How should you treat Candida vaginitis in patients on antibiotics?

Oral and intravaginal antifungals for the treatment of uncomplicated vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) have similar effectiveness (strength of recommendation [SOR]: A, systematic review). However, no randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have addressed treatment options for patients taking antibiotics. Oral antifungals are contra-indicated in pregnancy. While shorter courses of intravaginal therapy can be used by nonpregnant women, 7-day treatment may be necessary during pregnancy (SOR: A, systematic review). Products containing Lactobacillus species do not prevent postantibiotic vulvovaginitis (SOR: A, systematic review and RCT)

Impulsive rotational Raman scattering of N2 by a remote "air laser" in femtosecond laser filament

We report on experimental realization of impulsive rotational Raman scattering from neutral nitrogen molecules in a femtosecond laser filament using an intense self-induced white-light seeding "air laser" generated during the filamentation of an 800 nm Ti: Sapphire laser in nitrogen gas. The impulsive rotational Raman fingerprint signals are observed with a maximum conversion efficiency of ~0.8%. Our observation provides a promising way of remote identification and location of chemical species in atmosphere by rotational Raman scattering of molecules.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

High-brightness switchable multi-wavelength remote laser in air

Remote laser in air based on amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) has produced rather well-collimated coherent beams in both backward and forward propagation directions, opening up possibilities for new remote sensing approaches. The remote ASE-based lasers were shown to enable operation either at ~391 and 337 nm using molecular nitrogen or at ~845 nm using molecular oxygen as gain medium, depending on the employed pump lasers. To date, a multi-wavelength laser in air that allows for dynamically switching the operating wavelength has not yet been achieved, although this type of laser is certainly of high importance for detecting multiple hazard gases. In this Letter, we demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, a harmonic-seeded switchable multi-wavelength laser in air driven by intense mid-infrared femtosecond laser pulses. Furthermore, population inversion in the multi-wavelength remote laser occurs at an ultrafast time-scale (i.e., less than ~200 fs) owing to direct formation of excited molecular nitrogen ions by strong-field ionization of inner-valence electrons, which is fundamentally different from the previously reported pumping mechanisms based either on electron recombination of ionized molecular nitrogen or on resonant two-photon excitation of atomic oxygen fragments resulting from resonant two-photon dissociation of molecular oxygen. The bright multi-wavelength laser in air opens the perspective for remote detection of multiple pollutants based on nonlinear spectroscopy.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure

Remote creation of strong and coherent emissions in air with two-color ultrafast laser pulses

We experimentally demonstrate generation of strong narrow-bandwidth emissions with excellent coherent properties at ~391 nm and ~428 nm from molecular ions of nitrogen inside a femtosecond filament in air by an orthogonally polarized two-color driver field (i. e., 800 nm laser pulse and its second harmonic). The durations of the coherent emissions at 391 nm and 428 nm are measured to be ~2.4 ps and ~7.8 ps respectively, both of which are much longer than the duration of the pump and its second harmonic pulses. Furthermore, the measured temporal decay characteristics of the excited molecular systems suggest an "instantaneous" population inversion mechanism that may be achieved in molecular nitrogen ions at an ultrafast time scale comparable to the 800 nm pump pulse.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure