Exceptionally large fluctuations in orientational order: The lessons of large-deviation theory for liquid crystalline systems.

How condensed-matter simulations depend on the number of molecules being simulated (N) is sometimes itself a valuable piece of information. Liquid crystals provide a case in point. Light scattering and 2d-IR experiments on isotropic-phase samples display increasingly large orientational fluctuations ("pseudo-nematic domains") as the samples approach their nematic phase.

Biliverdin's Propionic Chains Influence Oligomerization in Sandercyanin.

Sandercyanin is a mildly fluorescent biliprotein with a large Stokes shift, a tetrameric quaternary structure, and a biliverdin (BV) chromophore that does not covalently bond to the protein. To adapt this promising protein for use in bioimaging, it is necessary to produce monomeric mutants that retain the spectroscopic properties while increasing the fluorescence quantum yield. Modulating these properties through the protonation state of BV's propionic tails is a possible avenue, if detailed mechanistic information on the role of such chains becomes available.

Presepsin as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker of severe bacterial infections and COVID-19.

We aimed to develop presepsin as a marker of diagnosis of severe infections of either bacterial and viral origin. The derivation cohort was recruited from 173 hospitalized patients with acute pancreatitis or post-operative fever or infection suspicion aggravated by at least one sign of the quick sequential organ failure assessment (qSOFA). The first validation cohort was recruited from 57 admissions at the emergency department with at least one qSOFA sign and the second validation cohort from 115 patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.

The Effect of Different Colistin Dosing Regimens on Nephrotoxicity: A Cohort Study.

(1) Background: It is not known whether different daily dosing schemes have different effects on colistin nephrotoxicity. We examined the effect of once- versus twice- or thrice-daily doses of colistin on renal function. (2) Methods: We performed a multicenter retrospective cohort study of hospitalized patients with a baseline glomerular filtration rate ≥ 50 mL/min who received intravenously the same colistin dose once (regimen A), twice (regimen B) or thrice daily (regimen C).

Population pharmacokinetics of micafungin over repeated doses in critically ill patients: a need for a loading dose?

Objectives: To study the population pharmacokinetics of micafungin in critically ill patients, evaluate and optimize dosage regimens.

Methods: An HPLC-fluorescence bioassay for micafungin was developed, fully validated and applied to a pharmacokinetic study conducted in 14 ICU patients. Dense blood sampling was performed from days 1 to 7.