basically due to the dipole-dipole non-radiation energy-transfer and certain dynamic collision between donor and acceptor, the interaction between drug and papain is mainly hydrophobic which may provide useful information for pharmacological and metabolic study on papain. In this paper fluorescence quenching is regarded as negative fluorescence enhancement, and two kinds of theoretical formula of fluorescence quenching and fluorescence enhancement were used to calculate the experimental data of fluorescence quenching of a same batch, and very close results were obtained but with certain difference. The results not only display the equivalence of the two theoretical equations when treating acceptor-substrate action, but also show that the thermodynamic data based on the theoretical formula of fluorescence enhancement （4）, which is deduced by us, are more reasonable. So we suggest that even in the process of studying the fluorescence quenching between receptor-substrate, using the theoretical formula of fluorescence enhancement （4） can get more reliable results.

Fourth generation effects in ■_s→π^-K+ decay

We study the effects of the fourth quark generation model in Bs→π^-K^＋ decay. Combining with the up-to-date experimental measurement for B（Bs→π^-K^＋） dir - and Acp ^dir（Bs→π^-K^＋） by the CDF Collaboration, we derive the new bound of weak phase Фbd, which are 0° 〈 Фbd 〈 44°,321° 〈 Фbd 〈 360° and 0° 〈 Фbd 〈 26°, 342° 〈Фbd 〈 360° for mr, ： 400 and 600 GeV respectively. In these regions, B（Bs→π^-K^＋） and Acp^dir （Bs→π^-K^＋） consist with the current experimental data within errors.

PDE Surface Generation with Combined Closedand Non-Closed Form Solutions

Partial differential equations (PDEs) combined with suitably chosen boundaryconditions are effective in creating free form surfaces. In this paper, a fourth order partialdifferential equation and boundary conditions up to tangential continuity are introduced. Thegeneral solution is divided into a closed form solution and a non-closed form one leading to a mixedsolution to the PDE. The obtained solution is applied to a number of surface modelling examplesincluding glass shape design, vase surface creation and arbitrary surface representation.

Analysis of (1/2)^+ baryon states containing fourth-family quarks from QCD sum rules

When the fourth generation of quarks have sufficiently small mixing with ordinary standard-model 1＋ quarks, the hadrons made up from these quarks can be long-lived enough. We analyze the 1/2 baryon states containing fourth-generation quarks and standard-model quarks, i.e. the charm or bottom quarks, in the QCD sum rules approach. Considering the perturbative and two gluon condensate contributions in the calculation, we give the numerical results of the masses and pole residues.

B→Kη^(,) decays in the SM with fourth generation fermions

By employing the perturbative QCD （pQCD） factorization approach, we calculate the new physics contributions to the four B→Kη（＇） decays in the Standard Model （SM） with a fourth generation of fermions （SM4）, induced by the loop diagrams involving t＇ quark. Within the considered parameter space of the SM4 we find that： （a） the next-to-leading order （NLO） pQCD predictions for the branching ratios and CP-violating asymmetries in both the SM and SM4 generally agree with the data within one standard deviation; （b） for Br（B→Kη）, the inclusion of the fourth generation contributions can improve the agreement between the theoretical predictions and the data effectively; （c） however, for Br（B→Kη＇） the decrease due to t＇ loops is disfavored by the data; and, （d） the new physics corrections to the CP-violating asymmetries of the considered decays are only about 10%.

第四代头孢菌素的作用特点及临床应用

第四代头孢菌素具有抗菌谱广,抗菌作用强,组织穿透性强,体内分布广泛,对产AmpC酶和β-内酰胺酶的细菌稳定性强等优点,在临床应用中具有非常重要地位。本文对其作用机制、抗菌特点及临床应用进行综述,为第四代头孢菌素的临床应用提供参考。

高压氧逆转肺炎克雷伯菌对三、四代头孢菌素耐药性的机制

目的探究高压氧(HBO)逆转肺炎克雷伯菌对三、四代头孢菌素的耐药性及其机制。方法选取2017年1月至2017年12月济宁市第一人民医院呼吸与危重症医学科收集的肺炎克雷伯菌3株,均表现为AmpC(头孢菌素酶)和ESBLs(超广谱β-内酰胺酶)阳性,采用VITEK微生物分析系统对菌株进行鉴定。随后将3个菌株均分为对照组和HBO组,随后将其培养于不同浓度的三、四代头孢菌素中,采用琼脂二倍稀释法测定菌株对三、四代头孢菌素的最低抑制浓度(MIC),平板计数法检测菌株活性。此外,提取菌株中的总蛋白,采用Western blotting检测缺氧诱导因子1α(HIF-1α)的表达水平;采用头孢他啶、头孢匹罗三维实验法和纸片确证扩散法分别对菌株中的AmpC和ESBLs进行检测。结果与对照组相比,HBO处理后,3个菌株对三、四代头孢菌素的MIC值降低,活性降低,HIF-1α的表达降低(P<0.05);此外,HBO处理明显降低了AmpC和ESBLs的检出率。结论HBO处理能够明显逆转肺炎克雷伯菌对三、四代头孢菌素的耐药性,其机制可能与HIF-1α通路被抑制及AmpC、ESBLs检出率的降低有关。

从结构看第四代头孢菌素的药理特点和作用

自1959年分离到第一个具有抗菌谱广和耐青霉素等特点的头孢菌素--头孢菌素C开始,到目前,头孢菌素类已是在临床中应用最广泛的β-内酰胺类抗生素,尤其对社区感染、儿童各年龄段感染(社区和院内感染)具有独特的价值和地位。根据药物的抗菌活性、抗菌谱、肾毒性以及对β-内酰胺酶的稳定性的不同,目前已有五代头孢菌素类抗生素。第一代、第二代、第三代、第四代头抱菌素类药物均已在国内上市并在临床应用。