A Chronic Respiratory Pasteurella multocida Infection Is Well-Controlled by Long-Term Macrolide Therapy.

A 57-year-old woman with severe bronchiectasis frequently received antibiotics, including penicillin, for acute exacerbations due to Pasteurella multocida. Although the bacteria showed a decrease in antibiotic susceptibility, her symptoms and X-ray findings became stable, and severe exacerbations were not observed for the last few years after a low-dose erythromycin treatment was started. The development of a respiratory infection with Pasteurella multocida is relatively uncommon, but it can be controlled by immunomodulation which is associated with long-term macrolide therapy.

In vitro evaluations of topical agents to treat Acanthamoeba keratitis.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of topical agents for the treatment of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK).

Design: Laboratory research.

Participants: Fifty-six Acanthamoeba isolates from 56 patients with clinically proven AK were studied.

Reliable and reproducible method for rapid identification of Nocardia species by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Recently, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been challenged for the identification of Nocardia species. However, the standard ethanol-formic acid extraction alone is insufficient in allowing the membrane proteins of Nocardia species to be ionized by the matrix. We therefore aimed to establish our new extraction method for the MALDI-TOF MS-based identification of Nocardia species isolates.

Origin of regioselectivity in the reactions of nitronate and enolate ambident anions.

The reactions of nitronates of ring-substituted phenylnitromethanes and enolates of ring-substituted 1-phenyl-2-propanones with MeOBs gave exclusively the O-methylated and C-methylated products, respectively. DFT calculations suggested that two factors, namely, intrinsic barriers and metal-cation coordination, control the C/O selectivity. The kinetic preference for O-methylation in the reactions of nitronates arises from the intrinsic barriers, which are ca.

128×128 three-dimensional MEMS optical switch module with simultaneous optical path connection for optical cross-connect systems.

A 128×128 three-dimensional MEMS optical switch module and a switching-control algorithm for high-speed connection and optical power stabilization are described. A prototype switch module enables the simultaneous switching of all optical paths. The insertion loss is less than 4.