Synthesis of Cross-Chain Bridging Cryptands and Induction of Molecular Chirality.

In this study, we synthesized two cryptands featuring entangled tri- and tetra(ethylene glycol) linkers. The cryptand bearing short linkers was chiral without any asymmetric carbon atoms. After chiral high-performance liquid chromatography was used to separate the enantiomers, the absolute configuration of each cryptand was determined through single-crystal X-ray and circular dichroism analyses. The racemization of the cryptand possessing long linkers proceeded at room temperature.

[A case of septic pulmonary embolism with endogenous endophthalmitis in a healthy adult].

A 56-year-old man with chief complaints of reduced visual acuity in the left eye and an 8-day history of pyrexia was diagnosed with uveitis at a nearby hospital, and was referred and admitted to our hospital. Two days after admission, he complained of dyspnea. Chest X-ray revealed an infiltrative shadow in the right middle pulmonary field and right pleural effusion. Chest CT revealed multiple peripheral nodules and a wedge-shaped shadow with a cavity and feeding vessel. Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated from the blood, and he was diagnosed with septic pulmonary embolism. In addition, ciliary injection and hypopyon of the right eye were recognized, and he was therefore diagnosed with endogenous endophthalmitis due to sepsis. With antibacterial therapy, the symptoms, imaging findings, and inflammatory reaction inproved, but visual acuity did not. This was a rare case of septic pulmonary embolism accompanied by endogenous endophthalmitis.

Measurement of vitamin D-binding protein in pleural fluids and sera by means of a turbidimetric immunoassay measuring system.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D-binding protein (DBP) has been recognized as a multifunctional plasma protein that can modulate certain immune and inflammatory responses. There may be differences between the DBP concentrations in pleural fluids from various diseases involving a variety of possible responses in the pleural cavity. METHODS: An anti-DBP polyclonal antibody was prepared using commercially available DBP to establish a quantitative measuring system for DBP. With a rabbit antibody, a turbidimetric immunoassay (TIA) was developed for DBP with an automatic analyzer. Using this measuring system, the concentrations of DBP were compared with the protein concentration in pleural fluid and serum specimens from patients with various diseases. RESULTS: The fluid DBP concentrations in transudative (n=11) and exudative (n=41) effusions were 71.9+/-21.2 and 180.7+/-43.7 mg/l, respectively. Among the exudative effusions, the fluid DBP concentrations in the bacterial (n=10), tuberculous (n=13), and malignant (n=18) effusions were 218.8+/-37.3, 186.7+/-26.2, and 155.1+/-41.3 mg/l, respectively. The DBP fluid/serum ratio and the fluid DBP/protein ratio in bacterial effusions were significantly higher than those in tuberculous (p<0.005, p<0.05, respectively) and malignant effusions (p<0.0005, p<0.005, respectively), although no statistically significant differences in the serum DBP/protein ratio between those effusions were found. CONCLUSIONS: Using the TIA assay, the DBP concentrations in bacterial pleural effusions were significantly higher than in tuberculous and malignant effusions.