(6aS,11aR,11cS)-8-Sulfanylidene-2,3,5,6,6a,7,11,11a,11b,11c-decahydro-3a,7a-diaza-1H,4H-benzo[de]anthracen-3a-ium chloride hemihydrate

The title compound, C15H23N2S+·Cl−·0.5H2O, was prepared from (6aS,11aR,11cS)-2,3,5,6,6a,7,11,11a,11b,11c-deca­hydro-3a,7a-diaza-1H,4H-benzo[de]anthracene-8-one (sophocarpine) and Lawesson’s reagent. The thione-substituted ring is in an envelope conformation and the three other six-membered rings are in chair conformations. In the crystal, anions and cations are linked by N—H⋯Cl and weak C—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds. One 0.5-occupancy solvent water mol­ecule lies on a twofold rotation axis and another 0.25-occupancy solvent water mol­ecule is in a general position. The H atoms of these water mol­ecules were not located or included in the refinement

Decay Widths of Excited Heavy Mesons From QCD Sum Rules at the Leading Order of HQET

The widths for pionic decays of lowest two excited doublets (0^+,1^+) and (1^+,2^+) of heavy mesons are studied with QCD sum rules in the leading order of heavy quark effective theory. The ambiguity due to presence of two distinct 1^+ states are solved. The soft pion approximation is not used.Comment: RevTeX, 16 pages including 1 figure; minor changes, final version to appear in Physical Review

Detection of Francisella tularensis in ticks and identification of their genotypes using multiple-locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Tularemia was reported in China over 50 years ago, however, many epidemical characteristics remain unclear. In the present study, the prevalence of <it>Francisella tularensis </it>in ticks was investigated during an epidemiological surveillance in China and then we measured their genetic diversity by conducting multiple-locus variable- number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>1670 ticks from 2 endemic areas (Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Heilongjiang Province) and 2 non-endemic areas (Jilin and Fujian Provinces) were collected and tested for evidence of tularemia by nested PCR. The prevalence of <it>Francisella tularensis </it>in ticks averaged 1.98%. The positive rates were significantly different among tick species, with <it>Dermacentor silvarum </it>and <it>Ixodes persulatus </it>responsible for all positive numbers. All <it>F. tularensis </it>that were detected in ticks belonged to <it>F. tularensis </it>subsp. <it>holarctica </it>and MLVA disclosed genetic diversity. One subtype was identified in 17 of 33 positive tick samples in three different study areas. Another subtype belonging to <it>F. tularensis </it>subsp. <it>holarctica </it>genotype was described for the first time in the current study.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The study showed two tick species, <it>D. silvarum </it>and <it>I. persulatus </it>harboring the pathogen of tularemia in natural environment, indicating these two tick species might have a role in tularemia existence in China. MLVA results disclosed the genetic diversity <it>F. tularensis </it>and identified one genotype as the most prevalent among the investigated ticks in China.</p

Imaging Features of Pediatric Pentastomiasis Infection: a Case Report

We report here a case of pentastomiasis infection in a 3-year-old girl who had high fever, abdominal pain, abdominal tension and anemia. Ultrasound scanning of the abdomen revealed disseminated hyperechoic nodules in the liver and a small amount of ascites. Abdominal MRI showed marked hepatomegaly with disseminated miliary nodules of high signal intensity throughout the hepatic parenchyma on T2-weighted images; retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy and disseminated miliary nodules on the peritoneum were also noted. Chest CT showed scattered small hyperdense nodules on both sides of the lungs. The laparoscopy demonstrated diffuse white nodules on the liver surface and the peritoneum. After the small intestinal wall and peritoneal biopsy, histological examination revealed parenchymal tubercles containing several larvae of pentastomids and a large amount of inflammatory cell infiltration around them. The pathological diagnosis was parasitic granuloma from pentastomiasis infection

Plasma indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activity as a potential biomarker for early diagnosis of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in tuberculosis patients

Purpose: Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) remains a challenge of global TB control, with difficulty in early detection of drug-sensitive tuberculosis (DS-TB). We investigate the diagnostic significance of IDO as a potential biomarker to discriminate MDR patients among the TB patients. Patients and methods: Plasma indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) was measured by the ratio of kynurenine (Kyn) to tryptophan (Trp) concentrations, using high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Chest computed tomography (CT) imaging signs from TB patients were collected and analyzed in 18 DS-TB patients, 16 MDR-TB patients, 6 lung cancer (LC) patients, and 11 healthy individuals. Lung imaging signs from TB patients were collected and analyzed. Results: We found that plasma IDO activity was significantly higher in the MDR-TB patients than in the DS-TB patients (p=0.012) and in the LC patients (p=0.003). We evaluated the diagnostic significance of plasma IDO activity in discriminating the MDR-TB group from the DS-TB group using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. With a cutoff level of 46.58 uM/mM, the diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) for IDO activity were 87.50%, 72.22%, 73.68%, and 86.67%, respectively. Plasma IDO activity was higher in cavity cases than in non-cavity cases (p=0.042), proving a positive correlation between lung cavity number and cavity size (p \u3c 0.05, separately) among all the TB patients studied. Conclusion: Our findings confirmed that plasma IDO activity might have an auxiliary diagnosis value for early discrimination of MDR-TB patients from DS-TB patients. Among the TB patients with cavitary lung lesions, higher plasma IDO activity can indicate a higher risk of MDR-TB