The New Math

This chapter explores the first concentrated effort to theorize and defend Madhva’s inversion against traditional interpretive theory. The protagonist of this chapter is Vyāsatīrtha, the great architect of Dualist Vedānta as a major philosophical, social, and political movement under the auspices of the Vijayanagara Empire. Vyāsatīrtha assembles a systematic defense of the power of the closing. He builds his argument out of existing Mīmāṃsā case law, gathering an array of interpretive decisions in which, he argues, it is really the closing that is the deciding factor. He also reexamines the cases traditionally thought to illustrate the power of the opening, demonstrating in each that some interpretive criterion other than sequence really dictates the agreed-upon conclusion. Thus, without actually challenging the existing interpretive conclusions of the entire Mīmāṃsā tradition, Vyāsatīrtha develops (or, in his mind, reveals) a “new math” that both upholds Madhva’s theory and explains a variety of old results.

Evaluation of Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute Interpretive Criteria for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Pseudintermedius Isolated from Dogs

The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute published in 2008 new interpretive criteria for the identification of methicillin resistance in staphylococci isolated from animals. The sensitivity of the 2008 interpretive criteria for mecA gene-positive Staphylococcus pseudintermedius, compared with the previous criteria of 2004, was investigated. Thirty clinical isolates of methicillin-resistant S. pseudintermedius from dogs were used. The presence of the mecA gene was determined by polymerase chain reaction. The minimum inhibitory concentration for oxacillin was determined by broth microdilution. The 2008 breakpoint of 4 μg/ml for methicillin resistance resulted in a diagnostic sensitivity of 73.3% (22/30). The 2004 breakpoint guideline of 0.5 μg/ml resulted in a diagnostic sensitivity of 97% (29/30). For oxacillin disk diffusion, the 2008 interpretive criterion of 10 mm for methicillin resistance resulted in a sensitivity of 70% (21/30). If intermediate isolates (11 or 12 mm) were considered resistant, the sensitivity was 93% (28/30). Application of the 2004 interpretive criterion of 17 mm resulted in a diagnostic sensitivity of 100% (30/30). For cefoxitin disk diffusion, the interpretive criterion of 21 mm for methicillin resistance (as used for Staphylococcus aureus) resulted in a diagnostic sensitivity of 6.7% (2/30). The interpretive criterion of 24 mm (as used for coagulase-negative staphylococci) resulted in a diagnostic sensitivity of 43.3% (13/30). With the use of 2008 interpretive criteria, all 3 tests produced what we consider to be an unacceptable level of false negative results. Our findings also suggest that cefoxitin disk diffusion is an inappropriate screening test for methicillin resistance of canine S. pseudintermedius.