Histoplasma capsulatum Infection in an Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Patient Receiving Voriconazole Prophylaxis

Histoplasma capsulatum infection is a rare complication in the allogeneic stem cell transplant patients. Minimal guidance exists on how to appropriately manage histoplasmosis in these patients. We report a patient who developed Histoplasma pneumonia while receiving voriconazole prophylaxis at a therapeutic trough level. The patient experienced significant clinical improvement after initiation of itraconazole pharmacotherapy. We recommend a lower threshold for evaluation for histoplasmosis in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients who live in endemic regions, regardless of their antifungal prophylactic regimen

Symmetry breaking by quantum coherence in single electron attachment

Quantum coherence-induced effects in atomic and molecular systems are the basis of several proposals for laser-based control of chemical reactions. So far, these rely on coherent photon beams inducing coherent reaction pathways that may interfere with one another, in order to achieve the desired outcome. This concept has been successfully exploited for removing the inversion symmetry in the dissociation of homonuclear diatomic molecules, but it remains to be seen if such quantum coherent effects can also be generated by interaction of incoherent electrons with such molecules. Here we show that resonant electron attachment to H2 and the subsequent dissociation into H (n=2) + H− is asymmetric about the inter-nuclear axis, while the asymmetry in D2 is far less pronounced. We explain this observation as due to attachment of a single electron resulting in a coherent superposition of two resonances of opposite parity. In addition to exemplifying a new quantum coherent process, our observation of coherent quantum dynamics involves the active participation of all three electrons and two nuclei, which could provide new tools for studying electron correlations as a means to control chemical processes and demonstrates the role of coherent effects in electron induced chemistry

Global Patterns of Synchronization in Human Communications

Social media are transforming global communication and coordination. The data derived from social media can reveal patterns of human behavior at all levels and scales of society. Using geolocated Twitter data, we have quantified collective behaviors across multiple scales, ranging from the commutes of individuals, to the daily pulse of 50 major urban areas and global patterns of human coordination. Human activity and mobility patterns manifest the synchrony required for contingency of actions between individuals. Urban areas show regular cycles of contraction and expansion that resembles heartbeats linked primarily to social rather than natural cycles. Business hours and circadian rhythms influence daily cycles of work, recreation, and sleep. Different urban areas have characteristic signatures of daily collective activities. The differences are consistent with a new emergent global synchrony that couples behavior in distant regions across the world. A globally synchronized peak that includes exchange of ideas and information across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia. We propose a dynamical model to explain the emergence of global synchrony in the context of increasing global communication and reproduce the observed behavior. The collective patterns we observe show how social interactions lead to interdependence of behavior manifest in the synchronization of communication. The creation and maintenance of temporally sensitive social relationships results in the emergence of complexity of the larger scale behavior of the social system.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1602.0621

Charge relaxation dynamics of an electrolytic nanocapacitor

Understanding ion relaxation dynamics in overlapping electric double layers (EDLs) is critical for the development of efficient nanotechnology based electrochemical energy storage, electrochemomechanical energy conversion and bioelectrochemical sensing devices as well as controlled synthesis of nanostructured materials. Here, a Lattice Boltzmann (LB) method is employed to simulate an electrolytic nanocapacitor subjected to a step potential at t = 0 for various degrees of EDL overlap, solvent viscosities, ratios of cation to anion diffusivity and electrode separations. The use of a novel, continuously varying and Galilean invariant, molecular speed dependent relaxation time (MSDRT) with the LB equation recovers a correct microscopic description of the molecular collision phenomena and enhances the stability of the LB algorithm. Results for large EDL overlaps indicated oscillatory behavior for the ionic current density in contrast to monotonic relaxation to equilibrium for low EDL overlaps. Further, at low solvent viscosities and large EDL overlaps, anomalous plasma-like spatial oscillations of the electric field were observed that appeared to be purely an effect of nanoscale confinement. Employing MSDRT in our simulations enabled a modeling of the fundamental physics of the transient charge relaxation dynamics in electrochemical systems operating away from equilibrium wherein Nernst-Einstein relation is known to be violated.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C on October 30 2014. Supplementary info available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org. Revised version includes more details on the computation of the molecular speed dependent relaxation time (MSDRT) and emphasizes the Galilean invariance of the computed MSDR

Development And Validation Of Stability Indicating RP-HPLC Method For Determination Of Ceritinib

A new, simple, specific, accurate and precise RP-HPLC method was developed for determination of Ceritinib. In the present study, stress testing of Ceritinib was carried out according to ICH guidelines Q1A (R2). Ceritinib was subjected to stress conditions of hydrolysis, oxidation, photolysis and neutral decomposition. Extensive degradation was found to occur in acidic, condition. Mild degradation was observed in basic and at thermal conditions. Successful separation of drug from degradation products formed under stress conditions was achieved on a Hypersil BDS C18 column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5.0 μ particle size) using acetonitrile: acetate buffer (pH 3.7 ± 0.05) (50:50 v/v), at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min and column was maintained at 40˚C. Quantification and linearity was achieved at 272 nm over the concentration range of 5 - 100 μg/mL for Ceritinib. The method was validated for specificity, linearity, accuracy, precision, LOD, LOQ and robustness

Novel optically active lead-free relaxor ferroelectric (Ba0.6Bi0.2Li0.2)TiO3

We discovered a near room temperature lead-free relaxor-ferroelectric (Ba0.6Bi0.2Li0.2)TiO3 (BBLT) having A-site compositional disordered ABO3 perovskite structure. Microstructure-property relations revealed that the chemical inhomogeneities and development of local polar nano regions (PNRs) are responsible for dielectric dispersion as a function of probe frequencies and temperatures. Rietveld analysis indicates mixed crystal structure with 80% tetragonal structure (space group P4mm) and 20% orthorhombic structure (space group Amm2) which is confirmed by the high resolution transmission electron diffraction pattern. Dielectric constant and tangent loss dispersion with and without illumination of light obey nonlinear Vogel-Fulture relation. It shows slim polarization-hysteresis (P-E) loops and excellent displacement coefficients (d33 ~ 233 pm/V) near room temperature, which gradually diminish near the maximum dielectric dispersion temperature (Tm). The underlying physics for light-sensitive dielectric dispersion was probed by X-ray photon spectroscopy (XPS) which strongly suggests that mixed valence of bismuth ions, especially Bi5+ ions, are responsible for most of the optically active centers. Ultraviolet photoemission measurements showed most of the Ti ions are in 4+ states and sit at the centers of the TiO6 octahedra, which along with asymmetric hybridization between O 2p and Bi 6s orbitals appears to be the main driving force for net polarization. This BBLT material may open a new path for environmental friendly lead-free relaxor-ferroelectric research.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figure