Chronic Pruritus in an 18-Month-Old Male Infant Due to Anicteric Cholestasis.

An 18-month-old male infant was referred to us with pruritus from 6 months of age. He was being managed as atopic eczema with emollients and antihistamines without any response to treatment. On examination, he was found to have extensive scratch marks, mild hepatomegaly and no icterus. Blood investigations were suggestive of anicteric cholestatic liver disease. Liver biopsy was suggestive of progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 3. He showed symptomatic improvement after starting ursodeoxycholic acid and fat-soluble vitamins and is under follow up.

Formation of Coaxial Nanocables with Amplified Supramolecular Chirality through an Interaction between Carbon Nanotubes and a Chiral π-Gelator.

In an attempt to gather experimental evidence for the influence of carbon allotropes on supramolecular chirality, we found that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) facilitate amplification of the molecular chirality of a π-gelator (MC-OPV) to supramolecular helicity at a concentration much lower than that required for intermolecular interaction. For example, at a concentration 1.8×10(-4) m, MC-OPV did not exhibit a CD signal; however, the addition of 0-0.6 mg of SWNTs resulted in amplified chirality as evident from the CD spectrum. Surprisingly, AFM analysis revealed the formation of thick helical fibers with a width of more than 100 nm. High-resolution TEM analysis and solid-state UV/Vis/NIR spectroscopy revealed that the thick helical fibers were cylindrical cables composed of individually wrapped and coaxially aligned SWNTs. Such an impressive effect of CNTs on supramolecular chirality and cylindrical-cable formation has not been reported previously.