Pharmacokinetic and clinical evaluation of azithromycin in pediatrics

Azithromycin (AZM), a new macrolide antibiotic, in fine granules and in capsules was administered at a standard dose of 10 mg/kg once daily for 3 days to pediatric patients with bacterial infections. AZM was studied for its pharmacokinetic and clinical evaluation. 1. AZM possessed potent activity against Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria that had been clinically isolated. 2. Plasma samples were collected from two patients diagnosed as having pneumonia or enteritis, and urine samples were collected from one patient diagnosed as having pneumonia for drug level determination. The drug concentrations in plasma were 0.095 and 0.204 microgram/ml just before the end of treatment, and 0.017 and 0.096 microgram/ml at 48 hours post-treatment. The drug concentrations in urine were 5.16 micrograms/ml and 5.63 micrograms/ml during a period between 24 and 48 hours and between 48 and 72 hours after the start of treatment, respectively. 3. The drug was found effective in 37 of 38 cases with various pediatric infections. AZM treatment eradicated bacteria in 17 of 30 strains (56.7%). 4. One patient complained of mild vomiting, while abnormal laboratory test results indicating mild eosinophilia were reported in four cases.     

Analysis of the IgE-epitope of Der f 2, a major mite allergen, by in vitro mutagenesis

Der f 2 is a major mite allergen composed of 129 amino acid residues. To determine the major epitopes on Der f 2 recognized by human IgE antibodies, artificial mutations were introduced to Der f 2 protein. The IgE-binding activity of Der f 2 was significantly decreased by deletion of 10 amino acids at the N-terminus or nine amino acids at the C-terminus. Site-directed mutagenesis with a single amino acid replacement by Ala or Leu in both N- and C-terminal regions as well as a central portion was performed to generate 42 single-site mutations. Amino acid replacement around a disulfide bond of Cys8-Cys119 caused a marked decrease in IgE-binding activity. Furthermore, a distinct decrease in IgE-binding was also caused by Ala-substitution close to a disulfide bond of Cys73-Cys78 and by mutations of a few charged residues. From these results, it was concluded that the two disulfide-forming regions of Der f 2 and several charged residues are important for forming major epitope structures recognized by human IgE antibodies.     

66/77-kV C-GIS using composite insulation in SF6 gas

A second-generation model of cubicletype gas-insulated switchgear (C-GIS) with composite insulation incorporating SF₆ gas has been developed. The design does not require a gas process in field assembly; it has high reliability and its installation is more rapid; and a further reduction in size is achieved. The design principles are described in detail.     

FDTD analysis of switching characteristics in magnetooptic functional devices using magnetostatic surface waves

Collinear magnetooptic interaction with magnetostatic surface waves (MSSW) can be used for wavelength‐selective switches, wavelength filters, and frequency shifters in wavelength‐division‐multiplexed (WDM) photonic networks and optical processing systems. The switching efficiency can be improved with a multilayer waveguide structure. To investigate the dynamic switching characteristics, the FDTD method was employed. The mode conversion between TE and TM mode was successfully demonstrated with FDTD simulation. The filtering characteristics were also evaluated. The FDTD results were compared with the result from the coupled mode theory, and good agreement was obtained. Switching of an optical pulse was also demonstrated by the FDTD method. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 162(1): 40–47, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20501     

Software‐processed edge‐ and level‐adaptive overdrive (SELAO) method for high‐quality motion pictures

Abstract— In this paper, a software‐processed edge‐ and level‐adaptive overdrive (SELAO) method, which is a novel overdrive technique that utilizes not only a temporal change of gray levels but also a spatial edge intensity of motion pictures, is proposed. The SELAO method is a software video‐processing technology to improve motion‐picture quality rendered on LCDs more than is possible with a conventional SLAO method without edge‐adaptive overdrive, and it works in real time on commonly used personal computers (PCs).     

Twin-Related Tetragonal Variants in Yttria Partially Stabilized Zirconia

Crystals of yttria partially stabilized zirconia were grown by the arc-image floating-zone technique and studied by transmission electron microscopy. Crystals annealed at 1700°C consist of tetragonal precipitates and a cubic matrix. The platelike domains in a precipitate are twin-related tetragonal variants stacked alternately parallel to the (011) twin plane. The axial relations between the tetragonal precipitate and the cubic matrix are [100]_tetragonal|[100]_cubic, [011]_tetragonal|[011]_cubic.     

X-ray CDF study on the behaviour of the amorphous chain under extension

The behaviour of the amorphous chain in vulcanized natural rubber (NR) and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) under extension is studied by means of the cylindrical distribution function (CDF) derived from wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS). In the case of the highly stretched vulcanized NR where the orientation-induced crystallization took place, the observed WAXS intensity was separated into a crystalline peak component and a broad amorphous one from which the CDF was obtained. The CDF calculated from the broad component shows that some of the amorphous segments of the highly stretched vulcanized NR are extended as fully as the crystalline chains and that the fraction of the segments increases with increasing extension. In the case of SBR, such fully stretched segments as in the case of the vulcanized NR show higher degree of an interchain packing order than those in the vulcanized NR.     

Synthesis of terpene alcohols from isoprene oligomers

Various terpene alcohols were prepared from isoprene oligomers via two steps: epoxidation with peracetic acid and isomerisation with aluminium triisopropoxide. For example, 2-methylene-6-methyl-7-octene-1-o1 was prepared from 2,6-dimethyl-1,7-octadiene. From 2,6-dimethyl-2,7-octadiene, 3,3,6-trimethyl-1,5-heptadiene, 2,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadiene, 2,6-dimethyl-1,3,6-octatriene, 1-methyl-4-isopropenyl-1-cyclohexene, and 1,5-dimethyl-1,5-cyclooctadiene, the corresponding alcohols were obtained, respectively.     

Effect of Silicon Dioxide on the Thermal Diffusivity of Aluminum Nitride Ceramics

The thermal diffusivity of AlN ceramics was significantly decreased by the addition of SiO₂. The AlN ceramics with 4 wt% SiO₂ could not be densified by pressureless sintering in the temperature range 1400° to 1800°C. The thermal diffusivity of these samples was very low because of their porous structure. The AlN ceramics containing 2, 4, and 8 wt% SiO₂ were densified by hot-pressing and also had low thermal diffusivity. In these samples, the grains of the 27R polytype that resulted from the reaction between AlN and SiO₂ were dispersed, obstructing the conduction of heat. The relation between the amount of 27R polytype and the thermal diffusivity of the AlN ceramics was determined.