Laser Cooling of Optically Trapped Molecules

Calcium monofluoride (CaF) molecules are loaded into an optical dipole trap (ODT) and subsequently laser cooled within the trap. Starting with magneto-optical trapping, we sub-Doppler cool CaF and then load $150(30)$ CaF molecules into an ODT. Enhanced loading by a factor of five is obtained when sub-Doppler cooling light and trapping light are on simultaneously. For trapped molecules, we directly observe efficient sub-Doppler cooling to a temperature of $60(5)$ $\mu\text{K}$. The trapped molecular density of $8(2)\times10^7$ cm$^{-3}$ is an order of magnitude greater than in the initial sub-Doppler cooled sample. The trap lifetime of 750(40) ms is dominated by background gas collisions.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Hepatitis C viremia is associated with cytomegalovirus IgG antibody levels in HIV-infected women.

Individuals with HIV infection exhibit high cytomegalovirus (CMV) IgG levels, but there are few data regarding the association of hepatitis C virus (HCV) with the immune response against CMV.Associations of HCV with CMV seropositivity and CMV IgG levels w

Nevirapine concentration in hair samples is a strong predictor of virologic suppression in a prospective cohort of HIV-infected patients

© 2015 Baxi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.E

Treatment of maternal syphilis in rural South Africa: effect of multiple doses of benzathine penicillin on pregnancy loss

OBJECTIVES Despite few data, the treatment of syphilis in pregnant women using a single dose of benzathine penicillin is the standard of care in many resource-poor settings. We examined the effect of various doses of benzathine penicillin on pregnancy loss among women with a positive Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) test result in a rural South African district. METHODS All pregnant women making their first antenatal care visit during pregnancy were screened for syphilis using the RPR test. Those testing positive were counselled to receive three weekly doses of benzathine penicillin, and received a partner notification card. Pregnancy outcomes were determined from facility records or home visits where necessary. RESULTS Of 8917 women screened, 1043 (12%) had reactive syphilis serology; of those with titre data available, 30% had titres of 1:8 or greater. While 41% (n = 430) of women received all three doses as counselled, 30% (n = 312) received only one dose, and 20% (n = 207) did not return to the clinic to receive treatment. Among the 947 women with pregnancy outcome data available, there were 17 miscarriages and 48 perinatal deaths observed. There was a strong trend towards reduced risk of pregnancy loss among women receiving multiple doses of penicillin (adjusted OR for perinatal mortality for each additional dose received, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.48-0.84). CONCLUSIONS While this association requires further investigation, these results suggest that there may be substantial benefit to providing multiple doses of benzathine penicillin to treat maternal syphilis in this setting

GM-144, a novel lipophilic vaginal contraceptive gel-microemulsion

In a systematic effort to develop a dual-function intravaginal spermicide as well as a drug delivery vehicle against sexually transmitted pathogens, a submicron particle size (30–80 nm), lipophilic and spermicidal gel-microemulsion (viz GM-144) containing the pharmaceutical excipients propylene glycol, Captex 300, Cremophor EL, Phospholipon 90G, Rhodigel, Pluronic F-68, and sodium benzoate was formulated. GM-144 completely immobilized sperm in human or rabbit semen in less than 30 seconds. Therefore, thein vivo contraceptive potency of intravaginally applied GM-144 was compared in the standard rabbit model to those of the detergent spermicide, nonoxynol-9 (N-9)-containing formulation. Eighty-four ovulated New Zealand White rabbits in subgroups of 28 were artificially inseminated with and without intravaginal administration of GM-144 or 2% N-9 (Gynol II) formulation and allowed to complete term pregnancy. GM-144 showed remarkable contraceptive activity in the rigorous rabbit model. When compared with control, intravaginal administration of GM-144 and Gynol II resulted in 75% and 70.8% inhibition of fertility (P<.0001 versus control, Fisher’s exact test), respectively. Thus, GM-144 as a vaginal contraceptive was as effective as the commercially available N-9 gel. In the rabbit vaginal irritation test, none of the 6 rabbits given daily intravaginal application of spermicidal GM-144 for 10 days developed epithelial ulceration, edema, leukocyte influx, or vascular congestion characteristic of inflammation (total score = 5). Therefore, GM-144 has the potential to become a clinically useful safe vaginal contraceptive and a vehicle for formulating lipophilic drugs used in reducing the risk of heterosexual transmission of sexually tranmitted diseases