Clinical efficacy and safety of micafungin in Japanese patients with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis: a prospective observational study.

Aspergillosis has been the prevailing deep-seated mycosis in Japan since the 1990s. Although micafungin (MCFG) has been approved in Japan for the management of patients with such infections caused by Candida and Aspergillus species, there are relatively few reports on its use in patients with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA). Therefore, we conducted a prospective observational study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the use of MCFG in Japanese patients with CPA. The efficacy of the antifungal was assessed on the basis of improvements in clinical symptoms and radiological findings. In addition, adverse events, including abnormal laboratory findings were determined. The overall clinical efficacy rate was 68.4% (26/38 patients), which is comparable to the results obtained in clinical trials for marketing approval conducted in Japan. Although adverse drug reactions were observed in six patients (15.8%), they were not serious. The most common of these reactions was abnormal liver functions. No relationship between the incidence of adverse drug reactions and age of the patients, MCFG dose, or duration of treatment was observed. Consequently, MCFG has favorable efficacy and safety profiles in Japanese CPA patients with various backgrounds

Intravenous micafungin versus voriconazole for chronic pulmonary aspergillosis: A multicenter trial in Japan.

Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA) is slowly progressive inflammatory pulmonary syndrome due to Aspergillus spp. The evidence regarding CPA treatment is limited. We conducted a randomized, multicenter, open-label trial comparing intravenous micafungin (MCFG) of 150-300 mg once daily with intravenous voriconazole (VRCZ) of 6 mg/kg twice on Day 1 followed by 4 mg/kg twice daily for the treatment of 107 in patients with CPA to compare the efficacy and safety of both drugs as initial treatment in Japan. Treatment effectiveness was defined by clinical, mycological, radiological and serological responses 2 weeks after the initial administration and at the end of therapy. The total of 50 and 47 patients were assigned to the MCFG and VRCZ groups, respectively. The difference in efficacy rates between MCFG and VRCZ was not significant, either after 2 weeks [68.0% vs. 58.7%; the absolute difference, 9.3% with a 95% confidence interval (CI), -9.97 to 28.58, P = 0.344] or at the end of therapy (60.0% vs. 53.2%; the absolute difference, 6.8% with a 95% CI, -12.92 to 26.54, P = 0.499). In the safety evaluation, fewer adverse events occurred in the MCFG than VRCZ group (26.4% vs. 61.1%, P = 0.0004). MCFG was as effective as VRCZ and significantly safer than as an initial treatment of CPA. (UMIN Clinical Trials Registry number, UMIN000001786.)

Galectin-9 plasma levels reflect adverse hematological and immunological features in acute dengue virus infection

Background: Dengue virus (DENV) infection remains a major public health burden worldwide. Soluble mediators may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of acute DENV infection. Galectin-9 (Gal-9) is a soluble β-galactoside-binding lectin, with multiple immunoregulatory and inflammatory properties. Objective: To investigate plasma Gal-9 levels as a biomarker for DENV infection. Study design: We enrolled 65 DENV infected patients during the 2010 epidemic in the Philippines and measured their plasma Gal-9 and cytokine/chemokine levels, DENV genotypes, and copy number during the critical and recovery phases of illness. Results: During the critical phase, Gal-9 levels were significantly higher in DENV infected patients compared to healthy or those with non-dengue febrile illness. The highest Gal-9 levels were observed in dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) patients (DHF: 2464. pg/ml; dengue fever patients (DF): 1407. pg/ml; non-dengue febrile illness: 616. pg/ml; healthy: 196. pg/ml). In the recovery phase, Gal-9 levels significantly declined from peak levels in DF and DHF patients. Gal-9 levels tracked viral load, and were associated with multiple cytokines and chemokines (IL-1α, IL-8, IP-10, and VEGF), including monocyte frequencies and hematologic variables of coagulation. Further discriminant analyses showed that eotaxin, Gal-9, IFN-α2, and MCP-1 could detect 92% of DHF and 79.3% of DF, specifically (P < 0.01). Conclusion: Gal-9 appears to track DENV inflammatory responses, and therefore, it could serve as an important novel biomarker of acute DENV infection and disease severity

Individual identification of free hole and electron dynamics in CuIn[1-x]Ga[x]Se[2] thin films by simultaneous monitoring of two optical transitions

The photocarrier dynamics of CuIn[1−x]Ga[x]Se[2] (CIGS) thin films were studied using white-light transient absorption (TA) measurements, as an understanding of this behavior is essential for improving the performance of solar cells composed of CIGS thin films. A characteristic double-peak structure due to the splitting of the valance bands in the CIGS was observed in the TA spectra under near-band-gap resonant excitation. From a comparison of the TA decay dynamics monitored at these two peaks, it was found that the slow-decay components of the electron and hole relaxation are on the nanosecond timescale. This finding is clear evidence of the long lifetimes of free photocarriers in polycrystalline CIGS thin films

Slow intraband relaxation and localization of photogenerated carriers in CuIn{1−x}Ga{x}Se{2} thin films: Evidence for the existence of long-lived high-energy carriers

The dynamics of free carriers in polycrystalline CuIn{1−x}Ga{x}Se{2} (CIGS) thin films were studied using picosecond time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) and femtosecond transient-absorption (TA) measurements. The PL spectrum and the TA decay component due to the band-to-band recombination of free carriers were observed in the picosecond time region. From excitation-photon-energy-dependent TA measurements, we identified a slow intraband relaxation of free carriers in the CIGS thin films. Collectively, the combination of PL and TA experiments reveal a global feature of energy relaxation and recombination processes of free carriers in the femtosecond to nanosecond time regions

Effects of the Morphology of Chemically Deposited Zn(O,S) Buffer Layers on the Performance Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cell

AbstractZinc sulfide oxide Zn(O,S) buffer layers were prepared by a chemical bath deposition (CBD) method, and the effects of the deposition time on the structure and performance of the Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) solar cells were investigated by structural, optical and electrical characterizations. The CBD deposition time affected the thickness and morphology of the Zn(O,S) layer, and the thickness and surface roughness decreased by decreasing the deposition time. The conversion efficiency of 15.5% has been obtained for the CIGS solar cells with the Zn(O,S) buffer layer prepared under optimized condition