Failure of Ixodes ticks to inherit Borrelia afzelii infection

To define conditions promoting inherited infection by Lyme disease spirochetes in Ixodes ticks, we variously infected ticks with Borrelia afzelii and examined their progenies by dark-field microscopy, immunofluorescence, PCR, and serial passage. No episode of inherited infection was evident, regardless of instar or gender infected or frequency of exposure. We suggest that these spirochetes rarely, if ever, are inherited by vector ticks.     

Safety and tolerance of zolpidem in the treatment of disturbed sleep: a post-marketing surveillance of 16944 cases

The subjective response to treatment with zolpidem, an imidazopyridine hypnotic, was assessed in patients with insomnia under normal treatment conditions in an outpatients' practice in Germany. The uncontrolled clinical surveillance study included 16944 outpatients with subjective difficulties in initiating and/or maintaining sleep. Office-based neurologists, psychiatrists, internists and general practitioners were asked individually to adjust the dosage of zolpidem (age < or = 65 years, 10-20 mg; age > 65 years, 5-10 mg) over a recommended period of 3-4 weeks. In total, 82.8% of patients completed the survey (36% men, 64% women, mean age 58.8 +/- 14.9 years; 58.6% without previous hypnotic medication; duration of sleep complaints > 6 months in 40.6%, 1-6 months in 27.8%). Most patients (63.9%) took zolpidem on a daily basis. The average dose was 10 mg zolpidem per night in 74.8%, 5 mg in 19.8%, 20 mg in 2.4% and > 20 mg in 10 cases. Most physicians (87.6%) rated the efficacy of zolpidem as 'very good' or 'good'. One hundred and eighty-two (1.1%) of the 16 944 patients reported 268 adverse events (one adverse event in 113 cases, two adverse events in 53 cases and more than two adverse events in 16 cases). One hundred and eighteen (64.8%) of these patients (0.006% of all participating patients) discontinued treatment because of adverse events. Nausea (n = 36), dizziness (n = 35), malaise (n = 23), nightmares (n = 20), agitation (n = 19), and headache (n = 18) were the most common adverse events. There was one serious adverse reaction in a 48-year-old women who developed paranoid symptoms during the documentation phase. No life-threatening adverse event occurred. The adverse event profile reflected the pharmacological properties of zolpidem and underlined the cumulative good experience with the drug internationally.     

Early modifications of chemokine production and mRNA expression during rush venom immunotherapy

The mechanism by which specific immunotherapy exerts its beneficial effect remains unclear. Chemokines are implicated in inflammatory and allergic diseases, in particular via their ability to induce histamine release from basophils, a potential early target of rush venom immunotherapy (RVIT), In this study, the authors evaluated ex vivo regulated upon activation normal T-cell expressed and secreted (RANTES), interleukin 8 (IL-8) and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) production and mRNA expression by mononuclear cells (MNC) from nine patients undergoing a 3.5-h ultra rush treatment, before treatment at Day 0 (D0), at the end of the 3.5-h of the rush at Day 4h (D4h), at Day 15 (D15) and Day 45 (D45) after treatment. Increased RANTES release and mRNA expression were observed in 24-h culture of peripheral blood MNC collected at D4h. This was followed by a decrease in the production of RANTES, IL-8 and MCP-1, 45 days after initiation of RVIT. The same pattern was observed after in vitro venom stimulation of MNC. At the mRNA level, similar profiles were observed except for IL-8 mRNA which inversely increased during RVIT. These results suggest that RVIT is associated with a general decrease in chemokines which may explain, in part, the clinical efficacy of specific immunotherapy.     

Synthesis ofE,E-diene hydroperoxides via photoisomerization of protected hydroperoxides

A general approach toE,E-diene hydroperoxides is described based upon photoisomerization of readily availableZ,E-diene monoperoxyketals. Protection of aZ,E-diene hydroperoxide as the 2-methoxypropyl peroxyketal is followed by iodine-mediated photoisomerization to produce a mixture enriched in theE,E isomer. After chromatographic purification, deprotection of the peroxyketal with mild acid furnishes theE,E-diene hydroperoxide.     

Synthesis and comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA) of antitumor 3-arylisoquinoline derivatives

In this study a series of 3-arylisoquinoline derivatives were synthesized and cytotoxicity against human melanoma tumor cell evaluated, and a three dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship was investigated using the comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA). The results suggested that the electrostatic, steric and hydrophobic factors of 3-arylisoquinolines were strongly correlated with the antitumor activity. Considerable predictive ability (cross-validated r2 as high as 0.721) was obtained through CoMFA.     

A note on closed-loop balanced truncation

Closed-loop balanced truncation is a model reduction method that aims at preserving the closed-loop properties of the original controller. We show that this method is equivalent to frequency-weighted balanced truncation with certain weighting and that for observer-based controllers, a significant amount of computation can be saved because of the observer-state feedback structure of the controller     

Intracranial hemorrhage associated with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura: report of seven patients and a meta-analysis

We present the results of a meta-analysis using clinical data obtained from seven of our patients and 24 previously reported patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura complicated by intracranial hemorrhage. Twenty-four had an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and seven had a subdural hematoma (SDH). Mean age of the patients with ICH was significantly younger than those with SDH. The mortality rate of ICH associated with ITP was similar to that of spontaneous ICH. All seven patients with SDH improved without sequelae.     

Spin coating over topography

A model for predicting film thickness profiles around topographical features during spin coating is presented. This model is applicable to features of arbitrary geometry in the two lateral dimensions. This generally permits study of the planarization of real device structures, including both isolated and neighboring features, with any orientation with respect to the wafer center. Predictions from this model agree qualitatively with measured thin-film profiles from interferograms taken during spinning. Phenomena such as pile-up and wakes result from interactions between surface tension and other driving forces in the flow