Tight binding models accurately predict band structures for copolymer semiconductors.

Conjugated polymers possess a wide range of desirable properties including accessible band gaps, plasticity, tunability, mechanical flexibility and synthetic versatility, making them attractive for use as active materials in organic photovoltaics (OPVs). In particular, push-pull copolymers, consisting of alternating electron-rich and electron-deficient moieties, offer broad optical absorption, tunable band gaps, and increased charge transfer between monomer units. However, the large number of possible monomer combinations to explore means screening OPV copolymers by first-principles quantum calculations is computationally intensive.

Lessons for the future: a review of sepsis past and present.

Sepsis continues to intrigue and challenge drug developers because of the high unmet need for this illness. The large market potential for sepsis is counterbalanced by the historical failure of multiple drug candidates for this indication that have not demonstrated clinical benefit. The failure of successful drug candidates can be attributed in part to a rudimentary under-standing of complex sepsis pathophysiology, unsophisticated and poor clinical trial design, and an over-reliance on preclinical models for proof-of-concept.

High unmet-need infectious disease opportunities.

Despite advances in pharmaceutical science, considerable unmet medical needs exist in the field of anti-infective therapies. While pharmaceutical companies have focused research efforts on a few selected areas of the field, new microbial diseases have steadily increased in prevalence. Three emerging areas in the field of anti-infectives now represent large commercial opportunities: Gram-negative infections, community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea.

Brevibacterium casei bacteremia and line sepsis in a patient with AIDS.

Brevibacteria are obligately aerobic gram-positive bacilli that are associated with milk products and are also found on human skin. Strains of Brevibacterium casei have been found to correspond to Centers for Disease Control coryneform groups B-1 and B-3 and have been isolated from a variety of human clinical specimens. In this report, we describe a case of B.

Latex allergy in Saudi children with spina bifida.

Background: Children with spina bifida (SB) are exposed to latex soon after birth during bladder catheterization, rectal disimpaction, and multiple surgical procedures. IgE-mediated latex-allergic reactions have been reported recently in these children. Our study was designed to assess the prevalence of allergic reactions to latex products in a group of Saudi Arabian children with SB in a tertiary care hospital.

Cultivar-specific epitopes in date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) pollenosis. Differential antigenic and allergenic properties of pollen from ten cultivars.

Pollen from ten staminate cultivars of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) were compared for their antigenic and allergenic potentials. Crude extracts from the various cultivars were tested in 6 atopic patients with confirmed allergy to date pollen in order to determine any differences or similarities in the antigenic and allergenic properties of these cultivars.

Peak expiratory flow rates in healthy Saudi Arabian children living in Riyadh.

The peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) was measured in 457 healthy Saudi schoolchildren (235 boys and 222 girls) aged 6 to 16 years, living in Riyadh, using two simple and commercially available airflow meters, Wright peak flow meter and the mini-Wright peak flow meter. All measurements were obtained in the standing position and the best of three trials was recorded. Standing height and age were used as independent variables.

Major allergens of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) pollen. Identification of IgE-binding components by ELISA and immunoblot analysis.

The IgE-binding components of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) pollen were determined by ELISA and Western blotting in atopic patients in order to identify its major allergens. From a pool of previously identified allergenic fractions and sera from 15 skin-test-positive, atopic subjects, four components of 12, 14.

Characterization of antigens and allergens of date palm (Pheonix dactylifera) pollen. Immunologic assessment of atopic patients by whole extract and its fractions [corrected].

Antigenic and allergenic components of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) pollen were investigated to observe their effects on the skin test reactivity, lymphocyte blastogenesis and cytokine production in atopic and healthy individuals. Date pollen extracts were fractionated using SDS-PAGE and Sephacryl S-200 gel filtration. Western blotting of SDS-PAGE separated components with antiserum raised against whole pollen extract in rabbits revealed at least 22 immunoreactive bands ranging in molecular weight between 12 and 94 kD.

IgE antibodies to Mycoplasma pneumoniae in asthma and other atopic diseases.

IgE antibodies to Mycoplasma pneumoniae antigens were measured by RAST assay in 152 patients with asthma and other IgE and non-IgE mediated diseases. Five patients with asthma and/or atopic dermatitis had highly elevated Mycoplasma RAST binding ratios, p < 0.001.