Usefulness of cerebrospinal fluid presepsin (soluble CD14 subtype) as a new marker in the diagnosis of neurosurgical postoperative meningitis.

Objective: To determine the usefulness of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) presepsin in the diagnosis of neurosurgical postoperative meningitis (POM).

Methods: The study included patients admitted to the Department of Neurosurgery, Toho University Medical Center Omori Hospital from May 1, 2020 to March 31, 2022 with suspected meningitis after neurosurgery who clinically required CSF sampling and patients who underwent CSF sampling for examination of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH). Participants were divided into a POM and a postoperative non meningitis (PONM) group based on the POM diagnostic criteria established for this study.

Synthesis and Mesomorphic Properties of Liquid Crystals with 5-(4-Alkoxyphenylethynyl)tropolone.

New troponoid liquid crystals with 5-(4-alkoxyphenylethynyl)tropolone cores were synthesized. The 5-(4-alkoxyphenylethynyl)tropolones were obtained by the palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling of 5-iodotropolone with 4-alkoxyphenylacetylenes. The 2-alkoxy-5-(4-alkoxyphenylethynyl)tropones (1A) showed enantiotropic smectic phases, such as smectic A, C, and B.

Secondary Attack Rate among Non-Spousal Household Contacts of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Tsuchiura, Japan, August 2020-February 2021.

Household secondary attack rate (HSAR) by risk factor might have a higher transmission rate between spouses. We investigated risk factors for the HSAR among non-spousal household contacts of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We studied household contacts of index cases of COVID-19 in Tsuchiura, Japan, from August 2020 through February 2021.